Soviet Nuclear Devastation of Kazakhstan - Cold War DOCUMENTARY

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Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a video on the Semipalatinsk Test Site - Polygon, where the Soviet Union conducted most of its atomic bomb tests, leading to the nuclear devastation in Kazakhstan.
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#ColdWar #Semipalatinsk #Nuclear

[@TheColdWarTV]

Claim your SPECIAL OFFER for MagellanTV here: try.magellantv.com/thecoldwar. Start your free trial TODAY so you can watch Lise Meitner: The Mother of the Atom Bomb and the rest of MagellanTV’s history collection: www.magellantv.com/video/lise-meitner-the-mother-of-the-atom-bomb

[@concept5631]

Second

[@nigeh5326]

David and team I’ve been watching your videos since you started in 2019. You always produce great content and even though I did study some areas of the Cold War in the mid nineties at university I still find out something new in every video you make. Thank you all for your hard work and quality content 👍 Also a while back some criticised David and he addressed those comments, took note and improved from v good to bloody great imo 😊

[@thenewjord50]

Are going to do Patrice Lumbama and the Cong Crisis

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

And USA in pasifik

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

western countries created a hole in the ozone and produced 80% co² during the cold war. and lead into the air

[@edwartvonfectonia4362]

Thanks for covering this, hello from Kazakhstan!

[@fluffypants]

How Kazakhstan Treats Nuclear Tests?

[@Vegas_Des]

Very nice! Great success 👍👍

[@balabanasireti]

No one asked

[@LD-wm7jm]

borat

[@edwartvonfectonia4362]

@@balabanasireti average turkish commentator

[@bethmarriott9292]

For the last one and a half to two years, I've been making my way through each video posted by this channel. Today, I'm finally all caught up, and it's amazing to see how much has been covered and how much is still to come - I can't wait! Thank you for this amazingly detailed content and the enthusiasm behind its presentation, David's narration is a genuine highlight and the suspense i have over every video's F***, Marry, Kill instructions for the bell button is great and i look forward to it every time

[@TheColdWarTV]

This has actually given me an idea for a bell button outro! And thank you for the kind words and support!

[@bethmarriott9292]

@@TheColdWarTV that's the highest honour i could ask for 🥺😍 that poor bell button needs some therapy

[@aaronrocs]

The good ol' days, huh? lol

[@damirmamanbay8947]

​@@TheColdWarTVYou re turk and american? If you turkish thank you Supporter kazakhs The Russian girl named Kristina Pimenova surpasses the American

[@Game_Hero]

We don't talk enough about the Qazaqs and the Soviet dissidents, I never even heard of the Asharshylyk, the 1986 replacement of the first secretary by a Russian and the protests that went with it. I even barely heard of Zukholov, so seeing his evolution as an anti-nuclear activist was really interesting.

[@mattanderson6336]

13:35 ‘Carelessness was built into the Soviet system from its inception.’ Best quote about the Soviet Onion I’ve ever heard! Why worry about safety in a society that’s perfect.

[@DobroDed76]

Ye, its so true. Too bad it has no proofs

[@Longshanks1690]

Soviet 🧅

[@Sniperboy5551]

Soviet Onion? I think I had one of those at Outback Steakhouse once

[@michaelfodor6280]

Soviet Onion? Well once you start peeling back the layers, you will cry.

[@TheColdWarTV]

Gorbachev (probably): Onions have layers. The Soviet Union has layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers. Reagan (probably): Oh, you both have layers. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions.

[@martincarlson2565]

Fellow KZbinr Bald and Bankrupt visited Mayluu-suu a few years ago. It's very interesting to see a closed city opened up in modern times. Sadly, the last three decades haven't been kind to the residents of Mayluu-Suu.

[@markmierzejewski9534]

Great episode!!

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

Thank you, I was curious about this.

[@magellantv]

Timely as ever 👏

[@D3xt3rity]

I love your content, please keep it up!

