Servant of the People in Kyiv

Although what Haniyev said was not his true inner thoughts, his expression, tone and words all received extremely good feedback from Sherbitsky and Novikov. At least the two of them believed it 80%.

After all, no one knew that the Soviet Union only had five years to live. If other people knew that, they might do something a hundred times crazier than Haniyev.

No matter how smart Sherbitsky was, he could not imagine that Haniyev knew that the Soviet Union would only have five years to live, so he looked at Haniyev, the young cadre, from an empirical point of view and knew that as long as he was not a fool, this was the only reasonable and convincing explanation for what he had done.

Sherbitsky looked at Haniyev carefully. Seeing the young man's kindness, infinite loyalty to the revolutionary cause, and vigorous energy, he smiled and thought to himself: I was much the same as him when I was young. Unfortunately, I was exiled by Khrushchev, which made me lack experience and did not give me enough time to cultivate my network. Otherwise, with my relationship with Comrade Brezhnev, I would have become the core leader of the organization four years ago.

Recalling the past, Sherbitsky looked at Haniyev with a gentler look. He pointed to the jug of milk on the table and said, "You are still young. Drink two more glasses of milk to replenish your nutrition."

In fact, Haniyev had already eaten and drunk enough, but he was not prepared to refuse Sherbitsky's kindness. He hurriedly picked up the tin kettle and poured a glass of milk. He drank it in one gulp and poured another half glass. This time he could only drink most of it. He smiled apologetically and then picked up the tablecloth to wipe the corner of his mouth.

Shcherbitsky asked with interest, "Young man, you don't seem to be worried about your fate. Aren't you afraid that you will be exiled for violating regulations and leaking state secrets?"

"I am afraid, of course I am not afraid."

Haniyev spread his hands and said, "When I decided to leak the real information, I had already prepared for the worst. That's why I made a backup plan and asked my classmates to report on me in foreign news agencies, hoping to make the matter bigger so that you and the masters in Moscow would not be able to crush me so easily.

But deep down in my heart, I still hope that you, the wise leader, can see that I have no ill intentions, but rather that I do not want our Soviet leaders to continue to persecute the people. Then perhaps you can save me."

Shcherbitsky sneered: "You have a nice idea."

"hey-hey……"

Haniyev chuckled. "When you had Minister Novikov bring me here to have breakfast with you, I felt 30% more at ease. After meeting you, I felt even more at ease. Now I'm completely confident that you, the kind and wise secretary, don't intend to punish me harshly according to Moscow's opinion. Or perhaps you want to give me a chance. Am I right?"

After asking the question, Haniyev looked at Sherbitsky with nervous eyes.

Shcherbitsky looked at this clever young man, whose cleverness could not always be concealed, and was in a very good mood. He said calmly, "You are really very courageous. Although I don't want to tell you that you guessed it right, in fact you did guess it right. My current decision is not to touch you.

"You saved the citizens of Kyiv, a personal quality. With your intelligence and talent, you could have done it without exposing yourself. But you exposed everything, making yourself a target of public criticism. Why would you risk your future to stop Moscow's orders? Shouldn't you be obeying our General Secretary?"

Haniyev suspected that Sherbitsky's words might be a final test for him. He thought for a moment and said, "Even if I'm not speaking from the perspective of Ukraine, as a member of the Soviet Union, I should have obeyed the General Secretary's request and not released the information just to protect you and the citizens of Kyiv.

But we have a proverb in Europe that goes, 'My vassal's vassal is not my vassal.' I have never left the Kyiv region since I started working. I think that even if I become a high-ranking official in my lifetime, I will still be an official in Ukraine. Therefore, you are my real supreme leader.

Although Secretary Gorbachev is the top leader of our Soviet Union, he is too far away for me. The leader I hope to follow is you, not him. The leader I can follow is also you, not him.

Another reason is that I admire you and hope that you will not be seriously affected by the Chernobyl incident. Finally, apart from this reason, the more important thing is that I am Ukrainian and you are also Ukrainian. Although I am not a supporter of Ukrainian independence, I absolutely hope that our Ukraine can be united and strong, and I hope that we Ukrainians can have a unique status and rights no less than those of Russians in the big family of the Soviet Union.

If you, a member of the Presidium and the First Secretary of Ukraine, have a stain on your record, who will stand up for Ukraine and protect its interests?

