Valery Khodemchuk

Valery Ilyich Khodemchuk (Ukrainian: Валерій Ілліч Ходемчук; Russian: Валерий Ильич Ходемчук; 24 March 1951 – 26 April 1986) was a Soviet engineer who was the night shift circulating pump operator at the Chernobyl power plant and was the first victim of the Chernobyl disaster.[1]

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Ilyich and the family name is Khodemchuk.
Valery Khodemchuk
Валерій Ходемчук
Born
Valery Ilyich Khodemchuk

(1951-03-24)24 March 1951
Kropyvnia, Ivankiv Raion, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died26 April 1986(1986-04-26) (aged 35)
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Cause of deathChernobyl disaster
Known forNight shift circulating pump operator at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
AwardsOrder of the Badge of Honour
Order For Courage Third Class

Biography

Valery Khodemchuk was born on 24 March 1951 in Kropyvnia, Ivankiv Raion, Kyiv Oblast.

He began his career at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in September 1973. During his first years at Chernobyl, he held positions of the engineer of boilers, the senior engineer of boilers of the workshop of thermal and underground communications, the operator of the 6th group, the senior operator of the group 7 of the main circulation pump of the 4th unit of the reactor workshop.

On the night of 26 April 1986, Khodemchuk was in one of the main circulation pump engine rooms in the reactor 4 building. At approximately 1:23 a.m. (Moscow Time), there were two powerful explosions in reactor four. The explosions ripped through the reactor and the surrounding building, including the main circulation pump halls. Valery Khodemchuk was the first person to die in the Chernobyl disaster as it is thought he was killed instantly when the number 4 reactor exploded.

Cross shaped monument with Russian text and flowers
Memorial to Khodemchuk in the reactor 4 building.

His body was never found and it is presumed that he is entombed under the remains of the circulation pumps.[2] A monument to Khodemchuk was built into the side of the Sarcophagus' interior dividing wall, to the east of the pump hall where he died.[3] In 1998, a cenotaph honoring him was placed at Mitinskoe Cemetery in Moscow, the final resting place of firefighters and power plant workers who died while putting out the fires from the Chernobyl disaster.[4]

Recognition

In 2008, Khodemchuk was posthumously awarded with the 3rd degree Order For Courage by Viktor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine.[5]

He was portrayed by actor Kieran O'Brien in the 2019 HBO miniseries Chernobyl.[6]

See also

References
  1. Fogarty, Paul (June 2019). "Chernobyl: The tragedy of Valery Khodemchuk - who was he and how did he die?". HITC Culture.
  2. "Chernobyl: Who is Valery Khodemchuk? What happened to him?". Express.co.uk. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  3. Fogarty, Paul (2019-06-05). "Chernobyl: The tragedy of Valery Khodemchuk – who was he and how did he die?". HITC. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  4. "ХОДЕМЧУК ВАЛЕРІЙ ИЛЛІЧ 24.03.1951 - 26.04.1986". coolschool1.at.ua. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  5. "Presidential Decree No. 1156/2008 of 12 December 2008". zakon.rada.gov.ua.
  6. "Vichnaya Pamyat" Chernobyl (Episode 2019) at IMDb
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