[@anon_bast]

Hello David, I love your channel and have watched it for several months. Great job you are doing! I was born in the USSR (not that far from Semipalatinsk) and witnessed many of these things with my eyes, but I still could learn new facts from your videos. That would be absolutely fantastic if you pay a bit more attention to pronouncing key toponyms and surnames. With all respect to the fact that it is impossible for a non-native speaker to fully comprehend correct intonation, please at least pay attention to where the stress goes. It is killing my ears to hear how you say "Saharov" in a way as if he has something to do with the Sahara desert. The stress in his surname goes on the first vowel. The same way as in many English words. Same for Glasnost. Thank you a lot!

[@thelondoner1526]

Regarding the legacy of Semipalatinsk, I'd like to add a good note and a message of hope, not just to Kazakhstan, but to mankind as a whole: There has been an effort to free mankind from nuclear weapons and one of the manisfestations of that is the development of so-called "zones free of nuclear weapons", they are established by treaties, which usually are signed in places that bear a symbolic weight in the fight for de-nuclearization. Central Asia has become a zone free of nuclear weapons in the 2000s, throught the "Semipalatinks treaty". The choice of the city is self-explanatory. For the record: Antartica (since the 50s), Latin America (60s), Oceania-Pacific (80s, a continent that suffered greatly under western powers' nuclear tests), South East Asia and Africa (both in the 90s) are also zones free of nuclear weapons. As a matter of fact, the whole southern hemisphere, half of planet Earth, is a zone free of nuclear weapons since the 90s (it only takes you to add up all the regions up to Africa and you'll see).

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

And on the other hand, the situation could be looked at as the elitist members of Nuclear Club preventing developing nations from acquiring the means to protect their independence and sovereignty

[@Redneck2393]

Me watching from 22:49 to 23:40 - "Fifty-thousand people used to live here, now it's a ghost town".

[@Mrgunsngear]

Thanks

[@mattanderson6336]

12:46 The Communist Party always regarded the general public as nothing more than cattle. ‘Does a cow complain when it gets milked? So should the residents of Kazakhstan rejoice when scientific achievement brings glory to the Communist Party!’ Remember under communism the Party doesn’t serve the State. The Party IS the State. V.I. Ulyanov.

[@mattanderson6336]

19:32 Did Sakharov really die of a heart attack in 1989 or was he silenced due to the fear that under Glasnost he might reveal too much.

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

Yes, it was heart attack. He was in poor health condition after his exile to Gorky and had multiple heart surgeries prior.

[@AaronKloecken]

I love your content 💛💙 you do a wonderful job at presenting information in a way that is entertaining, but not just garbage and fluff like the History Channel.

[@SuperpowerBroadcasting]

Just a note that the thumbnail is the Hood test in Nevada, USA, not the USSR.

[@jakegarvin7634]

I think that might be your new Best-Button yet

[@sourabhmayekar3354]

Nice

[@Skipping2HellPHX]

Loving the lack of music. The loop being significantly shorter than the video has always been a distraction

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

Sloyka is a type of layered pastry. Sloy indeed means layer

[@thedevilneveraskstwice7027]

During Yeltsin period there was this partial opening of information channels regarding the legacy of Semipalatinsk. Definitely not a material for faint hearted ones. Its horrendous and does no hold any comparsion to anything other. But such are many links in soviet puzzles. Its actually interesting and quite sad that Kazakhstan does not pursue any form of official reparation.

[@davidgenie-ci5zl]

Reparations from who? The USSR is long gone. Do you want reparations from the people alive today that had nothing to do with the nuclear testing?

[@TheBucketSkill]

@@davidgenie-ci5zl Bro it wasn't that long ago LOL. People are absolutely alive today that had to do with it. Don't you have grandparents?

[@davidgenie-ci5zl]

@@TheBucketSkill Perhaps the people of kazakhstan can pay themselves reparations , after all they were part of the USSR. Their own nation did it to them. They can tax themselves to pay themselves.

[@twistedyogert]

They also launched the first spaceflights from there. I think Russia still does send up their Soyuz and Progress missions from there too. I consider that much more interesting and much more worthwhile.

[@TheColdWarTV]

You may be thinking of the Baikonour launch site? It is on the opposite side of Qazaqstan, almost 2K kilometers away.