These are my true thoughts. I don’t want to just follow the crowd and live like a walking corpse…”

What Haniyev said was exactly in line with Sherbitsky's true thoughts. He was very satisfied with Haniyev's attitude and character.

In that era of underdeveloped information, even though Sherbitsky had been in power in Ukraine for more than ten years, Ukrainian officials did not know much about him.

Sherbitsky did not think that Haniyev could understand the contradiction between himself and Gorbachev. As a young man, he might not even understand the political rules and party struggles of the Soviet Union, and he didn't even know who the members of the Soviet Politburo were. How could he possibly know how big the contradiction between himself and Gorbachev was?

So even though Sherbitsky knew in his heart that Haniyev had saved his reputation and status in Ukraine, he believed that Haniyev did not know what he had done.

So when Sherbitsky looked at Haniyev's words and deeds, he felt that this young man's ideas were very simple, and they also truly proved his political ambitions and political inclinations.

A native Ukrainian who speaks Russian and Ukrainian well, and more importantly, has love for the Ukrainian people and determination to do great things, and more importantly, is loyal to himself. Sherbitsky feels that Haniyev makes him very satisfied. He feels that he has not met such a perfect cadre as Haniyev for more than ten years.

Sherbyski knew that he was already 68 years old. Even if his health was good for the time being, he would not be able to work for much longer, so he had already started thinking about his affairs after his death.

In order to consolidate his power and maintain stability in Ukraine, Shcherbytsky was already preparing to cultivate Haniyev as a future leader who could stabilize Ukraine and become a useful talent in Ukraine, perhaps as the governor of a province or a central leader...

Sherbitsky subconsciously thought that Haniyev was born too late, otherwise he could have been trained to enter the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

After a few hearty laughs, Shcherbitsky stood up and nodded.

He said to Novikoff, "You can send him out now. Release him, then organize a press conference, help him write some speeches, and let him meet our old foreign friends to tell the Ukrainian people, the Soviet people, and the people of the world what happened."

After saying this, Sherbitsky stood up and left, leaving Haniyev and Novikov staring at each other for a long time.

Chapter 060 Personal Honor and Disgrace (7)

After spending half an hour at the Mariinsky Palace, Haniyev was taken back to the Minsk District Guesthouse by First Interior Minister Novikov, which was the temporary residence and office for Chernobyl officials.

After hearing Sherbitsky's arrangements, both Haniyev and Novikov understood that the arrest of Haniyev, which was instructed by Moscow, had come to an end.

Novikov knew very well that Shcherbitskyi not only had no intention of severely punishing Haniyev, but even admired the young man and wanted to protect him. This was obviously a plan to make Haniyev his own man. As long as Haniyev could be used, he would likely have a bright future in Ukraine.

After all, in a sense, Haniyev has taken a bullet for his leaders. He is a person who can only be reused and trusted because of his ability, courage, boldness, political background, etc.

As long as this crisis can be resolved as Sherbitsky expected, Haniyev will definitely be portrayed as a typical figure and be reused, because he has become a person of concern to the West and a hero in the hearts of the Ukrainian people. Reusing Haniyev is in line with the image of Sherbitsky who has been running Ukraine for nearly 20 years and can better stabilize the situation.

As for why Sherbitsky did not give any specific instructions for this so-called press conference, both of them understood the deeper meaning.

When facing interviews with domestic and foreign news media, what should Haniyev say and what should he say? This is the opportunity that Sherbitsky gave Haniyev.

Both Haniyev and Novikov understood that this was a test for Secretary Sherbitsky. If Haniyev could guess Sherbitsky's intentions, or understand what he should say, then as long as he handled it appropriately, Sherbitsky should meet Haniyev again after the press conference.

As for what would happen if the words were not spoken well, the consequences are self-evident. Even if Haniyev does not really disappear for some unreasonable reason, he will completely lose the opportunity to be an official. Basically, in order to avoid being exiled for the sake of the impact, he will live alone on a grassroots farm or other department until he grows old.

After returning to the guesthouse, Novikov held a special meeting with seven or eight other leaders including Kravchuk and Chekhov.

At the meeting, Novikov briefly said that after investigating Haniyev, the possibility of him betraying the country was basically ruled out. However, after all, the nuclear power plant incident aroused countless voices, which required the leadership team of the Chernobyl region and Haniyev to hold a press conference to explain.

