Servant of the People in Kyiv

Servant of the People in Kyiv

Author: Summer Insects' Words

Summary:

Synopsis: Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, a civil servant from Kyiv arrives at Chernobyl...

Volume One

Chapter 001 Secretary Takes Office

Viktor Vladimirvich Haniyev was driving alone in a dilapidated second-hand truck on the dirt road leading to the high-slope state forest farm on the northwestern border of Kyiv Oblast.

It had just snowed heavily, and the gravel road was very muddy. Fortunately, the dirt road had been compacted by timber trucks for many years and was very solid. Coupled with the cold and frozen road surface, Haniyev only needed to concentrate and hold the steering wheel tightly to make the car move forward normally.

After walking west for a short while, we arrived at Chernobyl, the administrative center of the Chernobyl area.

This small city is the oldest and most primitive of the two few cities in the Chernobyl area. Before World War II, there were 10,000 to 20,000 Jews living here. After the German army occupied Ukraine, they "cleaned up" the Jews in Chernobyl, so now all the people living here are Ukrainians and Belarusians.

Haniyev drove the car into the street of Chernobyl. Not far away, he saw a three-story office building standing on the side of the road. Although he had never been to this city, when he saw that the building had a similar decoration style to the municipal buildings in other cities, Haniyev recognized it as a municipal building.

After parking the truck in front of the municipal building, Haniyev walked in.

Because Haniyev was wearing a woolen coat and a Lenin suit and had a handsome appearance, the guard guarding the municipal building simply asked him a few simple questions, checked Haniyev's transfer order, and then a warm smile appeared on his cold face, and then he was let through.

A moment later, Comrade Haniyev was received in his office by Simonenko, the first secretary of the Forestry Management Committee and a mid-level leader of the Chernobyl region.

The two men had a cordial conversation for a long time, and Simonenko checked Haniyev's transfer order again.

After confirming everything was correct, he stood up again and shook hands cordially with Haniyev, saying, "Comrade Haniyev, in our Chernobyl region, there is one state-owned forest farm and three collective forest farms. These four forest farms are located in the Northwest Forest and are under the jurisdiction of our Management Committee. You have been appointed by your superiors as the secretary and director of a state-owned forest farm. This is a sign of high regard for you. I hope you can work with peace of mind. If you have any needs, please let me know and I will do my best to meet them."

Haniyev was an official sent by the Kyiv Oblast Ministry of Agriculture. Simonenko knew it very well because the resume on the official document clearly stated that Haniyev was only 26 years old.

Such a young cadre was sent from a higher-level department to be the head of a grassroots unit. Simonenko knew that there must be some unusual relationship behind this Haniyev, so he treated Haniyev very kindly.

Haniyev was obviously very smart. He did not really take Secretary Simonenko's words seriously, but politely declined. Then he asked in detail about the details of the state-owned forest farm.

Simonenko was pleased to see Haniyev quickly get to work. After explaining the situation, he shook Haniyev's hand and said, "We're still over 80 kilometers from the state-owned forest farm. Let me ask Second Secretary Kartov to take you to your new post tomorrow morning."

Hanif thanked him with a smile and pulled out a flat iron box from his bosom. He opened the lid, took out a cigar, and handed it to Simonenko, who was in his forties but coughed occasionally. He said with a smile, "This is a hand-rolled Cuban cigar, which is rare in our country. Secretary Simonenko, would you like to try it?"

Simonenko was indeed an old smoker. He took it, expertly trimmed the end, lit it, took two puffs, squinted his eyes, puffed out the smoke, and said, "Yes, it's indeed hand-rolled. It tastes more fragrant than machine-rolled ones because it heats more evenly and is rolled more firmly."

Haniyev smiled slightly, took out another box from his pocket, placed two boxes of cigars on the table, and said, "Since Secretary Simonenko likes it, keep it and smoke it."

Simonenko smiled slightly, opened the drawer and put the cigar in it.

The Soviet Union had always implemented a rationing system, so even if you had money, you couldn't just buy anything in the supermarket.

Generally speaking, a family with one male worker can buy fifteen packs of cigarettes a month, but can only buy five or six boxes of cigars. Moreover, these Cuban cigars are almost all made by machines, and hand-rolled ones are only supplied to stores in Kiev.

