• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
How men who worked ‘most dangerous job of all time’ managed to survive despite huge risk

Home> News

Updated 18:26 15 Sep 2024 GMT+1Published 18:14 15 Sep 2024 GMT+1

How men who worked ‘most dangerous job of all time’ managed to survive despite huge risk

Oleksiy Ananenko, Valery Bespalov and Boris Baranov have gone down in history as the bravest men alive

Britt Jones

Britt Jones

Historically, there have been a range of dangerous jobs to come out - but this might be the worst.

From cave explorations to oil rigg gigs, there’s no shortage of the things that people need to do without getting killed in the process.

But there’s a job that required people to don huge protective suits that made them look like astronauts while they swam in deadly liquid.

Advert

Maybe sitting at your desk isn’t too bad after all?

This job role was created in 1986 and saw a group of men actually survive against all odds.

These three divers would go down in history as probably some of the bravest people alive - and they did it all without training.

Advert

Remember the Chernobyl disaster, that was caused by a reactor going off the rails in Ukraine and made an entire city uninhabitable due to its extreme radiation still to this day?

It’s hard to forget.

But, according to Reddit, these men that were there that day were tasked with the unimaginable.

The Chernobyl disaster was the worst man-made disaster of all time. (HBO)
The Chernobyl disaster was the worst man-made disaster of all time. (HBO)

While hundreds of thousands of firefighters and liquidators were on scene to clean up the mess from the meltdown of Reactor 4, three others, who were workers there had to then become divers.

Advert

Alexei Ananenko, a mechanical engineer, Valeri Bespalov a senior engineer and Boris Baranov, an engineer and plan liquidator were set up as the so-called ‘Suicide Squad’, according to Sky History.

Days after Reactor 4 failed and killed many, Reactor 4’s fluid was at risk of flowing into the 20 million litre pools beneath, which were used as coolant for the reactor.

If the two made contact, then the steam created would be catastrophic as the water was already contaminated with radiation.

It would probably destroy the entire rest of the Chernobyl plant and the other three reactors, and the water and nuclear fallout could destroy half of Europe - this would cause it to be uninhabitable for 500,000 years or even more than that.

Advert

So no pressure there.

Thankfully, if the divers were to pull the valves, the blubber pools would drain and the risk would be gone.

But the valves were located in the basement, which was flooded with even more irradiated water.

While firefighters were busy trying to pump water out of the basement to make it easier, Alexei , Boris, and Valeri volunteered to find the valves.

Three men were tasked with the worst job ever. (HBO)
Three men were tasked with the worst job ever. (HBO)

Advert

With water around their knees and in the dark, they reportedly waded through radioactive water until they found the drainage valves.

Thankfully, they managed to twist the valves in time and the pools beneath the reactor began to drain- thus preventing an explosion that could have turned the world on its head.

Not only did they survive, but they avoided getting Acute Radiation Syndrome from exposure thanks to their suits and working as fast as possible - as well as the water itself, according to History Defined.

All three divers survived the event and were later awarded the Order For Courage by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in 2018.

However, Boris had passed away in 2005 from a heart condition and so was awarded the award after his untimely death.

Ananenko said in 2021 that instead of viewing the task as a death sentence, they instead thought of it as something they needed to do, adding: "I never thought it might mean death, and they only sent me because I knew how to do it."

Featured Image Credit: Reddit/HBO

Topics: Chernobyl, History

Britt Jones
Britt Jones

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • What happened during ‘most gruesome death of all time’ that saw five divers instantly killed on oil rig
  • Sobering simulation shows what happened during one of most horrific accidents of all time
  • Experts reveal 'truth' behind horrific device thought to be 'most painful torture method' of all time
  • ‘Most tragic airline disaster of all time’ saw 580 people killed after two planes collided on runway

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Lip reader reveals 'what CEO said to woman' after being caught on camera at Coldplay concert

    A video of two people seemingly embracing at the gig before jumping apart has gone viral online

    News
  • an hour ago

    Warning to anyone watching Usyk vs Dubois illegally via IPTV or firesticks

    A cyber security expert as warned anyone streaming the Usyk vs Dubois boxing match could be impacting their online safety

    News
  • an hour ago

    Why Trump supporters are burning their MAGA hats in latest blow to president

    Some Republicans could be seen burning their MAGA hats in protest

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Shocking Ancient Egypt burial shows gruesome act done to corpses after they die

    The discovery goes a long way to explaining how religious beliefs of Ancient Egypt were formed

    News