Radiation did the trick.
67 years ago, the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear weapon, codenamed “First lightning” in the steppe of northeast Kazakhstan. Test site — the Semipalatinsk over 40 years old, he suffered 456 nuclear explosion. The residents of nearby cities have become unwitting Guinea pigs, suffering from the effects of explosions, both specific and random.
Radiation absorbed three generations of Kazakhstan (the total number of infected more than a million), causing health problems — from thyroid disease to cancer and birth defects, deformities, premature aging and cardiovascular diseases. Life expectancy of seven years less than in other parts of Kazakhstan. In this issue you will see the effects of nuclear explosions on innocent people.
The big dipper rises over the nuclear polygon on the background of lights from Kurchatov on the horizon, November 22, 2008. The site was a testing site of nearly 500 nuclear tests during the cold war. Residents of nearby villages and towns have not received any warnings, no protection from radiation. The UN development program reports that over one million people were exposed to radiation resulting from 40 years of nuclear weapons testing. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Zhumageldina Mayra bathes her daughter Zhannur in Semipalatinsk, March 2, 2009. 16-year-old Zhannur was born with microcephaly and scoliosis 6-th degree because of the high degree of radiation. It influenced the development of the brain Zhannur, it’s like she’s stuck in a vegetative state. She can not think, speak, and perform even the most basic actions. Myra had to bathe her every day because she cannot afford diapers. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina feeds her daughter Zhannur in the house in Semipalatinsk. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina makes his daughter Zhannur massage before going to bed. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina kissing his 16-year-old daughter Zhannur at his house in Semipalatinsk. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Myra Zhumageldina lucky Zhannur on a wheelchair. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
The sun sets over Semey. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Woman in the Church in Kurchatov hit the bells on Christmas eve, January 6, 2009. When Kurchatov was the epicenter of nuclear tests, there were scientists and technicians. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdykov sitting on the bed in the house of his mother-in-law on the territory of the nuclear test site in Kazakhstan. He was born blind and with signs of deformities in the distribution of radiation in the womb. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdykov (right) reaches for the hand of his mother-in-law, Bibigul, in her home in Kazakhstan. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
29-year-old Berwick Syzdykov sings and plays piano in an apartment in Semipalatinsk. Berik learned to play piano and fell in love with Opera when I was in Italy, where he had surgery on his face. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdykov goes under the arm with his mother. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Berwick Syzdykov smoke on the hill in the background of the Semipalatinsk. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Scientists use Geiger counter to check radiation levels at the site of the first atomic explosion at the nuclear test site of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. More than 400 nuclear explosions were conducted in the USSR during the cold war, leaving the area with a high level of radiation. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Nuclear scientist uses a Geiger counter to check radiation levels at the site of the first atomic explosion at the nuclear test site of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
7-year-old Valeria Zholdina with down syndrome plays with lights and fibre optics in a rehabilitation center in Semey 15 January 2009. She was born with developmental delays and recently learned to walk. These lights are made specifically for the development of motor skills. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
13-year-old Zhanbolat Turisbekov watching TV, while his sister Aida plays in their house in Semey. Brother and sister were born with spinal amyotrophy and can’t walk. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Father bathes 18-year-old Nikita Bochkarev in Semipalatinsk. Nikita suffers from cerebral palsy, he can’t control his body, so he needs constant care of their parents. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Father Andrew puts Nikita Bochkarev. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Nikita Bochkarev tickles the nose of his younger brother Daniel. Nikita and Daniel depict the fighting of dogs, but Nikita could use for the game only your nose. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Nikita Bochkaryov types on the keyboard by using special sticks on the helmet during a remote lesson of the Russian language. He practically lives on the Internet, where his mind is released from a physically defective body, allowing him to write short stories, letters and poems, and communicate with friends. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
A touching moment of communication between two close friends — Nikita Bochkarev and his mom in their apartment in Semipalatinsk. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Stars over the abandoned military town of Chagan near nuclear test site of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, 27 February 2009. Once this city was a military air base during the cold war where planes were ready to drop nuclear warheads. The city is empty after the testing of nuclear weapons ended after the Soviet collapse. Now it’s a Ghost town in the middle of the Kazakh steppe. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
Nurse Larissa Soboleva holds two-year Adila Zhilyaeva in the orphanage in Semey, November 24, 2008. Adil was born blind, with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. His mother spent years exposed to radiation resulting from nuclear weapons testing. His parents abandoned him, and now cared for at the shelter. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images)
