Chernobyl Doctor Fact Checks the HBO Series | Vanity Fair

Ukrainian medical responder and radiation expert Alla Shapiro reviews the validity of the HBO series "Chernobyl." Alla shares some real-life on-site experiences to explain whether clips from the series are true to what actually happened on April 26th, 1986 and the days that followed.
Dr. Shapiro received a Medical degree and a PhD degree in Kiev, Ukraine where she was trained in pediatric hematology. After Chernobyl she was one of the first medical responders sent to the most radiation contaminated areas, and headed the field team surveying the medical effects on children in the Chernobyl vicinity.
In 1989, Dr. Shapiro and her family became stateless refugees, spending 6 months in refugee camps in Italy, before immigrating to the U.S. She completed a residency in pediatrics at Georgetown University Hospital and a fellowship in pediatric oncology at the National Institute of Health. Shortly after 9/11, she became a Medical Officer at the Counter-Terrorism and Emergency Coordination Staff at the US Food and Drug Administration and evaluated drugs that treat people who have been exposed to harmful levels of radiation.
Dr. Shapiro is currently completing a book manuscript entitled Extraordinary Journey of the Stateless: From the Shadows of Chernobyl to the Lights of Washington.
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Chernobyl Doctor Fact Checks the HBO Series | Vanity Fair

[@Milo_Reacher]

So the guys at Vanity fair actually went looking for a real Dr. who was at Chernobyl. Proudest like in my life

[@FrostedSeagull]

Hey Mailo R, You make a grest point. I remember seeing a nurse who worked at the hospital being in June 2029 interviewed after the HBO Chernobyl TV series. She worked at the hospital where the irritldated firemen were initially taken. What she said was gripping and horrifying. It was the nurses thst quickly guessed that it was radiation poisoning. Iodine - large sections of the population got Iodine poisoning. The medical professional being interviewed is correct. Iodine, in the right quantity must be given no later than 30 hours after contamination.

[@voiceovernomad]

@@FrostedSeagull Chernobyl. 2029.

[@Rangernewb5550]

A real Dr. Who?

[@MildLemonaidShits]

Jackass

[@Milo_Reacher]

@@MildLemonaidShits Great show

[@richardpoole9793]

"I was one of the first Chernobyl responders after the nuclear accident" INSTANT RESPECT!!

[@mohamedmamd-ouh1262]

how can i believe you ?

[@petterteignesse5486]

man computers AmdradeonIntelGTX well it would be kinda boring watching them dropping sand on the core for 10 episodes...

[@CaiusMeridius]

No she wasn't, later on the video she said that she never treated or managed the victims of contamination.

[@richardpoole9793]

Pedro what so your saying she wasn’t there at all and is just making the whole thing up?

[@CaiusMeridius]

@fractured eyes @10:01

[@strawberriesandcandy]

Nonsense has no place in a twenty mile radius of this woman

[@ParaAkula]

yes well said, i have the same impression.

[@Its_Me_Romano]

she is a shapiro after all

[@ArgyleDinosaur]

@@Its_Me_Romano Facts don't care about your feelings! Haha

[@kirillfetischev1428]

strawberriesandcandy you couldn’t have phrased it better

[@repugnantgrin]

@@Its_Me_Romano Please don't tarnish this woman by comparing her to that homonculus.

[@jamesmantovani8620]

I like how she says her sources too. She's so knowledgeable and I wish her good health.

[@compa6251]

@@anno41 are you a doctor? Where did you study?

[@anno41]

@@compa6251 lumc in leiden ( Netherlands)

[@anno41]

@@compa6251 I can understand the motives to downplay chernobyl

[@propersod2390]

@@anno41 "a lot of the things she said are simply untrue" and then you name 1 thing that she said that she wasn't entirely wrong about either. It is basically impossible for a fetus to absorb the radiation. Nothing she said was wrong

[@glenbooth7903]

@@anno41 Correct, the foetus can absorb the radiation, there's a Russian midwife taking about how they dealt with over 36 pregnant women in the first 24 hrs and all had unborn babes with defects or where dead.

[@Casuallyartisticaviator]

Honestly, Chernobyl will never stop being terrifying

[@animeworld2369]

Only for the next 24 thousand year's it will be terrifying after that it will stop

[@crim899]

@@animeworld2369 well scArdicat will be dead in 24 thousand years, but yeah the average human (if we even exist for that long) probably won't even know about Chernobyl.

[@Casuallyartisticaviator]

@@crim899 Me : sees your reply Also me : how enlightening

[@crim899]

@@Casuallyartisticaviator I live to enlighten :')

[@L1ama]

If you think Chernobyl's bad, read about the Banqiao dam failures

[@pierrebe4492]

"Should be based on science, not on fear" Those words have, nowadays, become such a rarity..

[@1mc568]

Shut up, our Climate IS changing, now give all of your Money to Al Gore, in the Form of Carbon Tax.

[@shanaroses]

You mean always...

[@BloomerMindset]

I mean, people have been acting on fear over logic for all of history. I must admit that with the massive boom in instant information access, most people (even I) feel little to no need to fact check anything.

[@BogdanSzczurek]

Before the "science" is settled, good, old fear may make you survive :}

[@northernbohemianrealist]

Whoa! The responses to this comment are unbelievably strange, even for the KZbin comments section.

[@venera4981]

She was so concise and knowledgeable, oh the things she must have seen...

[@matthewwoodcock]

Venera the show is horrific, I can’t imagine the horrors she witnessed in person. Especially the children being contaminated

[@liviam1497]

Well she is a scientist right?being smart is Her job-description😊

[@codename495]

Livia M Smart isn’t a job description. She uses the scientific method to search for answers in smart and guided manner.

[@saearlman6316]

Code Name bruh

[@AD-nu9ih]

Might be a language barrier or cultural... Ukrainians are generally concise.

[@ourcorrectopinions6824]

The pain and sadness on her face is shattering at 8:41 as she finishes the sentence: "he would not have been dangerous to anyone who was around him". It then makes sense why she has such a strong reaction to that idea as she then discusses children who were displaced and irrationally rejected for being "radioactive".

[@solustalechoy7698]

ARS isn't contagious, that much is true, but when radioactive particulates are inhaled or ingested, they can linger in the body for months. The firefighters would still be internally contaminated and those particulates would still be emitting gamma radiation.

[@DavidStruveDesigns]

Yeah except he clearly _was_ since his wife who was pregnant at the time lost her child a mere 4 hours after birth due to radiation sickness. She also suffered several strokes as a result of the radiation she received and was told she'd never be able to have kids (fortunately that part was later proved false, as she now lives in Kiev with her son). So clearly the particles in his body were producing enough radiation to get into _her_ body and then into her baby. So yes, he _was_ dangerous to those around him - _if_ they got too close like his wife did.

[@powerplayerjoe]

@@DavidStruveDesigns she was already exposed to the radiation before reuniting with her husband though. because she lived so close to the nuclear plant and went through the heavily contaminated hospital in pripyat

[@MeatBunFul]

I think it's more to protect the man. Touching and breathing on him would cause unintended infection because he had probably no immunity

[@skepticalextraterrestrial2971]

And yet the bodies are reportedly buried in zinc lined coffins and concrete, similar to the animals even she says were feared. Exposure to radiation does not make one radioactive, BUT inhaling/ingesting radioactive particles DOES. Caesium 137 is water soluble with a biological half-life of about 70 days. Strontium 90, if absorbed, will remain in bones with a half-life of 29 years. I suspect that the emotional reaction you speak of may mean that the "fact checker" is in error due to bias.

[@georginajiang9186]

I like the way she talks. Though she is pointing out the series flaws here, she is no way near being judgmental. What she says are facts that we should learn

[@jemmajames6719]

A British scientist was on TV, saying for the most part it was accurate but they had changed a few details to suit, one I remember was the helicopter scene.She had been there with other scientists to study the radiation.I live in the UK and the area I live in had radiation fallout as did other parts, only learnt this recently. How this low level radiation has affected us, who knows, well their not telling us.

[@georginajiang9186]

Steve what I mean by judgmental is when someone acts entitled and pretentious. It contains a derogatory connotation. She’s not doing that here.

[@TymphaRedbreaduwuowo]

its her story, it happened to her, not the directors, she has every right to be judgmental, if you ask me

[@tarananajaika]

@Steve It's a compliment. It's basically saying that she is a woman of science who doesn't need to put someone down to prove their point. Others aren't as good in this matter.

[@maxfelson9467]

First of all I don't think that's the point, I don't think she's being judgemental but I also think she's not being "nice"or "cook" either but that's not what matters what matters is if she's being factual and and/or fair, and I think it's fair to say that she is doing at least a decent job on that. Also I don't think *everyone* should learn this, it is a cool ,intriguing, and somewhat of a useful knowledge (I'm talking for the average Joe here). Doesn't mean everyone have the obligation to watch / learn this, at least at this moment.

