April 26 is the 23rd anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident. The catastrophe occurred when reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded following a test of the reactor.
Vast areas, mainly in the three then-Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, were contaminated by the fallout from the critical nuclear meltdown. Some 200,000 people were relocated after the accident, many to the Moscow Region.
"In connection with the Day of Remembrance of the Fallen in Nuclear Disasters ... a one-off payment of 2,000 rubles [$60] in financial assistance will be made to those citizens who were disabled by the effects of radiation," said Valentina Lagunkina, minister for social security in the Moscow Region.
"A payment of 1,500 rubles will also be made to citizens who were evacuated from affected population centers," she went on, adding that people who had "voluntarily" left the radiation zones would get 1,000 rubles.
The minister said there were currently some 16,000 people in the Moscow Region who had suffered from the effects of radiation, and that 9,200 of them would receive payments.