[@beachboy0505]

Excellent video 📹 All Imperialism is the same.

[@Game_Hero]

Soviets : "Let's build lakes from radiation-filled nuclear bomb craters! What could possibly go wrong?"

[@nomobobby]

To be fair, the US atoms for peace program did seriously talk about using nukes to crave out a new harbor in Alaska. Nothing like a nuclear slushy going out to the Pacific

[@Game_Hero]

@@nomobobby seriously talk, but didn't do anything in the end contrary to this

[@juslitor]

@@Game_Hero project plowshare definitely made craters in the ole u s of a

[@Game_Hero]

@@juslitor not with the intent of making lakes out of them.

[@oldesertguy9616]

The more I hear about the Soviets, especially Stalin, the more I hate those guys.

[@BadJimmiZ]

Great video,, a French journalist did a documentary about the local village s around the "Polygon",, it shows how horrible it really was,, so many Sick people & Birth defects,, the one local hospital has Fetus s in jars,, it looks like a Horror movie,,

[@DanielBlancarte]

Thanks love from mexico 🇲🇽

[@bmp456]

No wonder Borat was so messed up

[@smhorse]

Cultural Learnings For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan 😂😂😂

[@oslonorway547]

Could you guys make a video on how the USSR viewed reports of Americans being abducted by UFOs, and if there was any race to contact alien life or harness superior tech that had seemingly being discovered outside the earthly realm? I'm sure there was some UFO race during the Cold War.

[@jliller]

Was there a "Soviet Roswell" i.e. allegations that the USSR recovered a crashed spacecraft and dead aliens at a specific location on a specific date?

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

Officially UFO abductees reports were ridiculed as bourgeois nationalistic bullshit propagating by the capitalistic governments in attempt to distract proletarians of the West from revolutionary struggle.

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

@@jliller No, there were no Roswell. There were of course a lot of yellow rag crap in the early 90s to sell newspapers. Nothing came out when the archives were semi-open for a short time under Yeltsin. If there was something it would have been sold to the West already

[@conradsz]

There wasn’t. These “inductions” were a thing pretty much in the US only. Notice how since cameras, media streaming and video became ubiquitous, they’re no longer a thing too.

[@Burnthealphabetpeople]

@@conradszexpect navy sailors and military pilots they see the real shit

[@papazataklaattiranimam]

Ultra sad Kazakh noises💀

[@Vegas_Des]

Wawaweewah

[@damirmamanbay8947]

@@Vegas_Des Soviet union Islamophobia country

[@skylineXpert]

wonder If there Is a depot outside of kuczek...

[@padawanmage71]

Great video! But no background music?

[@cgabbard_8702]

It's much better this way

[@stephen9869]

7:48 - Wasn't the first H bomb explosion Operation Ivy (U.S)?

[@TheColdWarTV]

Ivy Mike was the first thermonuclear explosion, but it wasn't weaponized, given it was the size of a warehouse. The Soviets achieved weaponization first.

[@bartfoster1311]

It is crazy to think that humanity has set off over 2000 nuclear weapons!

[@patrickhamos2987]

Is it?

[@JohnMDickey]

What's going on in Russia? Wagner.

[@jeremyhodge6216]

Any land The Soviets touched was always devastated 🤨

[@ekmalsukarno2302]

The Cold War, can you please make a video on the history of Portugal during the Salazar regime. Can you also please make a video on the history of Macau during the Cold War. Please accept my requests.

[@Game_Hero]

or else...

[@scottkrater2131]

Can any one explain why Little Boy is estimated between 15 and 23 kilotons? Depending on the source?

[@bizbe4465]

Little boy produced 15kt I don't know where you got 23. Fat man produced 21kt.

[@thenewjord50]

Kazakhstan was the entire USSR for 9 days til its complete deletion in 1991

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

And no one cared.

[@ernar8926]

@@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5 shut up

[@gook5219]

Yes yes yes... So what?

[@damirmamanbay8947]

@@gook5219 occupation russian empire!!!