[@aryabluebird1]

Sounds like she's exactly the person they should have consulted before and during the making of the series.

[@TheParadox3000]

They did consult people like this. But guess what, it's a drama, not a documentary. Dramas will always, always, always take liberties

[@unepintade]

@@TheParadox3000 yeah there's far too many people thinking it's a documentary

[@gt1r]

jms elt Or, people respect the high level of production in this show. Although it was dramatized, it was pretty historically accurate. Most people know that they’re not watching a documentary, but instead a TV show that does a pretty good job of depicting what happened

[@unepintade]

@jms elt no that means you're a dumbass that doesn't even know the subject you're criticizing

[@unepintade]

@jms elt no but i'm still far more entitled to have an opinion on it than you

[@thatgirl5630]

She doesn’t sound like a “know it all” even though she does KNOW IT ALL! She talks in such a nice way that she genuinely just wants to inform and not seem like she is better. So nice :)

[@GuRuGeorge03]

she grew up in soviet russia as a woman, so she learned very early in her life how to think about every word that she uses. she talks slowly, but very efficiently, something that a lot of people these days don't do, because they have the luxury of not having to be efficient and careful :)

[@최로봇]

@@GuRuGeorge03 it's her personality. Geez.

[@eddyyaeji6769]

@@GuRuGeorge03 oh for sure this lady chooses her words carefully, lets not forget the fear of the gulag. Even though Stalin was long gone, the fear in her parents and everyone around her wasn't.

[@nerfedmann]

@@eddyyaeji6769 it's ingrained into her

[@beastymusictm1452]

로봇REBETA Partly yes, but the persons point is still valid.

[@angelkross2704]

It’s a shame too, Mila did an interview about how harassed she was for choosing to be around her husband and killing her baby. In one interview she said no one explained the dangers to her and she was unaware, in another when asked if she would change a thing, she said no, she explained what his last moments were like and she said how happy they were. She gets so much backlash for killing her baby but turns out if radiation did in fact kill her baby, it wasn’t her fault.

[@vaibhavpawar4455]

Wait, the Doctor lady just said that acute radiation sickness isn't contagious in any form!!!

[@dbk_kvd]

@@vaibhavpawar4455 yeah but at the time they believed the victims could spread radiation

[@ludmoro]

Her name isn't Mila. That's just a different name. It's Lyudmila.

[@TomPuppetmaster]

You know, she was also walking around in Pripyat. The death sentence could have already been decided even before she went to see him.

[@gorzkawodka]

@@vaibhavpawar4455 I am shocked with her words, cause the fact is that their daughter died soon after birth. Moreover we have a shift manager Anatolij Diatlov who survived two reactor big bangs, second was in Charnobyl, but first one was on a submarine, he didn't die, even through he took deadly amount of radiation, but his 6 year old son died soon after the accident on submarine, because he get leukemia. I can't imagine a different scenario that his daddy was radioactive and caused the leukemia.

[@scheusselmensch5713]

Obviously the problem here is that this woman is about 14 times smarter than the average anybody.

[@Cmonbruh8549]

What problem?

[@pelinkizilkus3884]

Obviously she is 14 times smarter than you.

[@scheusselmensch5713]

@@pelinkizilkus3884 There is that possibility.

[@t-55am2b5]

Don’t get me wrong but I wouldn’t say that she’s particulary smarter than the average human. She only has expirience because she was there, yet really calm and truthful.

[@Tee_eej]

@@t-55am2b5 I disagree, it takes a wise human to have self-awareness and to be able to question the difference between what is right and is wrong. You don't have to look far to see nowadays that many people take what they see as reality.

[@benl2140]

So, basically, the show gets some things very wrong about the medical effects of radiation, but was pretty much accurate when it came to the government response.

[@nichtbekannt5072]

american production i guess

[@bytefu]

Based on what, a story of one woman? You have to consider multiple sources, preferably not in any way related to the series. People have biases.

[@cam4636]

@@nichtbekannt5072 Joint American-UK production

[@jpckuijer]

Too bad that they overly dramatized the medical effects, otherwise I'd watch it.

[@nanomalysbiggestfan2153]

the medical things such as the heavy burns are in there cuz of dramatization but stuff like the baby absorbing the radiation was believed by the people in the past

[@francesbritton]

You're telling me Vanity Fair had the time to consult an actual radiation expert for a 13 minute response vid, but HBO couldn't consult one for a WHOLE SERIES?

[@melosivitch]

They consulted hundreds... they just listened to the majority and added a bit of creativity for entertainment like all “inspired by true events” films and documentaries do.

[@3NSII]

🙏🏻

[@BasePuma4007]

They did the inaccurate stuff for shock value.

[@nippleflexer3630]

It's a tv show made for entertainment, not realism. And radiation burns can have the affect that is portrayed in the tv show, there was a Japanese man by the name of, Hisashi Ouchi, whose skin was falling off due to receiving 17 Sieverts all in one go. So the shows depiction of how deadly radiation can be over time with your skin falling off is not false.

[@Biggest_Cat_There_Ever_Was]

@@nippleflexer3630 I thought they portrayed the burns for shock value until I saw pictures of Hisashi Ouchi and read about what he went through

[@D11r41k]

A little bit after Chernobyl happened, there was a very short note about the accident in a newspaper. It sounded very ordinary and neutral, but my Grandpa (in Ufa, Russia) became very worried when he read it. He was telling everyone around, that it's very-very bad, but people didn't seem to believe or worry. Only days/weeks/months after the awful reality came out.

[@tonycorona8501]

What happened to your grandfather during the days after the incident?

[@neta4768]

That is very true and sad. My parents told me that as well that they shut up about it and didn't talk about it. The soviets were very quiet and didn't tell anyone about how bad it really was.

[@shinjite06]

Dude I felt like this in December 2019 about COVID. Nobody was taking it seriously.

[@tamxsimunovic]

@@shinjite06 same... I told my family that it was going to become a huge deal later on, and they didn't believe me! Now look where we are 😓

[@josemanuelrojas214]

@@shinjite06 I spoke to everyone at my job about it and they didn't take it seriously back in 2019, after the pandemic happened we were all laid off.

[@jezebel324]

She was a first responder... people don’t have a right to tell her they know better.

[@respberry123]

Yes they do. I'm not saying she is factually wrong, but in science the opinion of authorities is irrelevant. If you want to learn more about any medical subject, you read medical textbooks, prestige journals and clinical studies.

[@Hunter4042012]

@@respberry123 People are taking 2019 knowledge and applying it to 1986. It was not a series about us now looking at it in s 2019 light.

[@nisaesen3215]

@Long Schnozzed Tribesman In this case, you don't know if it is "absolute bunk". I'm sorry, were you there at the time that you think you know better than the FIRST RESPONDER to this incident?

[@ericsalisbury3583]

@Long Schnozzed Tribesman your whole arguement applies to you. youre a nobdy in a comment section. she has spent her life studying this.

[@nisaesen3215]

@Long Schnozzed Tribesman Please enlighten me what this "complete bunk" is that's supposedly objectively disproven with science. What has she said that you can counterfeit right now? I, a mere pathetic fool, just think you're full of crap :)

[@octopusxoctopus]

I would actually love to watch a documentary about this woman

[@JameBlack]

She has written a book, read the description to the video.

[@Xxmilkshake202xX]

Bobo Momo That is great. I would also want a documentary.

[@ChromaticaCitizen]

or a biopic and have Jessica Lange play her

[@ChromaticaCitizen]

Картофель i know 😔 idk what i was thinking. i’m a 🤡

[@idk-br6py]

שלום לך ישראלית ^•^

[@phillipsmith4473]

"Less knowledge, more silence and less panic" Now we know the consequences of that.

[@deeannwatson4453]

Trump is responding the same way... If you don't cover and lie for him you will be fired.... Dr Birx.

[@phillipsmith4473]

@@deeannwatson4453 China did the same basically.

[@catdivuar7909]

But you should understand the difference between the concealment of facts to save 50-hundred civilians, which was evacuated in about 24 hours, and situation with Covid 2019... I think these are too different situations to compare...

[@crehhhnshawjamaica440]

Sounds a whole lot familiar..china

[@crunchu2361]

noone is immune to propaganda... this is still happening today with our govnt

[@Batnano]

"we have a nuclear disaster and a lot of iradiated people,quickly,hide all the books that tells us how to treat it"

[@ngaare]

Everything looks like they would like to kill their own people

[@zimriel]

Yeah I caught that. Which is why everyone outside Russia assumes the high count over the low count of casualties. Even if Putin (and this doctor) are right about the low count, nobody will believe them.

