Snowcracy Descends on Kyiv

Welcome to the snowpocalypse!










You never know what spring can bring.

Scenes from Chernobyl Drama ‘Распад’ (1990) Filmed in Kyiv

Do you know any films about Chernobyl other than non-fiction? I know only one.

Most of what I know about Chernobyl comes from non-fiction. It comes from the people on the ground. The people who risked and sacrificed their lives. The people who will be remembered.

I know only one movie that does Chernobyl justice. It’s called Распад (Rah-spah-d).

This irony-packed perestroika-era drama offers an X-ray of Soviet crisis mismanagement. In scenes of heart-wrenching innocence and poignance, it recreates the chain of events: from the comfort zone to the danger zone.

From quiet to chaos. From communism to collapse.


Filmed here.

It bursts the bubble of a blissful and unsuspecting populace that, in the middle of spring, goes about its business the day after. Grown-ups get married. Kids play soccer. (I too played soccer, just 70 miles south of Chernobyl, in Kyiv.)

In its starkest scenes, the film captures the misery of the evacuees.


Filmed here and here.

The evacuation of Prypyat (the town where the nuclear power plant workers lived) took a back seat to regimentation. With radiation at peak levels, authorities waited for orders from Moscow and delayed evacuation efforts in an air of secrecy.

It wasn’t until 36 hours after the accident that the evacuation began (a temporary evacuation, as the announcement said). Thousands of families boarded buses and left their homes, never to return again.


Filmed here.

The “lost boy” scene relies on hyperbole to drive the point home emotionally: A latchkey kid doesn’t get on the bus. Instead, he stays and waits for his mom to come home from work. The main character, a reporter, spots the boy during a flyover of Prypyat (now a ghost town) as he writes this: “Mom! I’ve come home. Come. I [interrupted].”

Распад can be translated as decay, disintegration or breakup. It’s the main theme of the film. Chernobyl delivered a shock to the Soviet system and, as it soon turned out, became a catalyst in its breakup.

Somehow, I only discovered Распад last year, almost two decades after its filming by the Dovzhenko Film Studios in 1990. I was 10 at the time.

I find this movie very special because it takes me back to my childhood. It takes me back to my home city of Kyiv, my home district of Obolon, my neighborhood.

That’s where they filmed all these scenes. And that’s where I live.

Staby (A Quality of Government Report)

Hi guys! I want you to meet my little friend.

It’s a dead dog. Dead since last Friday (Apr. 9). I call her Staby (as in stabilnist). She can be found here.

Naturally, the municipal hotline didn’t help. The CDC didn’t even answer calls.

Hour after hour, day after day, the beach gets visits from unsuspecting kids and carefree adults. That’s where they run into Staby.





I’ve been picking up plastic bags and bottles on Kyiv beaches for about a year. I’ve even buried a few birds. (We don’t have a reliable service to take care of dead animals or roadkill. Most of the time, they just rot away on the streets or become car-pressed steaks on the highway.)

I gave up on Staby. She’s too heavy and too much of a health hazard. You can smell her from a distance of 50 meters if the wind blows your way.

Ironically, the bay goes by the name of Sobache Hyrlo (Dog's Throat). Here's what it looks like in the summer.


Back to Staby, I last saw her on Thursday evening, half-submerged. With the water rising, she may sail away tomorrow. Too bad she won’t reach Koncha-Zaspa.



Mr. Yanukovych, I know you hear everyone. Why don’t you pick up Staby and take her to the White House, along with the enriched uranium?

Or maybe we should keep her as a tourist attraction for Euro 2012?

Mr. Yanukovych, my offer remains open for you until further notice.

As of April 20, Staby appears to be gone. Gone in 950,400 seconds.

A Spring Sunday at Obolon Bay

The place, the people, the parody.


















Ukrainian Leaders and Their Connections













Bending the Dnipro Over a Barrel

Easter and the Environment

Economically, Ukrainians are doing better than Indians. Environmentally, it’s hard to tell.

Yesterday, Ukraine celebrated Easter. I took a walk through my riverside Obolon neighborhood in Kyiv.

So here's the beauty of my “Obolon Riviera.” Littered with broken glass. Paved with plastic. Crucified with carelessness.





10 minutes of my time



















What will this place be like when the baby grows up?
(All things being equal.)

















I even invented terms like бидлоболонці or picnic pigs. That's what I would call people who come here and leave behind a trail of trash. Tons of trash.

This recreation culture puts a whole new spin on “Don’t shit where you eat.”











I'm not a big believer, but I believe that churches should organize community service days and promote a culture of environmental stewardship.

The shit I've seen starts with the soul.

Clean souls, clean shores.