The tiny village of Raduga (“Rainbow”) is located 80 miles downwind from Chernobyl in an area that was heavily showered with radioactivity in the hours following the 1986 nuclear disaster. After an inexcusable delay, the village was abandoned, and remained a ghost town for many years. Recently, in an attempt to lure new workers to the area, the local administration offered free housing and work for anyone willing to move into the contaminated zone. It is in Raduga that we meet the Tsiplyaevs, a family of who moved here in 1992. Husband and wife have both found work and their daughters, Olga, 17 and Natasha, 14, attend the local school. The family came here fleeing from war-torn Chechnya, their native homeland.
Today, the old photographs from their Chechnya homeland bring back memories. “Back home, tanks would roll along the streets day and night. We were afraid to leave the house, and shooting forced us to stay in the basement for weeks,” says 39 year-old Lena Tsiplyaev. “Here, I sleep safe and sound, and shooting doesn't wake me up at night. I especially enjoy the nearby river. I really don't give the radiation much thought. I prefer living with radiation over living in a war zone.” Mrs. Tsiplyaev is convinced that radiation is harmless. “We feel very good here, both mentally and physically,” she says
The Tsiplyaevs and others like them came lured by work, housing, and the beauty of the countryside. Although aware of the radioactivity scattered throughout the land, they came anyway, doubtful of its effects. The Tsiplyaevs are among the hundreds of thousands of refugees who, in recent years, have fled wars and political turmoil in Chechnya, Tajikistan,.Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The memory of war is still vivid for many, and living amid the radiation and poverty of Chernobyl's contaminated zones seems the least of many evils. The family of Anya and Grisha Kerakasian is from Armenia. Neighbors of the Tsiplyaevs, they settled in the village of Raduga several years ago with a small baby. A son was born a year later. The Kerakasians came to Raduga to escape the bloody war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “I'd rather die a quiet death here,” says Grisha Kerakasian, whose younger brother was killed during the war. “It's better than being murdered when I turn a corner.”
The Tsiplyaevs and Kerakasians fled to a place that needed their labor—but they don’t feel welcome. In order to obtain health benefits and be eligible for financial assistance, they have to apply for Belarusian citizenship. “It's a very expensive procedure and I cannot afford it,” says Mrs. Tsiplyaev. “If I apply, I will have to wait for seven years to obtain citizenship. Meanwhile, I have to pay medical expenses out of my pocket.” Both families feel outcast in their new environment. “What can we do?” says Mrs. Tsiplyaev, “Where else could we go?”
