Soviet firefighter at the Chernobyl disaster (1961-1986)
Vasily Ivanovich Ignatenko
Ignatenko during his term of conscripted service as a military firefighter
Born
(1961-03-13)13 March 1961 Sperizh'e, Brahin District, Gomel Region, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Died
13 May 1986(1986-05-13) (aged 25) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Buried
Mitinskoe Cemetery, Moscow, Russia
Allegiance
Soviet Union
Service/branch
MVD Internal Troops
Years of service
1980–1982
Rank
Senior Sergeant
Unit
Paramilitary Fire Brigade No. 6 (Pripyat)
Known for
First response to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and death from acute radiation syndrome
Awards
Order of the Red Banner (1986) Hero of Ukraine (2006) Order for Courage (2006)
Spouse(s)
Lyudmila Ignatenko
(m. 1983)
Children
Natasha Ignatenko (1986–1986)
Chernobyl disaster
The reactor in 2013
Effects
Comparison with other radioactivity releases
Comparison with Fukushima
Cultural impact
Deaths
Elephant's Foot
Groundwater contamination
TORCH report
Individuals
Aleksandr Akimov
Anatoly Dyatlov
Vasily Ignatenko
Valery Khodemchuk
Boris Shcherbina
Valery Legasov
Mykola Melnyk
Vassili Nesterenko
Vladimir Pikalov
Volodymyr Pravyk
Nikolai Tarakanov
Leonid Telyatnikov
Leonid Toptunov
Locations
Exclusion Zone
Chernihiv–Ovruch railway
Chernobyl
power plant
Kopachi
Opachychi
Poliske
Red Forest
Tarasy
Velyki Klishchi
Vilcha
Yaniv
Polesie Reserve
Aravichy
Dzernavichy
Pripyat
amusement park
Azure swimming pool
Avanhard stadium
FC Stroitel
Energetik cultural palace
Jupiter factory
Polissya hotel
Slavutych
Organisations
Chernobyl Children International
Children of Chernobyl Benefit Concert
Chernobyl Forum
Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme
Chernobyl Shelter Fund
Friends of Chernobyl's Children
State Institution for Radiation Monitoring and Radiation Safety
Related topics
2022 Russian capture of Chernobyl
Chernobyl: Abyss (2021 film)
Chernobyl (2019 miniseries)
Chernobyl liquidators
Chernobyl necklace
Chernobylite
Sarcophagus
New Safe Confinement
Samosely
National Chernobyl Museum
v
t
e
Vasily Ivanovich Ignatenko (Ukrainian: Василь Іванович Ігнатенко; Belarusian: Васіль Іванавіч Ігнаценка; Russian: Василий Иванович Игнатенко; 13 March 1961 – 13 May 1986) was a Soviet firefighter who was among the first responders to the Chernobyl disaster. He worked as an electrician before being conscripted into the Soviet Armed Forces in 1980, where he completed his two years of service as a military firefighter. Afterwards, he took up employment as a paramilitary firefighter with Fire Brigade No. 6, which was based out of Pripyat. On 26 April 1986, Ignatenko's fire brigade was involved in mitigating the immediate aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster; fighting the fires that broke out following the initial explosion of Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. While on site, Ignatenko received a high dose of radiation, leading to his death at a radiological hospital in Moscow eighteen days later.
Vasily Ivanovich Ignatenko (Ukrainian: Василь Іванович Ігнатенко; Belarusian: Васіль Іванавіч Ігнаценка; Russian: Василий Иванович Игнатенко; 13 March...
fiction author Vasily Grossman (1905–1964), Soviet writer and journalist VasilyIgnatenko (1961–1986), Soviet firefighter in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster...
Cornelius Hickey in the AMC television series The Terror and firefighter VasilyIgnatenko in the HBO miniseries Chernobyl. Nagaitis is a graduate of the Stella...
Chernobyl-related articles Individual involvement in the Chernobyl disaster VasilyIgnatenko Boris Shcherbina Higginbotham, Adam (2019). Midnight in Chernobyl:...
exterminate the Ukrainians, much like during the famine of 1932–33.] Shandro, Vasily; Bazhan, Oleg (20 April 2021). "Чорнобильська катастрофа як вирок...
Unit Three. Pravyk led a group of five men, including Kibenok and VasilyIgnatenko, to the roof of the ventilation building to begin this work. The firefighting...
initial group, which included Volodymyr Pravyk, Viktor Kibenok, and VasilyIgnatenko, was already suffering from the effects of radiation exposure and descended...
Kibenok's brigade to climb to the third reactor's roof: Senior Sergeant VasilyIgnatenko, Senior Sergeant Vladimir Tishura, Sergeant Nikolai Vashchuk and Junior...
racing cyclist Pavel Ignatenko (born 1995), Belarusian figure skater VasilyIgnatenko (1961–1986), Soviet firefighter Vladislav Ignatenko (born 1998), Ukrainian-born...
politician, pacifist and human rights activist (b. 1885) May 13 – VasilyIgnatenko, Soviet firefighter who responded to the Chernobyl disaster (b. 1961)...
and Ukraine. Ljudmila's Voice [sv] (2001) tells the story of Ljudmila Ignatenko and her husband Vasilij who was a firefighter responding to Chernobyl...
their physical health. In her 1988 poem, "They Did Not Register Us (To Vasily Deomidovich Dubodel)", Sirota addressed what she considers the failure of...
was assembling a squad to climb to the roof. This squad consisted of VasilyIgnatenko, Nikolai TItenok, Nikolai Vashchuk, Vladimir Tishura and Viktor Kibenok...
Global Information
Soviet Union
MVD Internal Troops
Senior Sergeant
Hero of Ukraine (2006)