[@bigsarge2085]

👍👍

[@Gyrffos]

All voice and no BGM makes me a dull boy.

[@Primetime94]

It would have been helpful to put the word "Semipalatinsk" on the map next to the location. Or, you could have said, "indicated by the red area on the map here." It also would have been helpful to put the word "Semipalatinsk" on screen instead of just saying it. The map making on this channel definitely is on a much lower level compared to your sister channel.

[@berkleystreetcapital3588]

Will you be doing india pakistan nuclear race as well as Nort korea.

[@Game_Hero]

Wasn't the nuclear program of North Korea after the Cold War? Myanmar supposed attempts on the other hand could be interesting.

[@pyeitme508]

OOF!

[@michaellynes3540]

Skip to 1:38

[@hantykje3005]

David@The cold war: could you do a similar episode on the British test is Australia, US tests in the Marshall Island and continental US, and French test in Polynesia?

[@juslitor]

The french tests would indeed be interesting material

[@damirmamanbay8947]

@@juslitor kiristina pimenova cold war problem in america!!!

[@glenoaksdigitalinclusion6871]

And from the irradiated sand.............. ..........Borat was born!

[@miscellaneoushistory]

It is very interesting to say the least that the producers chose to spell it as ‘Kazakhstan’ in the title but spell it consistently as ‘Qazaqstan’ (the decolonized, native way of pronouncing the country name) in the subtitles. I assume this has to do with the fact that in English and other languages, the Russian name for it is far more popular and thus, has more search results.

[@Vegas_Des]

The Manhattan project off wish 🤣

[@Haradin32]

lol why no backing track. The video is weird without one

[@coletrain6545]

Soviet union destroyed its central Asian countries

[@quinnard9750]

nope

[@damirmamanbay8947]

FUCKING KIRISTINA PIMENOVA FUCKING BEAUTIFUL RUSSIAN FUCKING MOUTH!!

[@JoshuaFawns]

Hello

[@pinpunk13]

The documentary sounds weird without the background music.

[@DobroDed76]

I want a video about American Neuclear Devastation of Nevada and Mojave...

[@sankarchaya]

and bikini atoll!

[@Game_Hero]

feel good about the whataboutism?

[@mysticonthehill]

@@Game_Hero Not whataboutism at all but very healthy concern about a public health issue and government malfeasance. Some issues transcend nations, sides and identities and are the interest of all of humanity.

[@Game_Hero]

@@mysticonthehill He denied the genocidal suffering of the Qazaq people in another comment, this is very much a tankie whataboutist, only caring about issues if the ones behind them don't have hammers and sickles.

[@roy1299]

More like rushitsky devastation of Kazakhstan

[@Numba003]

This sounds like it was a mess all around, but I appreciate those who stepped forward to call for transparency. I would be interested in a video on US and other nations' nuclear tests and their effects too. Thank you for this one. God be with you out there everybody. ✝️ :)

[@michaelturri2254]

Nah man. Why bring god and religion into this? We are working in the realms of reality here not fiction from a fictional book.

[@Numba003]

@@michaelturri2254 My closing sentence is a general well-wish informed by my beliefs. Just because you don't share those beliefs doesn't mean you have to be mean. Having said that, I would contend that there is a logical argument to be made for the reality of God and, subsequently, Christianity.

[@michaelturri2254]

@@Numba003 lol evidence of what? Proven housing of child predators? Gay conversion therapy causing increased suicide rates? Your religion being used to murder thousands during multiple inquisitions? The evidence is pretty clear. Ever heard of the council of Nicaea? They made up the Bible there.

[@juslitor]

@@Numba003 No logic in make believe characters.

[@Numba003]

@@juslitor What makes you think God is imaginary?

[@luislealsantos]

Cold war, burning in ice 🧊

[@JamesBarometer-jv9kk]

Wonder was is the environmental impact today, not only in the former USSR but also the USA and other regions? Makes you think if North Korea was to do open atmospheric nuclear testing today, what effects it would have on neighbouring countries? Would it be a justified green light to invade them?

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

And who would invade them? George Bush?