[@mmdoof]

Ukraine has been able to study and treat the aftermath independently and in cooperation with the international academic community since 1991, so russia has very little role over the narrative. The general truth about the effects of the disaster is quite well known. Why people buy the unproven high numbers, it's part ignorance, part political bias against nuclear power I think.@@zimriel

[@ghost.ranger1628]

They did not want people to know they were gone already

[@tiagomorais8038]

@@zimriel putin has nothing to do with chernobil

[@catalina187]

"Our response should be based on science, not on fear." Boy should that be the slogan for 2020...

[@kahkah1986]

Yes, although good science has a healthy respect for the unknown variables and good scientists try and avoid making blanket statements that we shouldn't be concerned about something they cannot scientifically claim to have comprehensively studied. Chernobyl is an object lesson in officials making statements in scientific language to avoid mass panic, telling everyone they were being scientific yet at the same time refusing to allow basic scrutiny that science objectively demands.

[@summushieremiasclarkson4700]

Yes. Now you define what constitutes a proper application of the scientific method, and who's lying. As a scientist myself, I'm perfectly aware how several highly contradictory theories can be equally possible. Speculation at this scale is spectacularly axiomatic.

[@ruialexandre6197]

Amen to that, you said better than I did.

[@ruialexandre6197]

@@kahkah1986 basically, politicians editing the science to suit their political needs. Now, where have I seen this recently?

[@chadthunder8362]

You said everything I would say.

[@firashasan82]

You look at her eyes, and you know : she's seen things...

[@capitaldcolon1795]

yeah, she had seen DOZENS of plastic surgery tables as a patient. Jokes aside, seems like a really strong woman. That makes it even weirder that she felt the need to alter her face by plastic surgery to look like a cat alien.

[@pizzapizza2356]

@@capitaldcolon1795, what does her appearance have to do with anything? What an unnecessary comment.

[@adwaitab.3622]

@@pizzapizza2356 judging a women by her looks is what these assholes can do

[@EazyDuz18]

nah she hasnt, shes a nobody

[@pizzapizza2356]

​@@adwaitab.3622 I see that. How sad.

[@dowehavetoputournames2420]

The baby absorbing the radiation thing never sat right with me I'm glad she cleared it up

[@dansmart3182]

I always took it as, this is what the firefighters wife believed and told her..... which it is.

[@sbakarcic]

But the fact is, the baby died and doctors told her she will never have another baby again. And here she is, living in Kiev with her son. So I'm not saying that baby saved the mom, but baby died, mom didn't.

[@jarskil8862]

Not related to radiation but: lets say that pregnant woman receives almost deadly dose of X toxin. The baby gives her enough body mass to stay alive, but the baby dies. This is all possible?

[@Matt-bg5wg]

She said there was a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings. So what she says about the doctors saying the baby died because of the radiation is historically accurate - they legitimately didn’t have enough data to know for sure but that was their best guess - but it’s scientifically inaccurate. A point made at the end of the series when we see the wife is alive with another child.

[@BloodMuffin1er]

I think they included that bit because it's what the real Lyudmilla Ignatenko wrote about that time. She felt as if the baby had absorbed all radiation.

[@gail6552]

I feel like the series was trying to be more emotional than accurate. So that we the viewer can understand just how dangerous and how much radiation and all those fancy studies truly are.

[@alexcal24]

I believe that too. I dare say, I like the changes and it's important to learn. We learnt what happened in Chernobyl more or less.

[@gail6552]

@@alexcal24 yes! I agree! Every time i watch the series I get so upset for everyone affected.

[@mark2102]

Except, as the scientist just pointed out, the series made the dangers of radiation appear a lot worse than they actually are and provided grossly inaccurate information to include the inflated death count. But anything to help anti-nuclear sentiments I guess.

[@gail6552]

@@mark2102 True many things were in accurate but that’s Hollywood for you. But it caused a lot of people to look more into it and look at it in general. The deaths of that day and a week or two after can be mapped out. But it’s hard to map how it truly affected all the regions around. Of course American propaganda is gonna portray this as a bad as possible but at least people somewhat know. Our knowledge is our responsibility, it’s our job to be sure we know what we know with all the resources available to us.

[@mariannetaylor4293]

It wasn't filmed like that to show us how dangerous radiation is or be educational in any way. It was sensationally dramatised to get the viewing figures as high as possible.

[@nicksurfs1]

How did you get her!!? My jaw is on the floor! I could listen to her talk for hours!!

[@esaedvik]

@@MitchellWiggs How many languages do you excel at?

[@rammen4]

You know that woman in the program isn't a real person right?

[@esaedvik]

@@rammen4 I think you misunderstood what he was amazed about.

[@aritakalo8011]

Well She lives in USA and works for FDA..... So they probably just called her and asked for interview... She is a radiation safety expert, so she most likely will be more than happy to talk about her subject of expertise as long as the filming happens at convenient time and location. Most researchers are like that.

[@ColdfFlare]

Your jaw is on the floor? Were you exposed to radiation for three seconds?

[@christakimoto8425]

Dr. Shapiro is a true expert on this topic and she is also an outstanding oncologist/hematologist. Glad to see VF got the perfect person to comment on this powerful mini-series.

[@blew1t]

wait why didnt i notice her last name is shapiro

[@charin951]

Wife of Ben Shapiro?

[@nicoles7800]

Thankyou so much.

[@PoisonTheOgres]

cha rin Yes there is absolutely no one else in the world with the last name Shapiro

[@c6q3a24]

@@PoisonTheOgres But I've been led to believe his wife is a doctor?

[@PLMCPL17]

As a slavic guy, i'am really impressed at how good her English is considering that almost 99% of old people you come across in Slavic countries can't say a thing in English

[@Butmunch666]

Depends on the country. Some Slavic countries have great English speakers. I know, I live in one.

[@jarskil8862]

She is giving me Asmr haha

[@MellowJelly]

well i'm a native english speaker and i can't say a single thing in any slavic language. lol

[@SamuelBSR]

It's unbelivable how good her English is. I bet there is a reason why she learned English at her age. Most likely she immigrated in an English-speaking country.

[@PermanentHigh]

She lives in the US

[@krahvata]

I quite like the interpretation that the show's exact intent was to portray Chernobyl after the explosion exactly as it was, lies, fear and misinformation. They didn't get everything right but it perfectly illustrates exactly what people believed at that time due to not enough knowledge on radiation and the government's cover-ups. Tv series aren't documentaries and shouldn't be treated as fact.

[@MajoradeMayhem]

I somewhat agree, but the foetus absorbing radiation is total nonsense that a scientist would never believe in. She knows how radiation works, it's not some kind of bacterial disease.

[@dadikkedude]

@@MajoradeMayhem Talking about misinformation this series is spreading.

[@TheMightyZwom]

@@MajoradeMayhem Scientists are humans. That means they're not always right. YES, you should trust them IN THEIR FIELD; outside of it however they are just ordinary humans. So it is - imho - somewhat realistic that a physicist might believe false medical information, just as a medical doctor might have false ideas about physics. Lastly I just have to quote Anita Borozan here: "Tv series aren't documentaries and shouldn't be treated as fact." That is something one should not forget whilst watching them - especially if they are BASED ON real events...

[@MajoradeMayhem]

@@TheMightyZwom You're clearly not a scientist. A physicist can't help you diagnose cholera, but they aren't going to make such a fundamental mistake about the nature of radiation. Radiation is her speciality. That would be like a medical doctor not knowing which way around the human heart goes.

[@toyohari78]

no one believed such things back then ! this is ridiculous !

[@leah_beaute]

Its crazy how many people in the comments are saying that a certified doctor who had first hand experience working with the patients in this situation is incorrect... I'm sorry were you there too

[@hardcorasapotinazaret1959]

So we should believe everything?

[@ultramagahoosierhermit2767]

Our younger generations have not been taught critical thinking. They're geared to be more susceptible to conspiracy. Any explanation but the actual truth. It's really damaging our society. I think it is the end goal to control people.

[@maartenmulder2630]

@@ultramagahoosierhermit2767 funny how you're actually spreading ideas of a conspiracy, before blindly going off about the youth.

[@DemonRuby]

Yeah, because obviously HBO is more trustworthy than an actual doctor who's been there and seen it all. These series have been a shock for the west and most of the world, but neighbouring countries of Ukraine have known everything about it for decades already.

[@thethiccdonut5257]

anderson_beauty She’s right though

[@cynthiasonier5142]

Whenever a doctor contradicts what you see in a movie, enjoy the movie but you better believe the doctor!

[@RahulKumar-ng2gh]

good one, sister

[@evab.6240]

Yep. Agree.

[@arrownpc1166]

Yeah, a lot of people dont watch a series cause of some small liberties.

[@fare-5174]

Not sure where she contradicted the show? Some things were underscored for drama points, and some things were considered truth in the past and were proven wrong now, sure, but it does not mean that the show was incorrect to include them. Just a deep dive into Soviet era, with all that it entails.

[@easley421]

Unless it's a communist doctor. They'll tell you everything is fine while harvesting your kidney.

[@tomte47]

This is the problem with series or films "based on real events". People take them as actual documentaries.