Novikov emphasized that the facts must be made clear and the Ukrainian people must not be dissatisfied with Secretary Sherbitsky.

Kravchuk was Shcherbitsky's confidant and had long known about the conflict and struggle between Shcherbitsky and Gorbachev.

He also knew what kind of shocking decision Gordi had made to suppress Secretary Sherbitsky, so when he saw Haniyev being brought back by Novikov, he immediately understood that Haniyev had turned a disaster into a blessing and had become a person admired by Secretary Sherbitsky.

Originally, Gorbachev had successfully used the nuclear accident to suppress Sherbitsky. Even after the May Day celebrations, Moscow could have simply claimed that the parade was Sherbitsky's own idea. Then Ukraine would no longer be able to support Sherbitsky as stably and firmly as it does now. The Ukrainian gang would have suffered a devastating disaster and would have been completely unable to organize the implementation of Gorbachev's reforms. At that time, Gorbachev would have been able to quickly seize power.

But now Haniyev's sudden appearance has muddied the waters and exposed the fact that the data published by the Moscow Research Institute was falsified. As a result, the public's anger has been directed at Moscow, and the May Day parade has come to an end. Sherbitsky's political crisis has been invisibly resolved by half.

Although Gorbachev must have hated Secretary Sherbitzky even more, his wishful thinking was indeed dashed.

At least before Gorbachev found other evidence against Secretary Sherbitsky, Moscow could not do anything to him.

Kravchuk was also very happy. As an ambitious Ukrainian official, Kravchuk could not deny that he also wanted to take over from Sherbitsky and enter the Soviet Central Committee. Therefore, he was very satisfied with the current situation of being able to protect the interests of the Ukrainian gang.

At this time, how to arrange the media, how to prepare questions and answers, and how to make Haniyev speak were directly decided by Kravchuk and Novikov and drafted together with other leaders. Haniyev had no say at all.

Haniyev also knew that it was a fight between gods, and if he got involved he would be crushed to death if he was not careful. It was very rare that he could plan the current situation, so Haniyev really had no intention of making the decision on what to say and do at the press conference. He was completely prepared to be a puppet and try to satisfy Sherbitsky.

Soon all the relevant matters for the press conference were arranged, and at the same time, Ukrainian television and radio also announced the news that Haniyev had been released after investigation.

The mass rallies that swept across Ukraine were also brought under control.

While Haniyev continued to recite Kravchuk's answer to him, Novikov had already returned to the Mariinsky Palace and met Secretary Sherbitsky.

"Are things arranged?"

"Everything has been arranged. Haniyev has been very cooperative. The people we sent out to inflame the situation have been recalled, and the mass incidents in various places have been suppressed."

Shcherbitsky smiled slightly and said: "Ukraine is still my Ukraine. You are doing a good job."

"It's because of your good leadership, Secretary."

Novikov hesitated and asked, "The KGB reports directly to Gorbachev. Will they find out that we were behind this incident?"

Shcherbitsky smiled and said, "No, because Gorbachev is not only constrained by our Ukrainian central leaders, but also by the older generation of central leaders. The KGB is led by Kryuchkov, and Kryuchkov is Andropov's confidant and one of the constrained veteran cadres. How could he truly obey Gorbachev? As far as I know, he actually doesn't support Comrade Gorbachev's so-called reforms.

So, even if Kryuchkov finds something, he won't tell Gorbachev. Furthermore, it's not just us; Western countries are behind these mass incidents across Ukraine. The main reason they've gotten so bad is because your Ministry of Internal Affairs was too slow to act. Even if Kryuchkov investigates, what can he find? Finding that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is slow to act or inaction? Who will that affect?

Novikov exclaimed, then laughed, "Secretary, it's a real loss to the Soviet Union that you couldn't reach the center directly."

Sherbitsky agreed with Novikov's words and sneered, "It's a pity that my luck is always a little bad, but this time God sent Haniyev to my side, maybe it's a sign that good luck is turning to me."

A burst of hearty laughter echoed in the Mariinsky Palace.

