It's frightening how quickly people forget. There's a large chunk of the most fertile part of the former USSR, which is radioactive. Do you remember Chernobyl? Twenty years ago, a nuclear reactor there "leaked" major amounts of radiation. It seriously contaminated the Russian "breadbasket." Chernobyl is in the Ukraine, close to Belarus.
This was during the the communist rule, and at first it was hushed up. The population stayed home, unaware of the danger and forbidden by Soviet law of living wherever they chose.
Soon after, Jews were allowed to leave an massive numbers (not all Jewish according to Jewish Law) moved to Israel. I've spoken to many who said that the Chernobyl disaster was one of the reasons they left.
The area is still radioactive. Anyone in that area, eating food grown there, drinking its water, etc, are in danger.
For the past twenty years, Chabad's Children of Chernobyl (CCOC) is airlifting children from the danger zones in Belarus and Ukraine. Even today, young children are being sent by their parents for health and safety in Israel.
A few years ago, I almost took a job in Kfar Chabad, doing PR for them. The travel logistics were too hard. Nowadays it would be easier, with internet and laptops. Something in me wishes I had taken that job. They're saving lives.
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