I was born at a primary nuclear test site of the Soviet Union (Kazakhstan, Semipalatinsk) before it was closed in 1991, when nuclear tests were still being conducted. Since 1949 the Semipalatinsk Test Site saw over 450 nuclear tests. Radiation exposure led to devastatingly high cancer and birth defect rates, along with lasting health and environmental damage. I remember the strong tremors vividly, full of fear and horror... Semipaltinsk is my home, my homeland,a place of big tragedy.

I was born at a primary nuclear test site of the Soviet Union (Kazakhstan, Semipalatinsk) before it was closed in 1991, when nuclear tests were still being conducted. Since 1949 the Semipalatinsk Test Site saw over 450 nuclear tests. Radiation exposure led to devastatingly high cancer and birth defect rates, along with lasting health and environmental damage. I remember the strong tremors vividly, full of fear and horror... Semipaltinsk is my home, my homeland,a place of big tragedy.