Ever since Cuba embarked on the socialist path, it has been "ruthlessly supported" by the Soviet Union, which gave it countless "settlement fees" and aid every year. Cuban cigars and sugar cane were also purchased by the Soviet Union at high prices, about tens of millions of cigars a year. Even grassroots leaders like Simonenko did not have the opportunity to get many cigars, let alone handmade cigars.

Half an hour later, at Simonenko's arrangement, Haniyev checked into the government guest hotel on Alchebely Street, east of the office building.

The next morning, Haniyev came to the office building.

Secretary Simonenko has called the second secretary, Kartov, to his office. He is a Belarusian with thinning hair, but a very charming voice.

Simonenko introduced Haniyev and Kartov to each other. After explaining their work situation, he said, "Kartov, my dear friend, please take our comrade Haniyev to the state-owned forest farm to take up his post. He's young and promising, and coming from the capital, he'll surely bring fresh vitality to the state-owned forest farm. Even though he's new here and doesn't understand the situation, I think you can help him solve his problems and ease his worries, right?"

"No problem, Secretary Simonenko."

Kartov was a middle-aged man with thinning hair, about 40 years old, with a simple and honest face. He was wearing a shabby double-breasted gray coat.

After agreeing to Simonenko's arrangement, he took Haniyev and left the municipal building.

Seeing Haniyev's truck parked nearby, Kartov smiled and said, "Is this truck also provided by the higher-ups? Hahaha, brother Haniyev, it seems you have some powerful connections up there."

Although the Soviet Union's heavy industry system was complete and developed, the production of civilian and agricultural vehicles has always been low, and state-owned automobile factories also gave priority to producing buses to be supplied to government agencies. Therefore, even in the 80s, having a private car, even a small pickup truck, was still something to be envied.

Haniyev smiled and did not explain, but he did not answer the question either. He chatted with Kartov for a few words, and the two of them prepared to set off.

Kartov drove a Volga car, which was the official bus of the Agricultural Committee.

Haniyev followed Kartov's car in his own truck.

Chernobyl is located in the northwest corner of Kyiv Oblast, with the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic to the north and Zhytomyr Oblast to the west.

Following the road that crosses the city of Chernobyl from east to west, less than an hour later, we saw a row of iron tower walls hundreds of meters high in the distance. These were signal towers equipped with Duga long-range warning radars.

It can be regarded as the early warning radar used by the Soviet Union to detect rocket and missile launches, aircraft takeoffs, and aircraft carrier operations in Eastern Europe, West Germany, and NATO. Because the transmission signal of this radar will have a significant impact on the radio stations of neighboring countries, countries within a radius of thousands of kilometers will be interfered with by the radar signal when using radios and hear a sound similar to that of a woodpecker pecking at wood. Therefore, the two Duga long-range early warning radars deployed by the Soviet Union in Chernobyl and East Siberia are also called Woodpecker Radars.

Under the signal tower was a military camp. Haniyev knew at a glance that it was an armed police camp. They were protecting the Woodpecker radar. Looking at the large area of ​​the camp, he knew that heavy weapons were probably hidden inside.

After passing the military camp and the radar base, we walked northwest for about 20 minutes and saw a vast forest in front of us.

When Hanif saw the forest, he knew clearly that he had reached his destination. The state-owned farm where he would soon serve as secretary and director was right in front of him.

Chapter 002 The Road to Saving the Nation

Haniyev was not a native citizen of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic under the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

In other words, although he looks and has blood of a pure Ukrainian, his soul is indeed that of a college student from a foreign country where the red flag is still flying in later generations.

Haniyev clearly remembers his past life memories, especially the history of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Haniyev is not even 26 years old now. Although he has lived here for more than ten years, he still doesn't know enough about his country.

However, Haniyev clearly remembers that this year is 1986, which was only five years away from the collapse of the Soviet Union and less than five years away from Ukraine's independence.

As the successor of the Ukrainian Soviet cause and even the Soviet revolutionary cause, Haniyev can only feel heartbroken and regretful when he thinks that the behemoth that once dominated the world will fall apart in five years, that the ideological struggle will be completely won by the United States in the next few decades, and that the so-called civilization, democracy and freedom will be continuously exported to countries around the world.