Through television and radio reports, Ukraine and even the entire Soviet Union knew that Haniyev, the protagonist who caused the major mass incident in Ukraine, had been released and returned to the guesthouse where the leading officials of the Chernobyl region were staying. After discussion with the commander-in-chief, Secretary Kravchuk and other relevant leaders, a press conference was scheduled to be held at 3 pm to explain to domestic and foreign media the relevant details and issues of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, as well as the causes and consequences of Haniyev's arrest and the reasons for his release.

Chapter 061 Personal Honor and Disgrace (8)

Starting from May 1st, Western media have been reporting on the escalating mass incidents in various parts of Ukraine every day, as well as follow-up reports on the nuclear power plant incident and Haniyev's arrest. Even though the Soviet side blocked the news, on the one hand, Sherbitsky deliberately let it go, and on the other hand, Western media entering Ukraine and various Soviet republics continued to leak and publicize the real information, stirring up all kinds of voices among the Soviet people.

In Western media reports, Haniyev was almost portrayed as a great man.

Almost everyone who paid attention to this matter knows that in order to uphold the truth and protect the lives and health of millions of citizens in Kyiv, Haniyev tried every means to prevent the May Day celebrations. In the end, Reuters and other Western news agencies extended a helping hand, and the Soviet government's plan to deceive the people was thwarted.

However, Haniyev, who spoke for the people, was arrested by the Soviet authorities and tortured constantly. They wanted to label him a traitorous spy. However, spies secretly use their positions to sabotage and leak information. If Haniyev was a spy, he would be a typical fool to do such a thing. Therefore, no one believed that the Soviet authorities' motive for arresting Haniyev was the reason they said.

Everyone believed that Haniyev's arrest was retaliation by the Soviet authorities. A young cadre with a bright future only needed to wait patiently and would eventually move to a higher position. What was he trying to achieve by doing this?

If a spy is willing to sacrifice himself to protect millions of people, the Soviet people would hope there would be more such spies.

Although Haniyev had been arrested by the Ministry of Internal Affairs before, due to his actions and Sherbitsky's desire to go with the flow, the interrogators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs never forced Haniyev or used conventional methods of lynching to extract a confession.

Haniyev originally thought that these armed police from the Ministry of Internal Affairs knew about his deeds and might have felt a little sympathy and moved, so they showed mercy.

But after returning to the Minsk District Guesthouse, Haniyev reviewed his experiences of the past two days and what he saw when he met Sherbitsky. He was certain that the reason the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not torture him was purely because they had received instructions from Sherbitsky. The controller of Ukraine obviously wanted to protect him from the beginning.

Haniyev quickly figured out Sherbitsky's motives. Just as he had guessed, his sudden appearance had muddied the waters in Ukraine, and the May Day parade celebrations had been stopped. Sherbitsky must have been relaxed and happy.

Haniyev felt that his appearance just saved Sherbitsky's image in Ukraine and consolidated his position, but it was inevitable that the Ukrainian people would be angry and alienated from the Soviet Union and the Soviet Party.

However, Haniyev didn't care much. He felt that he had made the right bet. Now Jian was in the emperor's favor. As long as he used foreign powers to make Gorbachev afraid to suppress him, Sherbitsky would most likely use him. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Then before Shcherbitsky died, perhaps he could have reached the center of Ukraine in the five years before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Haniyev's mind was full of thoughts, and when he came to his senses it was already 1:30 in the afternoon.

Novikov left two elite armed police officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs as bodyguards for Haniyev, saying that they were to protect Haniyev in an emergency, but surveillance and control was also a purpose.

Haniyev knew very well that he could not reassure Sherbitsky until the press conference was over.

So even though Natasha came back and even though Kartov repeatedly requested to see Haniyev, he was unable to meet anyone after returning to the guesthouse from Haniyev.

It was soon 2:40 in the afternoon, and Chekhov himself pushed the door open. He looked at Haniyev with a complicated expression and said in a deep voice, "It's time to go to the conference room and meet with the people from the TV station and the news agency."

Hanyev saw Kartov, Natasha and others following behind Chekonenev, and he gave everyone a confident smile, especially winking at Natasha and Kartov.

Soon, Secretary Kravchuk, First Secretary of the Chernobyl region Chekonyev, Pripyat Mayor Hanyev, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Director Brukhanov, Chief Engineer Dyatlov, Nikolai Fomin and others sat in the conference room of the reception hotel.

Logically speaking, this press conference was a political task instructed by Moscow to reverse the image of the Party and the Soviet Union and explain the nuclear accident. As an expert sent by Moscow to guide the handling of the nuclear accident, Academician Legasov was fully required to attend the meeting.