[@volcryndarkstar]

Well they present themselves as well researched and so we give them the benefit of the doubt. But Then some video like this comes out that reveals how little research actually went into it.

[@buccos2324]

Yep and then they vote accordingly thinking they know science when really theyre just watching tv shows 😂😂 never doing their own research, never understanding the constant challenges/flaws science faces similar to any other discipline (things like p-hacking, the fact that vast numbers of studies can't be replicated, etc.), never considering the multidimensionality of issues, choosing to always just take the side of science without any other considerations, etc....

[@FrostDK98]

@@volcryndarkstar tf are u on about? Tons of research went into it. This video barely contradicts it. And when she says the show states incorrect information, thats reflective of the time period. It was believed that radiation could be contagious although now we know its not

[@Werkvuur]

Anyone with more than seven brain cells knows not to.

[@reianvase6683]

STop pretending you're not one of those people. You merely had this opinion after watching this clip. Get off your high horse.

[@alpha3836]

Her tone and they way she speaks is so calming and soothing, like every patient must've felt a little bit happy under her care.. She's a true professional.

[@AlexShotFirstTTV]

I was born in Minsk, Belarus. I often ask my mother about the incident and the things that followed. She does her best to control her anger and frustration. Those who lived and were affected by the disaster in my family, refuse to watch this show as it brings up too many terrible memories. People fail to realize that the only way to describe how the Soviet government handled itself during and for the most part, after the disaster is pure evil.

[@MaxHohenstaufen]

Sorry to ask, but isn't Belarus like, the last dictatorship in Europe now? Didn't _Babka_ just "re-relected" himself last week after 25 years?

[@AlexShotFirstTTV]

Maximilian Dummnichtswürdigkerl yes

[@imjashingyou3461]

I have ran into a large community on here that believes this is all western propaganda/ hysterical assuming/wanting to portray the soviet government as incompetent. Im glad there are people like you willing to speak out. And of course this film pissed off the Putin Government so much there is a Russian version being funded by the state "showing the true story" of "CIA" sabotage coming out soon.

[@praeceptor]

The show is not a documentary, it takes its artistic freedom in how to tell a story, based on actual events. There is, certainly, some kind of obligation regarding the real people. For me the show is relevant simply because of the question "What is the cost of lies?", which can't be more relevant than in this weird year 2020, and it does justice to the common folk affected by that incident. That is, in my eyes, the great achievement. Now all over the world viewers know of the fate of Vasily Ignatenko and his wife, those poor night-shift guys and all the others. Their fate is emotionally experienceable, people can connect. And thus the victims will never be forgotten. And that breaks the attempted cover-ups by officials, by that corrupted system. The sacrifice isn't overlooked anymore, it is not bound to local monuments and official rituals anymore. What ist keeping the face of the Soviet government worth? NOTHING. It is long gone.

[@elgrigorio1]

I was born in Odessa, my parents knew people who worked and survived the explosion. A man I encountered years ago, was in his late 40s, was working in Chernobyl the day the reactor exploded. His skin did not melt off, but the radiation terribly destroyed his lungs, kidneys as well as the rest of his insides.

[@TheEnginator]

Someone give this lady some water. She needs it immediately and we need her to talk more.

[@jexotic1470]

Exactly what I was thinking lmfaoo

[@jesser5127]

Water for what? There's nothing wrong with her during this.

[@nataliejenkins4668]

@@jesser5127 she seemed nervous during it

[@foofyloo]

@@nataliejenkins4668 I mean, if you did what she did you'd be nervous too. She mentioned that you would lose your job or any if you didn't listen to the orders given. Old Ukraine was much different than the democracy it's become now.

[@nataliejenkins4668]

@@foofyloo facts

[@alicefish8348]

seen all that, been a refugee, move to the US, learnt a new language, retrained, and still made it this far in her career- AND is a great speaker. what a woman.

[@armysister125]

learned* sorry, had to

[@alicefish8348]

"learnt " is perfectly acceptable in British English, go look it up :) so no, not "learned"

[@smiley8106]

armysister125 burn

[@l2ic3]

At no point did she say that she was a refugee. She never said she lived in or near Pripyat. She probably just worked in the Soviet Union and then moved to America at some point.

[@IamThatIsTwoMice]

@@l2ic3 if you read the description under the video it does say she was a refugee along with her family and stayed in a refugee camp in Italy

[@aleciahansen7859]

She’s someone I’d love to hear lecture or have a conversation with. So calm and intelligent.

[@spanglelime]

I just saw another comment saying there are videos of her speaking. Search Dr. Alla Shapiro. I'm gonna after I finish this.

[@ahah1785]

my mom was sent there, she was a nurse, she refused and lost her job and even housing - a small price to pay for keeping your life, we moved to poland as soon as the ussr fell....

[@Anxmaly666]

Glad to here you made it out of Pripyat/Chernobyl alive.

[@tbk29]

Your mom had ultra instinct

[@huzumnicolas4343]

If that was true,your mom is awsome!

[@mattgogman575]

Health workers should be the personification of courage to help when are hard times, cowardice and selfishness are impermissible when medical help is needed. Not everyone is like your mother and in theese hard times fortunately.

[@h0lywh0r33]

good for both of you. my town accepted a lot of evacuated people, we even have around 6-9 new villages because of it

[@samanthaj.4968]

Someone get this woman a documentary.

[@iloveclorox8633]

Rise and Shine❤️

[@balazsharkai5118]

@@iloveclorox8633 is that Kylie?

[@nathanwilliams3762]

How bout a Biopic?

[@nathanwilliams3762]

yee yee I actually disagree, while the HBO series was good, it did antagonize certain people and dramatize many parts of it. In reality the set of events happened for the most part like what happened in the show, but there are some differences.

[@nathanwilliams3762]

Vila ` You’re probably right, all I’m saying is as good as this one was, it definitely wasn’t perfect.

[@outdoorfreedom9778]

This is one very intelligent and well-spoken woman.

[@GeneralG1810]

There's actually plenty of them out there, unfortunately these days society would rather listen to pretty famous women who are dumb as a box of rocks than intelligent educated women like this!

[@TheEroina]

she's reading a prewritten text for her actually.

[@randaalsaleem9437]

@Leka Floyd not really, those who only use their “looks” to get money and fame are not necessarily smart,they’re just lucky and it’s okay do whatever you want However it’s clearly dangerous sometimes when these people speak on important topics and are taken seriously, as they influence many people.

[@dariocardajoli6831]

Ok?

[@pincmin]

@Leka Floyd but not interesting. Carrie Fisher(RIP) is the first that comes to mind as an entertaining and intelligent woman. There are many "pretty famous women" that need to add drama to their narratives to make it more interesting and relatable. That's a smart move, but without the drama they're boring. There's nothing special about them, except their money.

[@Durex653]

When you see white dots in footage of Chernobyl, it's not really because it's an old footage but it's actually the radiation messing with cameras that's what i heard atleast

[@berryberrykixx]

You are correct. Ionizing radiation will destroy film. In the case of radiation, you get that with little specks and flashes as tiny particles hit the film. When I was younger, I was always reminded to rewind my film in my camera before I opened the shudder or the sunlight would ruin all of my photos. Same idea.

[@AlisonBryen]

@@berryberrykixx I remember my Mom rewinding the camera film at the end of the roll in the 1980s/90s too.

[@ghost.ranger1628]

That is true.

[@jungha496]

The ending words are so true. Science may not be able to answer all the questions, but fear can answer much less.

[@rightwingersexposed8800]

Science can answer all questions we just need to apply and use it

[@mariatxxxc]

I wish this video was longer, such an interesting person

[@philipcooper8297]

There's crap loads of related videos on youbook. Even made by the actual liquidators of the events.

[@johndifrancisco3642]

@@philipcooper8297 Thanks for posting that. I've never heard of youbook.

[@philipcooper8297]

@@johndifrancisco3642 Yep, read all about it on my facetube.

[@tammi3121]

@@philipcooper8297 lol😅

[@MsObeyy]

María Txc i agree

[@justbecause3754]

Imagine studying and practicing your profession for years, just for someone to instruct you to tell people the opposite of the situation.

[@joshjlmgproductions3313]

That actually happened recently.

[@RFC-3514]

Are you talking about Chernobyl or Deborah Birx? Because she didn't seem to have any problem doing exactly that. :-P

[@0000song0000]

i think the portrayal of the firefighter is based on his wife's testimony on the Voices of Chernobyl book, where she says he changed colors, turning purple, then greenish white and black 😥 she also said that on his last days he thew up parts of his own organs. So yeah, clearly the makeup artists read that and tried to represent it

[@turin236]

It was, she even describes how his skin was peeling of and how she changed his bloody sheets. The makeup artists clearly did a good job representing this kind of radiation in regards to her accounts. There are even photos of him during this somewhere, as she also states in the book

[@spaztron5000]

I feel like I read that the book has completely unverified sources.

