Chernobyl Roulette by Serhii Plokhy

Chernobyl Roulette by Serhii Plokhy is the third book I read by him. The other 2 are The Gates of Europe and The russo-Ukrainian war. I gave all these books a 5 stars rating, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that I am recommending anything written by the author and not only these particular books. I saw him at an event at Oxford and he has a moral clarity that I’ve enjoyed.

I should say that, while he uses the word Chernobyl for the nuclear power plant, I am going to use the Ukrainian version of Chornobyl. He starts the book by discussing the terms he uses and he does that in a way that is highly interesting. His choices make sense for him, as a historian and as a Ukrainian. For me, Chornobyl is the correct version and the version all non-Ukrainians should use.
For the picture of the book I used 2 props, so do read the details at the end of this review.

This short book is about the russian occupation of two nuclear power plants, at the start of the full-scale invasion – Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants.

On the first day of the full-scale invasion, 24 February 2022, russian armoured vehicles approached the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, north of Kyiv, from the territory of belarus. This is the story of pre-full-scale invasion, when western intelligence assumed that the russians had enough intelligence not to go into Chornobyl and go around it. They didn’t. russians occupied the plant for 35 days. They kept Ukrainians as hostages, who worked in shifts without being able to go home. At Zaporizhzhia was even worse and that location is still under occupation.

It is an eye opening account of what people did, written as beautifully as a story. It is a story of regular people who had to decide where their allegiances lie. I enjoyed it a lot, so do read it if you can.

Chernobyl Roulette by Serhii Plokhy

Details about the picture: The mug is from Ukraine and the empty can of NON STOP energy drink is from Ukraine too. NON STOP is one of the most common energy drink that the soldiers are drinking on the frontlines to help them stay focused for long periods of time. It is a limited edition designed in collaboration with the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. My husband plays the game and I brought it back for him from last time I was in Ukraine. To know why I photographed it with the book, you need to read the book though.
My rating: 5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: yes
Published by: Allen Lane
Year it was published: 2024
Format: Hardcover
Genre(s): History of Ukraine
Pages: 240

About the author: Serhii Plokhy is a Ukrainian and American historian. Plokhy is currently the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History and Director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, where he was also named Walter Channing Cabot Fellow in 2013. A leading authority on Eastern Europe, he has lived and taught in Ukraine, Canada, and the United States. He has published extensively in English, Ukrainian, and Russian. For three successive years (2002-2005) his books won first prize of the American Association for Ukrainian Studies.
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