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The Chornobyl disaster in Ukraine is not only a story about an accident, radiation, and the heroism of the “liquidators”. In conversation with Dīvs Reiznieks, philosopher and collective memory researcher Oksana Dovhopolova explains how Chornobyl became one of the starting points of Ukraine’s independence movement, why even 40 years later there is still no clear way to commemorate the tragedy, and how russia’s full-scale invasion has added a new layer to this memory.

The conversation also touches on art as an instrument of survival and solidarity, the boundaries of “dark tourism” in Bucha, Irpin, and Chornobyl, and how the war has changed Ukrainians’ view of their language, identity, and the view of the Baltic states. 

 

This is a complete interview without translation from the Latvian Radio’s podcast "Drošinātājs" (“The Fuse”), dedicated to the people of Ukraine and their fight against Russian aggression.

Links to the full version of the podcast can be found here: linktr.ee/drosinatajs