[@_greenrunner_]

and like the doctor said, the rendition in the series is exagerrated

[@michaellofting4579]

If you search for images of radiation burns there are some pretty horrible ones. IMHO the ones portrayed don’t seem that far off the mark.

[@ashleyrosearc]

You can’t throw up parts of your organs.

[@jamesduffy7549]

actual doctor who was there and treated victims "this is what happened" americans on the internet who've seen a tv show: "UHM AKKKSSSHHHYYYYKKKUUUAALLLLYYYY"

[@MrAussieJules]

Well at least they know global warming is a hoax and co2 is not a driver, unlike the orwellian sheep in Europe...

[@stevebryce6071]

You got to love these sweeping generalisations- ALL Americans think this and ALL Europeans think that. 😂😂😂

[@jamesduffy7549]

@@stevebryce6071 its usually americans who are arrogant enough

[@ahrfry]

Man.. we know this is fiction. There are documentation videos on youtube and you can just check Chernobyl images on google...

[@jamesduffy7549]

@@ahrfry dude literally just scroll down, a particular gem starts with "she clearly knows nothing about the affects of radiation"

[@trfreitas1983]

She's just being professional as she always has been. Basically, she's just giving us the key tip; Chernobyl is a great miniseries, it is accurate but is not a documentary. It is a dramatic exercise of reconstructing a fact that many unknew or forgot. Not anymore. Kudos for Alla and her great contribution. 👏👏👏👏

[@star_gazing]

We have to also bear in mind that the mini series is based on real accounts of the people that lived through the tragedy, at the time the Soviet Union took decisions without any scientifically basis

[@matsv201]

The irony is that the social stuff is like 95% accurate... And the science stuff is like 5% accurate.

[@ThisIsTheTowne]

... Who forgot Chernobyl? You kids, never knowing your past (Has vastly less knowledge of the time before I was born as well, but I'm somehow still right). This is like THE thing they gotta mention it in school or is it ALLLL About Fukushima now? Radioactive water is a more interesting subject I guess.

[@josharntt]

@@ThisIsTheTowne You can't forget something when you weren't close to existence at the time

[@Cat-tg8nk]

very well said

[@Carthybp]

"Our response should be based on science not on fear" I have a new ammendment to my personal philosophy.

[@royliber3824]

She is spitting out the truth like its nothing... Such an amazing lady she is and I hope to see her again in future projects like this.

[@rootkit4865]

Whell actually looks like a lot of doubtable moments was removed. HBO Chernoby have a lot more problems then you actually can see and specialist should notice those moments, like chernoby doctors scene where absoloutley no one new what radiation is, it is TOTALY untrue and doctors just looks like idiots.

[@royliber3824]

@@rootkit4865 HBO shows usually like that unfortunately... I don't buy it that none of the doctors knew what radiation is... Radiation is something that was well known before the incident. Heck, our bodies right now have some degree of radiation in them just not enough to hurt obviously. People studied this way before and they made it look like something completely new lol

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@royliber3824 " I don't buy it that none of the doctors knew what radiation is" The film didn't say that, dumbass.

[@lorcan1091]

What truth? This woman can't even tell a guy cut himself on a door. I'd be concerned if she was my doctor.

[@aaronipepperoni1362]

So people weren't contagious but people thought they were... So it kinda was accurate to show it like that in the series right?

[@aaronipepperoni1362]

@Matt S yeaaaa I saw documentarys... So sad...

[@Jesszicar]

Exactly...

[@YuBeace]

Aaroni Pepperoni Yep, and she does agree people thought that way and that it was dangerous that they did so.

[@MARYWTHER]

Okay but isn't Lioudmila a real woman who testified about what happened to her? She really lost her baby and she really went to visit her husband in the hospital and all. So she lost her baby because of the explosion itself and not because of what followed (her going to the hospital and staying with her husband)?

[@АнтонРябов-з7ш]

After nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WW2 was same troubles in Japan. People who survived them called Hibakusa (don’t know how it how to spell it). People was crossing the street to NOT contact them because they didn’t knew anything about radiation and how it can spread between people (it can’t btw). This, so as Chernobyl and Fukushima, shows that human stupidity and carelessnes can kill same amount of people as anger and any kind of agression

[@alext2k3]

100% of the comments - "I can't believe people are disagreeing with this doctor! She was literally there!" 0% of the comments - "She's actually incorrect" Oh youtube comments, you puzzle me!

[@Einsatzkommando]

Ya because the doctors were indoctrinated with the same gov propaganda of the time.

[@lordsamich755]

Dur... Because she's correct?

[@JasonJia11]

Maybe you should look at new comments instead of top comments? Obviously you'll never find those kind of comments just by sorting in top comments.

[@WalterLiddy]

@@lordsamich755 The point is that nobody's saying she isn't.

[@lordsamich755]

@@WalterLiddy Because she's not incorrect.

[@maceyishappy]

She needs more screen time. I kinda want a mini series with her just talking about anything related to the Chernobyl incident or her profession

[@pandamilkshake]

Remember, people. When something is labeled as "based on real events", it just means that the base story has happened. Like...you can make a WW2 movie about bioweapons and mechanical soldiers and still say it's "based on real events" as long as the battle it depicts had actually happened

[@fredsmith-kingofthelunatic7810]

The famous example being the movie Braveheart. Definitely based on a real story. At the same time it's the biggest bunch of complete horsesh't the world has ever seen.

[@gpt-jcommentbot4759]

BASED on real events

[@thelostsparten]

Clearly and honestly HBO stated that they took some liberties. As for the makeup the head of the department stated that they wanted to make it look realistic without making it unwatchable. That being said I enjoyed learning what was really real and what wasnt.

[@rallokkcaz]

The scientist who gives the iodine is actually not wrong when she gave the iodine to the secretary. According to the timeline it was about 18 hours since the explosion and fallout would have fallen soon after. Scientists aren't perfect but her effort was not wasted.

[@esaedvik]

They wanted shock value.

[@zuldo8577]

It looks nothing close to realistic, its a standard horror makeup.

[@madigable2125]

LostSparten071 I also think that they said to find actually pictures of those in recovery was difficult, so they had to go by description

[@FS4SS]

​@@Bringadingus While you are correct in this context, it's worth noting that radiation sickness has manifested itself in an equally gruesome way as is portrayed here. It's just that this particular man would not be exhibiting those symptoms. I postulate that this actor's make-up is based on an incident that happened in a Japanese nuclear reactor. A man fell into a vat of radioactive material. That man's burns (very real, and photograped for posterity) look very similar to these burns (not entirely similar - there is much less actual flesh). I won't link to those specific pictures. They're as horrifying as you would expect; moreso even, since they are real and the images shown here are fake. You can find them through a quick google search with a prompt of "Hisashi Ouchi." AGAIN - VIEWER DISCRETION HIGHLY ADVISED.

[@noelmajers6369]

She's extremely good. She gives exactly the right level of dispassionate analysis, explaining clearly where and why the series got things right and when it didn't with no obvious axe to grind and no attempt to cover things up - she simply states how it really was. She's one in a million and she was also there.

[@Acridobject]

Apparently nobody in Chernobyl was speaking English with a variety of British accents. very Interesting

[@jovlahovich965]

Lol

[@kaylash.4603]

Yeah definitely, I thought Chernobyl was the 5th country in the UK, and now what! The world is insane

[@Dima0zykov]

They decided to stick with British accent because Russian accent would sound hilarious and non-serious while this show is definitely serious. And as Ukrainian I agree with that. I’ve watched “Chernobyl” in English and didn’t have any strange feelings about the accent.

[@saschamayer4050]

You know, contrary to Hollywood beliefs, when people talk in their native language, it doesn't sound like having a strange foreign accent at all, either. 😉

[@kaylash.4603]

@@Dima0zykov I think they agree with you completely (I do, at least), that was just for the sake of a joke

[@angelicdexter]

This woman is a legend and she deserves all the recognition in the world

[@elizabethanntarter]

The things she’s seen...

[@Nadesican]

There are many types of people I would consider a heroes. 'Chernobyl Doctors' definitely rank among them.

[@sapphiresushi3437]

And it’s amazing that she seems fine. She is a legend!

[@blinkeu7775]

She said the description of the burns wasn’t accurate? I’m just wondering, is it actually worse or less horrific? I’m too scared to look up pictures of it 😅

[@dataexpunged6969]

@@blinkeu7775 it's just that they are burned in many parts of the body, not all over. But don't see it because it might scar you regardless, since they are the pictures of actual real humans

[@kitten6314]

radiation burns are like a lot less severe than shown in the show

[@KS-se9jb]

This hit me hard when she said they didn’t know the dosage to take and would give their kids a ulcers 😔😭 These poor people.

[@chasingstars5614]

Same... my parents were taking it at school when the accident happened...