[@JamesBarometer-jv9kk]

@@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5 Would China not be upset at radioactivity coming over the border and affecting its citizens and natural resources? Surely China have the capacity to invade, and would do so if they felt diplomacy had failed and were justified to do so?

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

@@JamesBarometer-jv9kk Kim is not stupid to try open atmospheric tests. It would mean the cancelation of humanitarian aid from international funds and their neighbors they have been receiving from the 90s. It would also mean severe trade sanctions from China and death of the economy because China is still DPRK's main trading partner. Why do that if undergrounds testing and sporadical missile launches are working work fine.

[@mattsingh_]

20:03 Putin?🤔

[@caad5258]

Why does this video seem topical all of a sudden?

[@user-jk8ur7sj3t]

This is so hard that believe but I believe it. So awful

[@qwertyuiopasdfgh6680]

Very nice! *Borat intesifies*

[@DeVitar]

it`s funny to hear all those russian words mispronounced:) anyway thanks for fresh eye on history

[@yvpetkov]

What's with the closeup shot? Why?

[@morenauer]

They couldn’t even be a full Palatinsk? Only Semi????

[@user-kw9eq4zt7x]

Are u too wiity? Semi means seven, in Russian, palata - ward

[@beepboop204]

[@damirmamanbay8947]

Thank you for in cold war I m support USA and NATO and Turkey 🇰🇿🇺🇲🇹🇷

[@mysticonthehill]

Atomic technologies should have never been developed. Humanity is way too irresponsible not just in the USSR but everywhere.

[@concept5631]

Third

[@ahannageoffrey9509]

Wat about the United States nuclear test in the pacific Islands

[@saulocpp]

Soviets... LOL

[@gerhardbenade5869]

Which is the only country that have killed people in war with nuclear weapons?

[@bizbe4465]

There is no "only" America dropped the bomb knowing it would kill thousands. The USSR dropped nukes knowing it would kill thousands. North Korea dropped nukes knowing they would kill thousands. America's was only different in that it was used this way in a war. Where as the USSR and North Korea dropped bombs right next to villages and towns.

[@GeistInTheMachine]

Borat is most displeased.

[@damirmamanbay8947]

KIRISTINA PIMENOVA LOSER

[@screww2701]

If you look at the nuclear tests on a map compared to the us , you will notice that the Soviet Union actually spread out their tests over the country unlike the west wich nuked islands .

[@bizbe4465]

Yeah the US generally chose very unpopulated areas. Some cases beg to differ. But by in large America was more responsible with their testing than the USSR was.

[@Highlarryous]

Verrry Nice!!! NOT!

[@JWZ44]

the US atomic bomb testing also had very negative effects on civillians, not just russia

[@bizbe4465]

Yes. The difference is America learnt from what happened to these civilians. Rather than just go "da dey die, is okay. Continue."

[@MissNebulosity]

That is a very strong lisp. Hurts my ears. I'm out.

[@josecipriano3048]

If only the soviets had a true desert inside their borders, some Alaskan island or some Japanese cities to test their bombs...

[@ArifAkhundzada]

And the US and UK literally smashed Pacific Ocean atolls between them in this process...I suppose they were tiny and insignificant, so it was alright anyway, eh??

[@bizbe4465]

Yeah considering the atolls were evacuated and mostly uninhabited aside from a select few islands. These select few islands were military bases/research labs. This area of khazakstan was only a few hundred kilometers away from a large population of people. One does not equal the other.

[@TheBucketSkill]

I mean yea they were small and almost insignificant. Kazakhstan is the big daddy of central asia.

[@deeacosta2734]

Russia weak! Lol

[@gook5219]

Thanks for covering this topic, but your videos are lame. We can see how you are just reading the text.

[@patrickhamos2987]

The Meitner myth. Gimmie a break, more of a myth than Jesus raising the dead

[@deepat]

Kazakhstan, greatest country in the world. All other countries, run by little girls.

[@user-uh2zd4iu4z]

Uttar Pradesh bihar madhya pradesh dog will shagw

[@sourabhmayekar3354]

Nice

[@sourabhmayekar3354]

Nice