April 25, 2006

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6 Join Hunger Strike of Chernobyl Cleanup Veteran in Petersburg
ITAR/TASS, Russia
April 21, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG, April 21 (Itar-Tass) -- Six people have joined the hunger strike of Chernobyl cleanup veteran Sergei Kulish in St. Petersburg. The protest started on April 5 to demand simpler formalities in the protection of radiation victims’ rights.

“Eighteen amendments have totally confused the law, and Chernobyl cleanup veterans are demanding compensation of damages in court. The compensations remain on the 1997 level. Our lives depend on the will of a particular judge,” Kulish told Itar-Tass on Friday.

Kulish and his associates have been on strike before. Ten Chernobyl cleanup veterans held a hunger strike in Sestroretsk near St. Petersburg, where 120 Chernobyl families live, in late 2004 – early 2005. Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin managed to end the strike through negotiations, and compensations were increased for Kulish. Nowadays, he monthly receives 7,000 rubles. Kulish has a wife and two children to support. Some of the participants in the current strike have a monthly income of 4,000 rubles. The official exchange rate for today is 27.5198 rubles to the dollar.

Kulish has lost a lot of weight, and doctors are concerned about his condition.

http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=6807252&PageNum=0