However, Academician Legasov was said to be ill and unable to come, so he had to send one of his assistants temporarily.

At this time, there were more than 30 people sitting in the audience seats below. Judging from their clothes and name tags, there were reporters from AFP, Reuters, and the Associated Press, as well as reporters from the Soviet official media RIA Novosti and TASS, and the Ukrainian National News Agency. In addition, there were reporters from the national television station.

Everyone stared at Haniyev when he walked into the venue with the others.

Photographers raised their cameras and took photos to record Haniyev's every move.

The visual materials in a successful news story are only one tenth or even one hundredth of the raw materials. All reporters want to get the best photos, so the flash lights and the sound of camera clicks turn the conference room into the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.

Although Haniyev had prepared himself mentally, he still blinked at the flashing lights and only got used to it after sitting down.

Seeing that it was almost three o'clock, Chekhov made a few opening remarks, and then the press conference he personally hosted opened.

Press conferences all follow a rigorous process. What media outlets can enter, the general questions to be asked and the spokesperson's responses are all prepared in advance. However, emergencies and improvisations are common.

Even if we exclude malicious questions and trouble-making by some people with ulterior motives, the journalists' desire to make big news and gain both fame and fortune is also one of the reasons why unexpected situations constantly occur at press conferences.

However, in a country like the Soviet Union, no one, whether official media or private media, dared to act against the rules, so the news agencies were initially wary of Reuters, AFP and the Associated Press.

According to the procedure, Kravchuk represented the Soviet and, as the commander-in-chief, reported on the entire process of the accident, its occurrence, handling, and conclusion, and then explained the legitimacy and rationality of the Party Central Committee's decision to require the Ministry of Internal Affairs to review all officials in the Chernobyl area because the nuclear power plant, a major national core project, was involved.

After the procedures were completed one by one, it was Haniyev's turn to personally explain the circumstances of his one-day isolation and investigation. The basic situation in the previous procedures had been reported many times by the Soviet official media, so no one felt it was new.

As the microphone was handed to Haniyev, all the reporters became excited. After Haniyev said in his speech that he had just entered the Ministry of Internal Affairs for routine review, he had just put down his speech when almost every reporter in the venue raised their hands and asked to ask questions.

Haniyev's acceptance of questioning was also part of the meeting, and there was a procedure for who to call, what questions to ask, and how to answer, so there was no chaos at all.

Chapter 062 Personal Honor and Disgrace (9)

Cheković glanced at Kravchuk and said, "Now we'll have a half-hour question-and-answer session. Let's go first, our friend from AFP."

Since the questions asked by the domestic reporters were all arranged and the focus of this press conference was to satisfy the Western media, Chekovo called on a female reporter from AFP in the order determined by Kravchuk and Novikov based on the question lists submitted by foreign media reporters.

A beautiful woman with fair skin and freckles, she raised her eyes, stood up, and took the microphone. "Hello, Mayor Haniyev, I'm Rosanna, a reporter from AFP. I'd like to ask you: You've done so much to save your citizens, but the Soviet government still wants to arrest you for interrogation. How do you feel?"

Haniyev, Chekhov and Kravchuk all frowned. It was obvious that the questions raised by Rosanna were slightly different from the list of questions she submitted, but at least they were not too sensitive.

At this time, neither Chekhov nor Kravchuk could speak, and both leaders looked at Haniyev.

Haniyev remembered clearly that he had once read a speech by an iron-fisted leader. So he sighed deeply, his eyes red, and said with deep emotion: "There is no perfect person in the world, nor is there a perfect country or government. Compared with the US government's handling of the Three Mile Island nuclear leak accident, our Soviet Union, under the leadership of the Party and government, was able to respond quickly and save the lives and property of hundreds of thousands of people. This is a success.

As for my being isolated and interrogated, I feel that the motherland is my mother. If a mother slaps her son, how can the son still be jealous of his mother?

As soon as Haniyev finished speaking, a translator began to translate into English and French simultaneously.

Kravchuk wrote a line of words in the notebook in front of him with a fountain pen: "Clear mind, appropriate responses, comprehensive and outstanding abilities..."

Chekhov also nodded with a smile and said, "The next question will be from our friend from Reuters."