Mariyka: the only child born and having lived after the Chernobyl explosion | World | New

Chernobyl was back in the news, thanks to Sky Atlantic's much-anticipated drama describing the nuclear disaster. Mariyka is not in the series but she is perhaps the greatest source of hope for this devastated nuclear zone in Ukraine. It was born near reactor No. 4, located within the 19-mile exclusion zone. More than ten years after the explosion, the idea of ​​the birth of a child so close to the disaster was extremely controversial.

It was initially the object of concealment by the Ukrainian authorities, embarrassed that a child was born of workers who are not supposed to live in this polluted place. Lydia Sovenko, then in her forties, did not realize she was pregnant and the baby was born by Mariyka's father, Mikhail, a Chernobyl firefighter on the evening of the blast, on April 26, 1986.

He washed the newborn and attached the umbilical cord.

Soon, the headlines went around the world.

At that time, Lydia said, "The authorities threaten us, they humiliate us because they want to force us to leave our homes."

She was treated "like a criminal" for giving birth in Chernobyl and refusing to leave the only family home in the area.

Lydia sank into the heels and continued to raise Mariyka – with the girl drinking the milk of a cow grazing in irradiated pastures – unaware of the terrible warnings that she was threatening life of his daughter.

Today, she remains the only child born and raised after the Chernobyl accident.

Rumors quickly circulated about the girl's health. By the time her daughter was five, Lydia was forced to answer, "If people think she's a mutant or has two heads, they're completely wrong.

"She is a beautiful child who is absolutely healthy as far as the eye can see."

In the summer, she was swimming in a river where fish – which her father Mikhail had fished to feed the family – sent Geiger counters ringing wildly. But she was alone, without playmates, in an area where visitors without special reason were prohibited.

"I would like there to be only one other child here," she said plaintively during a visit to Chernobyl in 2006. "I would make him visit my house and the village. We could really have fun together.

All around her, there were the ruins of this nuclear age, Pompeii, including an abandoned school on the day of the explosion with textbooks scattered throughout the rubble.

The campaign against them continued – "their main argument was to accuse us of murdering our little girl by living in this polluted area," Mikhail said.

Despite this, Mariyka's home remained at home when she grew up – although by the age of seven, she had to live outside of Chernobyl to attend school.

But in recent years, nothing had been heard from Mariyka – until she was found by the Sunday Express.

Aged 19, she studies at a major higher education institution and hopes to work in the hospitality sector. To pay for her studies, she works in a trendy bar.

She is reluctant to talk about her past but confirmed that she was in good health, adding, "I'm fine, I'm working. I provide for myself. That's it."

Even when she was a child when she ventured for the first time outside the exclusion zone, she berated her mother in front of strangers, saying, "Mom, s? please do not tell people that we are from Chernobyl. "

Last week, a friend explained that she no longer saw anything in the life of Chernobyl. However, when she can get a special permit, she returns to the opportunity to see her mother who still lives and works in the exclusion zone at the age of 66.

"She really does not care to be unique in being born in Chernobyl," said the friend.

"In fact, the fact that she is the only child born here after the explosion and who grew up in Chernobyl is rather painful for her. She sees it as a stigma. "

Mariyka was born in 1999, some 13 years after the Chernobyl explosion in the Soviet era.

Her mother confirmed that the student was in good health and was known to be "proud" of her daughter's success in life after her unique start.

Critics continue to say that it was irresponsible to raise the child in the area and that Mariyka could still suffer serious health problems due to her mother's reluctance to leave the polluted area around the devastated nuclear power plant.

Yet all around us, signs of life return to Chernobyl 33 years after the disaster.

Against all odds, flora and fauna abound in the region, including elk, deer, wild boar and wolf, as well as rare birds and flowers.

Nature is seen as a riposte in the exclusion zone, which should one day allow people to live here again.

Scientists say that the mainly aging population that has remained illegally here after the blast – like Lydia – does not seem to have unduly suffered radiation.

And as Lydia has long affirmed, "The people here believe that Mariyka is a symbol of the rebirth of Chernobyl, a sign of God that they interpret as a blessing to live here and that life returns to this devastated place."