[@seho8722]

Just dirty communist... They are all happy they did not send everybody to GOOGLag))))

[@Uarehere]

@@seho8722 not like in America, where true patriots follow their leader's instructions to drink bleach to cure their illnesses.

[@visx1792]

@@Uarehere or hydroxychloroquine? 😂

[@WarneysWorld]

Yes, heartbreaking 😭

[@user-lz9vg9xz8y]

Huge respects to this woman for what she's seen in her life

[@ivanmonahhov2314]

Good at reading script. Try looking her up.

[@Moonwatery]

@@ivanmonahhov2314 explain yourself

[@shawnlynch9658]

@@Moonwatery he's a loser. Ignore him.

[@flashbond]

9:26 These are not burns. This is how a person exposed to radiotion will look like after ionising radiation tears the cellular structure apart. Then the cellular damage begins to manifest. Bone marrow dies, immune system fails. The organs and soft tissue begin to decompse. Those decays are the result of this decomposition.

[@halinaqi2194]

They would be dead by that point so either way the guy looking like that and alive still doesnt feel right.

[@milkman1196]

@@halinaqi2194 apparently it's true, his wife, (I forgot her name) said he was puking out bits of his organs out and there are other accounts where a man's face fell off

[@whitetipvelociraptor5759]

And here I thought that nothing could be scarier than the Bubonic Plague........guess I was wrong........😶

[@Aigle20350]

@@halinaqi2194 no they wouldn’t be. Sadly radiation poisoning has a slow and agonizing death to the extent that in the medical community there are still debates about whether it was truly ethical to keep such patients alive for that long.

[@dsniper3776]

@@milkman1196 their face's skin come off but it was dried, layer by layer like a snake shredding its skin, not floppy shiny chunks like in the movies. There are still clips of chernobyl's victim who suffered acute radiation sickness and they dont look like that

[@johanfalk2875]

We’re now at a time where Vanity freakin Fair is posting more factual and substantive pieces than the majority of “reputable” news sources. Wtf...

[@theragkues271]

Respect my pronouns!!!

[@estefaniabs]

Weird times, my friend...

[@miceatah9359]

4 real man i was in shock looking at what channel i actually watched

[@lordx4641]

@@miceatah9359 nah its majorly becuase of chernobyl series

[@AFpaleoCon]

When did HBO become a reputable source? Perhaps it’s you who is the gullible drone easily controlled...

[@ellenkarlsson9490]

This woman perfectly demonstrates how to speak if you don't know the language very well or have a thick foreign accent: slowly and as clearly as you can so that people will understand you. Most people who are insecure about their language skills will try to hide any pronunciation errors by speaking fast or slurry, making it harder to understand them.

[@ritakarpati4134]

She actually knows the language pretty well, but indeed her accent is perfectly understandable because of her pacing.

[@ellenkarlsson9490]

@@ritakarpati4134 Yes, her vocabulary is very extensive which proves that her English skills are very good. But she still has that typical Russian way of skipping "the".

[@ZunderCraft]

@@ellenkarlsson9490 Well she couldn't think of the word "plausible" at 11:53, so not that extensive.

[@ellenkarlsson9490]

@@ZunderCraft I forget words in my native language all the time. That means nothing.

[@SS-lj6dr]

If I were you I'd never say this in front of a foreigner, it doesn't make you look good. Not sure what you meant by "how to speak if you don't know the language very well"? Sure her accent may be thick, but her English is great!! And it would have been even better if she weren't speaking so slowly, her speech sounded so labored... If someone made an effort to learn my language, the least I can do is put a little effort into understanding their accent instead of expecting them to cater to my needs...

[@anonymus6646]

The secrecy was a crime to the inhabitants of Chernobyl. They deserve an apology and financial aid. Unbelievable.

[@Ryanfinder226]

The government who committed the crime dissolved. No one to pay. You could try to blame the new Russia but at the end of the day they’re legally not liable

[@nero5985]

Welcome to USSR

[@Invizive]

@@Ryanfinder226 well, legally they are. Russian government claimed that it inherits connections, rights and liabilities of USSR. A lot of people in the government, including the President, were in power even then. However, it's not likely that they would accept any responsibility even now

[@luciav8595]

This is not the USA you can't just give people money and expect history to be erased

[@Invizive]

@@luciav8595 because you can force history teachers for free

[@hardikvora7075]

its ironic "What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all."

[@RCK801]

The unintended consequences of fear are real - after Fukushima women in Japan had unnecessary abortions out of fear. We should be more responsible.

[@zolikoff]

Basically the whole evacuation was overdone due to fear. It caused more deaths and suffering than the accident would've ever caused. The only way to combat this fear is through knowledge. Curie said something like that too.

[@xandr13]

Why don't you google "Chernobyl child mutations" and then think again whether all of those were unnecessary.

[@RCK801]

@@xandr13 I'm sorry did you just tell me to use Google to find credible information - I'm a scientist I read peer reviewed journals

[@imthel0rd]

Intelligence Hurts good for you?

[@adrianghandtchi1562]

Intelligence Hurts do peer reviewed journals have photos enclosed for reference?

[@Trund27]

She’s amazing! I’m glad she clarified about radiation sickness not being contagious after the clothes were removed and the patient was bathed.

[@GreenGoblinCoryintheHouse]

The Wikipedia article does more justice than the show,Chernobyl. The clothes are still there,in general,elephant's foot is an unpleasant place.

[@Charzy1230]

That was a myth at the time though, it is not saying that is what actually happens, but rather displaying what people thought at the time...

[@adamwiggins9865]

This is what we want, people with actual knowledge, calling out the glorification of things in movies that may cause actual panic in the public.

[@estefaniabs]

I respectfully disagree. Because the movie is art. They are responsible for what they say, not what you understand. However, we are in an era of easy access of information, and yet, people don't search properly! "I googled it, and it's real!" But it was an unreliable webpage. This can cause panic, and, in this case, I agree with you, not because of this movie, but because of our ascidian (I don't know if this is the right word in English), our laziness for research in science.

[@rp6635]

@@estefaniabs the art is not the problem. The problem is a lot of people don't see it as art but complete truth.

[@eyesclosed3709]

The issue is that if the series was about a made up event people would question what's presented more. But because it's about a real event, people take what they see as facts, because why would anybody lie and make up things about what happened to the real victims, especially if the reality was already horrendous, and especially because this is something that could happen again

[@estefaniabs]

@@rp6635 yes!!! That's my point! You said exactly what I was trying to say!

[@3DSDF]

But the show didn’t glorify anything. It all felt like a reminder of the past and a warning on how lying can result in the lost of millions of lives.

[@brigeatenex]

The exposure to severe radiation is actually not that well documented so the FX team did not have that much material for very late stages - there’s a Variety video interviewing the lead makeup artist. So in the end although makeup was definitely the most fictionalised, the show was very well researched. People forget it wasn’t a documentary, it was a tv show based on true events portraying what people felt during the event, and they did it really well.

[@KommandantKavu]

That depiction was effectively what a corpse looks like in later stages of decomposition. And likely based on pictures of the Japanese Hisashi Ouchi who was kept alive with acute radiation poisoning for roughly 3 months. Much of his skin was grafted as it fell apart and grew infected. It’s not ‘that’ inaccurate to those things.

[@PikaPetey]

People forget that cinema photography is a visual media. The make up artist had a job to show the audience how horrible radiation is. Sometimes to get that message across, visuals have to be exagerated.

[@brigeatenex]

@@PikaPeteyexactly!

[@AB-80X]

Wrong. There's literally tons of info. But I guess she had to say something which validated her extreme use of gore.

[@xWHITExEAGLEx]

@@PikaPetey But it's stupid and disrespectful, keep the exaggeration for fantasy stories, not depictions of real events.

[@FM-kl7oc]

HBO should have consulted with this doctor before making the show.

[@zoekate9943]

Foxy Mountain they consulted with hundreds of people in the making of the documentary.

[@ElixirOfEuphoria]

The director himself stated that they took some liberties for dramatic effect, it is a show, not a documentary.

[@CC-CR]

A lot of the things said on the show actually do reflect what people were told at the time, even if it wasn't factually true. For example with getting contaminated with touching people who have been affected, it was what they believed.

[@mythillogic]

@mralex070 It would be boring for people who don't have the brains to watch a documentary and think about the story. It would be boring for people who expect everything on TV to be garish, overblown and totally stupid.

[@brokenlegend23]

Propaganda about sad events has to be entertaining too, with an element of realism. So HBO did what they needed to do.

[@andrewareva4605]

Me: She is going to say it wasn't that bad. Doctor: It was actually much worse.

[@Cassxowary]

Andrew Areva it was! You probably don’t even want to know...

[@chasm671]

What video did you watch? "Radiation victims cannot irradiate others." "Radiation burns were not as bad as depicted." "The number [death toll] is largely inflated." Was there a single instance of where she said the reality was much worse than the show's portrayal?