Haniyev has lived in Kiev for nearly 26 years. He was born in May 1960.

He was born into a traditional family of minor officials, with a grandfather who was an old Red Army soldier and a father who was the secretary of the Kiev City Agricultural Committee.

So Haniyev took the fast track at the age of 20. Even though he was not a problem-solver, he skipped a grade and graduated with the problem-solvers and started working.

He first worked as a clerk in the Kyiv State Forestry Committee, where he toiled for four and a half years and was promoted to deputy director of the Resource Development Office last year.

Logically speaking, Haniyev's father was still in his position, and he could get a real position as director in a few more years, and then receive a salary of 200 rubles per month. In that era, 200 rubles was enough to ensure that Haniyev had enough food and clothing.

However, due to some political struggles at the top, Haniyev's father was removed from his post and sent to a collective farm to work as a secretary.

Haniyev naturally suffered some minor shocks, and it is impossible for him to be considered for promotion in the next few years.

However, Haniyev was not too disappointed. He knew clearly that the Soviet Union would collapse in a few years, and Ukraine would embark on a path of no return, wanting to throw itself into the arms of the Western camp. In the end, it would be manipulated by NATO and become the pitiful "womb of Europe."

Constrained by geopolitics, Ukraine is inevitably going to become a pawn in the game between NATO and Russia, but Haniyev does not want Ukraine to continue to decline and eventually become a hollow country or even a laughing stock of the people of the world.

He absolutely cannot live in such a turbulent, economically depressed and chaotic country. Such a garbage dump is definitely not the home that Haniyev wants to live in.

So when faced with personal difficulties and realizing that the fate of the country was about to reach a turning point, Haniyev decided to change the country's tragic fate.

Of course, the reason why Haniyev had this idea was because he felt that he had mastered the relevant information before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union in his mind, and he also understood the fate of Ukraine, so he was reluctant to let this golden finger that was equivalent to a "prophet" go to waste. As long as it was used properly, he could become a political star who changed the fate of Ukraine.

Even if he handled the situation properly when the Soviet Union collapsed in the future, Haniyev felt that he could strive to reach the top of the pyramid and even become the head of state.

So, when the ambitious Haniyev learned last month that the state-owned forest farm in the Chernobyl region in the northwest of Kyiv Oblast was short of a director and a secretary, and thinking that a major event that would be one of the triggers for the disintegration of the Soviet Union would break out in the region in a few months, Haniyev was ready to seize the opportunity. He volunteered to go to the grassroots level for training. After receiving unanimous praise from the leaders, he was sent to the high-slope state-owned forest farm in the Chernobyl region as secretary.

Ukraine's administrative structure is that the republic governs the provinces, and each province governs the major cities and regions within the province. The Chernobyl region is the northernmost region of Kyiv Province.

Haniyev always felt that the so-called areas under the jurisdiction of the Kyiv Oblast were generally not very large, about the size of a county in China, and the population was pitifully small.

For example, the population of the Chernobyl area is only 300,000 to 400,000 people, but the area is more than 1,600 square kilometers. There are only two cities in this area, one is the administrative center, Chernobyl City, and the second is Pripyat, a nuclear power plant subsidiary city more than 50 kilometers northwest of Chernobyl City.

In the Kyiv Oblast, the Chernobyl zone is not a large area and its administrative level should not be high. However, since the area has the largest and earliest built nuclear power plant in Ukraine, its status is extremely special and important. Therefore, the first secretary of the region is generally at the same level as the secretaries of various cities in the oblast.

Haniyev was appointed secretary of a state-owned forest farm, and his administrative level was basically equivalent to that of a town secretary, or the head of an office under the Kyiv State Forestry Committee. It was a step up in administrative level, but if he did not have strong connections, he would probably never have the chance to return to Kyiv in his lifetime.

Therefore, Haniyev's act of volunteering was ridiculed by many people in the Kyiv State Forestry Committee. In the eyes of the old men in the provincial committee, he was sent down. However, his administrative level was raised by half a level, and he was a real grassroots leader, so Haniyev was satisfied.

