US Reports on Chernobyl: The Death Toll Is Significantly Higher than the Official

The death toll is significantly higher than the official death toll. This is clear from the classified by the National Security Archive of the US report of the Chernobyl accident, RIA Novosti reports.

According to a May 2, 1986 report, addressed to US Secretary of State George Shultz by his deputy Morton I. Abramowitz, it is noted that in the first days after the Chernobyl accident, US intelligence agencies suggest more deaths than claimed by USSR.

Data for the number of workers in each reactor are given as an argument. According to the Russian side, there were between 25 and 35 people on duty at night, and about 100 during the day. Because the 3rd and 4th power units are located close to each other, the number of people around the reactor during the day could reach up to 200 people during the day and 70 at night," the US National Archives document shows.

Abramowitz notes that, judging by the photos, anyone who was near the fourth power block either died immediately or received lethal doses of radiation.

The document was published in connection with the publication of a book by a journalist and former member of the Presidential Council of Boris Yeltsin - Alla Yaroshinskaya. In addition, it includes diary entries, reports from meetings of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, and other materials.