[@realtsavo]

@@chasm671 They might be referring to the quality of the series?

[@DJVARAO]

@@realtsavo good one! but you might be right XD

[@vojislavl6665]

@@realtsavo in all honesty I thought the series was rubbish

[@kokoriko999]

The last statement is so relevant for the crisis we are going through now..."Information should be based on science , not fear" .

[@AmandaHugandKiss411]

Her final words are truly something that should be how we speak of the past. This woman is wise and wisdom should always be thanked when passed along. I am so glad I had the opportunity to hear her speak. 💕💕💕

[@Ye4rZero]

I don't think there's alot that could make this lady lose her composure.

[@strtngfrsh]

Correct, she's well trained and dedicated to the truth......the Russian Truth.

[@sparksfly6149]

Yes - she’s truly a role model for all who wish to improve their image.

[@Schatten2712]

you can tell she have seen things...

[@dantwolalaplayz3222]

Love the profile pic🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

[@kawafahra]

Medical personal in general lost their composure often enough to know and control themselves pretty well. We are nothing special, only have seen some more than average, so got used to emergent stress.

[@michealbay1290]

Give us a 2 hour unedited vid

[@Evija3000]

A full watchalong :D

[@liferiot]

I love how her resume is astonishing... now roll the clips. She's great. This was great.

[@katherined800]

"Science not fear" is a very timely statement.

[@route2070]

"Less knowledge, more silence, less panic." There is a story of the first tornado siren in the US in the 60's. The FCC didn't want tornado forecasts on air to prevent panic. After a tornado hit a military base in Oklahoma, a commanding officer talked to the meteorologist on base, and asked them if they could develop a warning procedure and ordered them to give a warning next time on the local news. Also the stories behind her information, is increadible and about as important as the actual information.

[@noloveleft9277]

My grandmother was a nurse in a medical clinic in Odessa, she was one of the first nurses to help the children as soon as they got off the bus. She told me they were between 10 and 16 years old (my Dad was at this time the same age) and it broke her hearth.

[@antonym24]

i doubt anyone in this comments section actually has ties too chernobyl lol

[@wrinkliestdog]

@@antonym24 huh?

[@elizabethhalt2096]

@@antonym24 ?? Do you not know how many people were affected by Chernobyl. Obviously if people have ties to Chernobyl they will be drawn to and more likely to watch this video, hence then higher amount of people with ties in the comments.

[@antonym24]

@@elizabethhalt2096 obv there was alot lmao. but youre telling me that every story here is true? There all the same. "bla bla, my family member lived there and died of cancer later, they were the first person too do something"

[@elizabethhalt2096]

@@antonym24 and I mean obviously a lot of them are going to have family/friends that died of tumors....radiation is a main cause of cancer

[@twinkstepwaifu]

I appreciate this because I could be easily misinformed by the movie "her fetus absorbed the radiation" not knowing anything about radiation poisoning.

[@UmbraKrameri]

Yeah, this statement was something I actually thought was strange as a biologist watching the show. However, getting radiation poisoning in any form while pregnant is still very dangerous to the fetus. Actually, this story they featured was largely based on the wife's memoir published in a collection of similar stories, Chernobyl Prayer, one of the sources of the show. So it was factually accurate, just the scientific explanation was a little flimsy. She most likely got a hefty dose of radiation staying near the power plant for days after the explosion and her fetus was more affected because her cell division was faster, leading to various birth defects.

[@Mike0Powell]

@@UmbraKrameri Thanks for the explanation! I knew that the events with the wife and her baby were real so when she said it was not scientifically feasible I wanted to know why then the baby still died in real life!

[@UmbraKrameri]

@@Mike0Powell You're very welcome. :))

[@gabetatarutyte4172]

The whole Ignatenko family story was based on Liudmila Ignatenko's own words in the book "Voices of Chernobyl" by Svetlana Alexievich. She told all about her firefighter husband, about his serious and scary-looking wounds and about the baby she gave birth to, who sadly lived for only 4 hours... I'm not a doctor and I know nothing about "radiation absorbtion by a fetus", but this is a fact and radiation had something to do with it. Needless to say, I highly recommend the book I mentioned - it contais firsthand stories of people who survived this tragedy.

[@agsmashups]

Like, the absorbing the radiation may not be a fact, but u can definitely agree they would have SAID that was the reason at the time, therefore, it’s not out of left wing or wrong of the show to say it. It’s what the characters and people believed.

[@dacypher22]

The bleeding scene is not due to radiation. It is because he was pressing his body against the large, heavy door into the reaction which was badly damaged.

[@Lindal_B]

Regardless of its visual accuracy this series was incredible.

[@Cymanytb]

it's not just visual though, did u even watch the whole video?

[@timfoote6919]

Agree, I knew of Chernobyl, I didn't know all the bureaucracy. And that lesson was terrifying. I think the series did a perfect job explaining how science was washed away and what horrors were allowed to happen to save face. Truly a black eye in Russian history. And a shameful act no less gut wrenching than the holocaust.

[@imjashingyou3461]

Thats the problem with this. There is one thing she gets wrong and thats the burns. The make up artist based his make up off medical text books, doctors, and victim photographs. Plus the wife's testimony of what he looks like describes EXACTLY this. She humbly and respectfully admits in the video shes never worked with that type of patient and is making and educated guess.

[@أندروميدا-ش7ك]

Indeed

[@g1ng3rsn4ps]

@@imjashingyou3461 EXACTLY!! *Thank you*

[@fernandosimon5621]

"Is not my opinion, there is no science to prove this statement"

[@shirleyleavitt1833]

How do you know what the science is?

[@Pllayer064]

@@shirleyleavitt1833 hOw Do YoU kNOw YoU'rE NoT a BrAiN iN tHe VaT

[@GrayCatbird1]

Such a simple thing, and yet so hard to learn

[@ScottMStolz]

There was no science that proves radio waves existed before we found proof that they did. Lack of proof does not mean something can't exist. If you have proof it didn't exist, that's believable. But to claim something isn't true just because there's no proof isn't reality.

[@BLINC606]

Scott M Stolz Yeah but the burden of proof would be on the side of claiming a fetus could absorb radiation like that.

[@paulaa3435]

I haven't watched the show yet, but I planned on doing so. I'm glad I've seen this video before watching it since I've read how the show is very realistic and factual. Now, I can watch it while knowing what's true and what's not. I would love to see a separate video in which this expert talks more about her experiences.

[@Balnazzardi]

Well The thing about radiation Burns and damage it does to human body... This can be very different depending on The victim...for some Im sure it didnt look nearly as that bad BUT Ive seen the images of the Japanese victim of late 90s where the victim accidently triggered nuclear reaction while on top of open experimental reactor....that mans entire body became nothing but red skeleton with flesh dropping out and his face was "melted" away as well like how they described what happened to Akimov in this show....so make no mistake, the damage that radiation can do to human body can be very gruesome indeed

[@paulaa3435]

@@Balnazzardi Well, I'm only going by what this expert has said since I'm definitely not as educated or informed as she is. I suppose there is a possibility that she isn't aware of this specific case in which the degree of burns is this severe. The man in your example was on top of an open reactor, so that would probably have a different effect than what this firefighter went through.

[@paulaa3435]

@Rebecca Woolf Thank you, I will definitely check it out.

[@lionhead123]

i think what they showed in the show was more mild than how it actually looked. They only show 2 victims of the direct radiation poisoning that killed them, i'm sure they looked bad enough, probably even worse than what you see in the show. I heard one of them had his face fall off. I'd rather see a blackened body.

[@TraceTrace25]

Read the book Hiroshima.

[@AntiqueBambi]

Say what you want about the series - it started a conversation about this. It got people asking questions, it got people looking for the truth. Something that certain people wanted to provide very little of at a time when it might have actually helped.

[@Enithrell]

"Should be based on science, not on fear" Coronavirus: Hold my beer.

[@legendarypussydestroyer6943]

*HOLD MY CORONA*

[@Cortesevasive]

Cut the facebook contain the spread of misinformation

[@lafayette7754]

Hold my bat wing

[@upcom1ng116]

Well... at this moment of time, science can not even tell exactly how far could the virus cause damage to human. Dr. W Ian Lipkin even admit it himself

[@sandrotabidze6726]

I was drinking water abd when i saw your comment i spit it on my phone

[@AWallgren]

This lady is an extraordinary human being for doing what she did, knowing well what the dangers were.

[@mickadatwist1620]

Back then she had no choice. Do it or Gulag.

[@IZn0g0uDatAll]

Still admirable. And no, yoi weren’t sent to the gulag like that. It’s not 1936 soviet union.

[@AWallgren]

@@IZn0g0uDatAll yet it remains unchanged today. Try speaking out against Putin.....gulag time.

[@wut-dah_7212]

Can’t imagine what she must have witnessed back then.