However, his real reason for coming down was not just for promotion, but more importantly, Haniyev had his eyes on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Haniyev, who is familiar with history, knows clearly that a major accident will probably occur at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant next year. The pollution caused by the unit explosion and nuclear leakage will cause panic in Ukraine, Belarus, and even the whole of Northern Europe. It will also affect the health of millions or even tens of millions of people. It will become the first fuse for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the first pillar of shame that plunged the Communist Party of the Soviet Union into the abyss.

As a member of the Soviet Communist Party, Haniyev naturally wanted the Soviet Union to be stronger, and the Chernobyl nuclear leak would make the area north of Kiev unsafe.

Haniyev wanted to change this tragedy, and also wanted to use this accident as a means of advancement for himself, in exchange for a ticket to the core of Ukrainian politics, so he resolutely chose to be the secretary of Gaopodi Forest Farm.

Haniyev, who had a complete plan for his trip, knew very well that the secretary of the Gaopodi State Forest Farm would not be his end, but a starting point for his entry into Ukrainian politics. Everything he had to do was to wait for the Chernobyl nuclear leak four months later.

It is now January 10, 1986. The historic Chernobyl nuclear leak occurred at around 1:4 a.m. on April 26. There is still plenty of time to make preparations, even though I am just the secretary of a small state-owned forest farm.

Chapter 003 Meeting

Gaopodi is the name of a vast area. In the eastern part are three collective forest farms of varying sizes, which together form Gaopodi Village. In the westernmost part is the largest state-owned forest farm.

A few hours later, Haniyev and Second Secretary Kartov's car arrived in front of a large forest.

This forest was still blocked by barbed wire and concrete walls, extending deep into the forest. Not far away was a large iron gate with an iron fence inside the gate. Several guards stood in front of the fence. Haniyev knew they were forest rangers.

After inspection by two forest rangers, the two cars entered the barbed wire fence. When the gravel road became the flattest and widest area, they saw rows of small wooden houses.

There is a small wooden house inside the wall, where four guards are on duty with rifles.

After parking the car and getting out, Kartov introduced them to Comrade Haniyev: "They are forest rangers from the state-owned forest farm, under the jurisdiction of the militia forest ranger company..."

After listening to Kartov's explanation, Haniyev learned that the Gaopodi State Forest Farm is the largest forest farm in the Kyiv Oblast. Because it is close to Europe and on the national border, and there are two important national equipment, a nuclear power plant and a long-range warning radar nearby, the state forest farm is equipped with a militia forest protection company.

The Chernobyl area has a modern army corps deployed by the Soviet Union to protect the country's important weapons and deal with NATO. The state-owned forest farm is on the border of Ukraine and Belarus. There are large forests within a radius of thousands of miles. If a forest fire occurs, the damage will be huge, so both countries have deployed a large number of militia teams here to maintain public order and do firefighting.

The state-owned forest farm has 1480 employees, most of whom live as family units in seven residential areas within the forest farm. In addition to a forest protection militia company consisting of 120 militiamen, there is also a fire brigade under the management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which has more than 160 firefighters and is equipped with armored vehicles, helicopters, heavy artillery and other weapons.

Although it is a state-owned unit, in fact, Gaopodi State Forest Farm is almost the same as a collective forest farm village. Haniyev is the secretary and director of the farm, which means he is in charge of all the work. His power is much greater than that of the mayor or secretary in later generations.

"You will be the secretary here from now on. The people in the forest farm will be under your charge. Just manage them well and complete the timber collection task on time every year."

After hearing what Secretary Kartov said, Haniyev smiled and said, "We are all contributing to the cause of socialism. I will do my best to manage the forest farm, Secretary Kartov."

Two cars drove into the forest farm and stopped in front of the group of wooden houses. The various noises had alarmed the workers in the surrounding rows of wooden houses, and men, women, old and young came out to watch curiously.

When Kartov and Hanyev entered, the guard had already called the forest farm executive committee, and seven or eight men and women came out of the largest wooden house in the distance.

When they saw Kartov and Haniyev's car, they began to quicken their pace and arrived in front of the two men after Kartov finished explaining the situation.