[@rehfleisch_x3202]

Wut?? ಠ_ಠ, It’s basically a really bad fure

[@vojislavl6665]

She witnessed the Soviets eating babies and killing a gazillion people cause the commies were heartless, godless evil people

[@tylerslagel5485]

Evidently, stuff that wasn’t as bad as in the show.

[@tylerslagel5485]

V bre soviets didn’t eat babies.

[@vojislavl6665]

@@tylerslagel5485 I know

[@IvanPavlov]

In all fairness, let’s remember that even when Chernobyl accident really happened, this was still a tv show so it’s obvious that some creative liberties were taken. This wasn’t a documentary.

[@leo-fs1rb]

Just like Hamilton, it’s accurate to an extent but entertainment wise it they needed to add

[@aminuolawale1843]

The tv series succeeded at what it was intended for. Kindling interest in the event. We wouldn't have this interview without that.

[@tayamkay]

but to be fair at no point does she point out anything grossly inaccurate. most of the scenes are accurate according to her, and for the scenes where she points out medical inaccuracies she also points out that people back then truly believed these false infos (such as contagious radiation). the only thing she really critiques is that burn victim but she also point out that she personally just has never seen it.

[@Darthquackius]

The issue is that... people take it at face value. They know it's based on true events so they don't know which parts are true and which aren't. Fear around nuclear power is problematic because it's actually the safest form of power mankind has ever made. literally. Even with all 3 nuclear disasters, it has the lowest body count per trillion watt hours of ANY power source mankind has made including solar power.

[@fapnawb]

I can only imagine the chaos she witnessed after the incident in Chernobyl.

[@OleksandrSkibitskyi]

Of course you can only imagine that, because there was no chaos after the incident in Chernobyl. All the residents of the town were evacuated fast and peacefully and none of them died because of panic.

[@bool3234]

I know I’m late to inform people about this and most of the arguments have died down, but the creators of the show made a companion podcast that makes this many of the debates unnecessary. Instead of leaving it to viewers to speculate what characters and events were modified for the show, they do it in the podcast. They aren’t attempting to lie to people to spread misinformation and anti-nuclear sentiments, they stuck to facts whenever possible while doing what they needed to make Chernobyl a gripping miniseries.

[@bool3234]

kaship98 Much more, because the real chronology of the actual events would be very spread apart and drawn, therefore making it less entertaining.

[@elizabethhenning778]

So glad someone said this. The Chernobyl miniseries was primarily designed as entertainment so that HBO could make money. Period. It was not created as "propaganda" or as a documentary about history, science, or medicine. Because it is entertainment for an American audience, it took various liberties to tell a story that would be relatable to an American audience. Anyone with half a brain would know to check more serious sources to find out the truth.

[@MatthijsvanDuin]

Perhaps they weren't "attempting to", but they still _did_ spread misinformation and anti-nuclear sentiments. They made a series about a real event but misrepresented what happened, they used names of real people but misrepresented them, and they depicted radiation in ways that is scientifically nonsense. Yes, people _ought_ to know better than to assume these things to be true, but you ought to know better than to expect people to know better :P

[@armitagehux8190]

Nuclear power was never portrayed as bad, only the corruption of the government was. If someone watched that show and ended up thinking "nuclear evil" they totally missed the point

[@lmklmk1512]

lmao good luck to her children fooling this woman during their teen years

[@jesser5127]

I can tell that this lady was not only stunningly beautiful in her earlier years but smarter than most people ever will be.

[@sparksfly6149]

Exactly! A lot of people are insisting that she’s not actually *that* smart. Those people are simply jealous. And not to be that person of course, but I feel that this wouldn’t be so if she was a male doctor.

[@olivialamb2527]

She still is stunning!

[@gmodguy1479]

Russian people are usually good looking.

[@huuuphuuup6312]

You Ageist, i bet ur racist to

[@gmodguy1479]

Huuup Huuup what?

[@amandalove2657]

What a very smart, well spoken doctor. She saved lives too. I wish her all the best.

[@stevencramsie9172]

She is a doctor, why are you pointing out that she is well spoken? Why wouldn’t she be?

[@amandalove2657]

@stevencramsie9172 Why do you care that I pointed it out? That's such a strange thing for you to get upset over 🥴 There are a lot of doctors in the world, but not all are well spoken with as much compassion as she has.

[@Charlzton]

The last picture is described as "Belarus, Soviet Union, 1996" The Soviet Union didn't exist in 1996

[@moonbyulswife3990]

SJSJSJSJSKSJSKS THIS TOOK ME OUT

[@smophie6260]

They probably mistyped the date

[@CarlosAM1]

@@smophie6260 hehe, probably also just so happened to mistype that death count. Gotta get those sweet anti-nuclear fear points

[@CarlosAM1]

@GamerBear Yes. 93000 deaths is way too high.

[@PatrickAshe41]

Thanks, came here to say this

[@glenreeves6266]

Excellent presentation! I've heard Dr. Shapiro's presentations on Chernobyl and other radiation-related topics before. She is knowledgeable, factual, and able to point out the numerous scientific flaws in the HBO series clearly and accurately, without hype. And she had first-hand experience as a pediatrician after the accident.

[@FutureMartian97]

@@Zveruidfly That's not what the general public is going to think.

[@MetalGamer666]

@@Zveruidfly Yeah, the Soviet system did a lot of lying, that's true.

[@exlibrisas]

@@Zveruidfly It's a historical fiction and never intended to be more.

[@adshille8987]

@@Zveruidfly А теперь расскажи нам, зачем ты добавил приписочку по-русски? Стыдненько людей в лицо шлюхами называть?

[@markwebster4996]

People seem to be missing that the series was designed to show how the USSR was lying about everything and how flawed the governments response was. Science and a proper response was not first and foremost. Not being embarrassed internationally was the primary concern.

[@dodixaverius9176]

I think many people criticize that because on the technical side / physics side when they explain how the incident happened it was pretty accurate. Making the direct victims looks "better" (accurate) does not mean the incident was not actually terrible.

[@besconst]

like any other goverement

[@marianakiselova6913]

I actually think it is a lot more terrifying, because radiation is invisible and its effects are not immediate. It was hard to grasp for people, as they haven't seen anything like that before, it was unprecedented, therefore people had a false sense of safety, they couldn't see or feel the danger approaching.

[@AJ-qs7oj]

Gorbachev's USSR* yes.

[@carlycarlucci1301]

That was my takeaway for sure. I was more interested in how well it captured a time I don’t remember since I was 2 & a place/culture within that time I could never understand. I’m really glad I watched the newly released “Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes” right b4 the series, though. Happened to miss the series when it was newer in 2019, despite hearing lotsa positive buzz.

[@traceymarshall5868]

Thank you for clearing up fact vs fiction. I always thought the 'fetus absorbing the radiation' was a fallacy.

[@JRsttl88]

The knowledge that she's sharing with clarity and conviction is so beautiful to look at and listen to... She is amazing..

[@enrique88005]

I wished the show was entirely in Russian with subtitles.

[@elizatotty4295]

I don't

[@oliwiabachurska1810]

Same, but I don't think there were(and are) so many good russian nd Ukrainian actors ://

[@esaedvik]

There's definitely a good reason why it should be, but I doubt it would have been as good and as popular. "Dark" on Netflix is a good example of a show in its native language (German) that is still awesome and popular. Although, Germans say the actors have a weird accent or the show is purposefully made to sound weird in German. I guess the phrases used are old or something, can't quite recall what it was. My German isn't good enough to pick that kinda stuff up.

[@esaedvik]

@Buttrape Bill Had to ask them about it and they said it's more to do with them not speaking slang, but more "literary" style, especially weird with the kids.

[@lifewithkids5231]

Luc bruh, some people CANT read the subtitles.

[@sebastianskii7512]

The reactor part, when the guys looked down into the exposed reactor, that was the best part.

[@MrSkinnyWhale]

A lot of moments like that. This show was scarier than any horror movie I've ever seen. Silent, invisible death.

[@kimbrolyy]

I would say every episode had something that just made me feel absolutely horrible on the inside. While everything about the event was terrible of course

[@Whofan06]

I'm glad by the end they depicted what happened with the explosion, that was the most interesting part to me.

[@sapphiresushi3437]

UwU Chernobyl has sustained life in it now

[@uegvdczuVF]

@@sapphiresushi3437 Chernobyl power plant kept working for decades after the explosion.

[@robert04872]

The show wasn't really about the science though...it was about the cost of lies.

[@lt3880]

Why does it say when they make that point by lying about the science and overdramatising it

[@mexicanwarstreets]

@@lt3880 They didn’t have a responsibility to make sure all the science was completely correct. They had a responsibility to the dead to show what it was like for the civilians, even if it was just a taste.

[@queenofnevers6990]

best summary

[@RagedContinuum]

@@mexicanwarstreets hahahaha they just made money with fake concern about a dramatic historical event - say no to british drama

[@cks57youto53]

Very true