The leader was a man in his forties or fifties. The two shook hands, and Kartov introduced him to Haniyev, saying, "This is Comrade Korchagin, the first deputy director of the state-owned forest farm. He's very capable, and he's the first to complete the annual logging quota in our region."

"Comrade Korchagin, this is Comrade Haniyev, the forestry secretary sent from the Kiev Forestry Committee. I hope you will cooperate with Haniyev to do a good job in the forestry work."

Haniyev reached out and shook hands with Korchagin. He felt his palm was very rough and covered with calluses. He smiled and said, "Comrade Korchagin, I'm new here too. I'm a complete novice in our forest farm. I hope you can give me some guidance if I don't understand something."

Korchagin chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Secretary Haniyev. I will definitely stand by your side, fulfill my duties as a Party member, and do my job well. If you need anything, please let me arrange it."

Korchagin exchanged a few polite words, then led Haniyev and Kartov back to the largest three-story building made of concrete and wood.

Entering the forest farm office building, the heat inside dispelled the chillness from Haniyev and Kartov. They took off their coats and sat down in the conference room within ten minutes.

There were nine people sitting in front of the big round table, and in front of each of them was a cup emitting the faint aroma of tea. Haniyev picked up the cup and took a sip, his mouth full of the fragrance of black tea, and it was extremely sweet.

The Soviet people's habit of drinking black tea is similar to that of Middle Eastern and European countries, and they always like to add sugar.

After Kartov read out the State Forestry Committee's appointment of Haniyev, he smiled and said amid applause: "Comrade Haniyev, please speak to everyone."

Although Haniyev has lived two lives, this was his first time speaking in front of a stage as a leader. Looking around, he saw that the forest farm leaders were all looking at him with smiles. He took a deep breath and said, "First of all, I want to thank the organization for its trust and training in me and for sending me to work on the high slopes. After graduating from White Church State Agricultural University in 1980, I joined the Kyiv State Forestry Committee. I worked as a clerk in the office for nearly five years. Later, the organization valued me and promoted me to deputy director of the Forest Resources Development Office. I served as deputy director for a year, and this year I was sent here as secretary..."

Haniyev had already prepared a speech in his mind. He started talking about his resume first, and slowly sorted out his thoughts and was no longer nervous.

After Haniyev finished talking about his resume and expressed his willingness to contribute to the Gaopodi State Forest Farm, Kartov and Korchagin took the lead in applauding. Amidst the applause, Haniyev's inaugural speech as the forest farm secretary was a complete success.

Korchagin also introduced himself and other deputy factory directors, militia company commanders, instructors, etc. who were part of the leadership core.

After everyone expressed their willingness to do a good job in forestry work under the leadership of Secretary Haniyev, this routine meeting ended.

The following is the "have a drink" session that the Soviet people love the most.

Although General Secretary Gorbachev had already banned alcohol last year, the high-slope state-owned forest farms were far away, and the cold wind from Moscow could not reach Chernobyl because it was blocked by the trees.

Haniyev and Kartov were taken by Korchagin to the dining hall on the first floor and entered a room covered with Far Eastern Evenian deerskin carpets. It was warm as spring and had a long dining table.

Korchagin had the chef bring over a few small oak barrels, pointing to them and saying, "This is wine made from wild grapes picked by our forestry workers. It's not strong, so drinking some won't violate the General Secretary's prohibition on alcohol."

Kartov was obviously an alcoholic, or rather, there were not many Soviet people who did not like to drink.

So even with the prohibition on alcohol, people from the state secretary to the workers and farmers still tried their best to buy smuggled and privately brewed alcohol on the black market. The abolition of official distilleries not only failed to curb the alcoholism in the Soviet Union, but instead caused the Soviet state treasury to lose a large amount of income, which laid the groundwork for the subsequent demise of the Soviet Union.

Haniyev was not a loyal follower of Gorbachev, and he himself liked drinking, so he did not express any objection to the illegal brewing that Korchagin had people bring. This made Kartov, Korchagin and others have a better impression of Haniyev.

He is young and promising, and he is not the kind of nerd who sticks to principles and is unwilling to adapt. If his connections in Kiev are still there, he will be promoted soon.