Later this month, Vienna will host the first meeting of #TPNW state-parties and several events focused on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear use. I want to use this chance to put a face to "consequences." 1/6
Meet Dmitrii-a friendly driver of a local equivalent of Uber in Semipalatinsk. Dmitrii was born to a Kazakh mother from Semipalatinsk & a Russian father from Novosibirsk in '76, 13 years after the last Soviet atmospheric test at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.. 2/6
...during the period of underground nuclear testing. Dmitrii was diagnosed with a genetic mutation. He has altered skull bones and missing collarbones. 3/6
"My arms are not connected to my shoulders," he told me. What it means in practice is that every couple of months, sharp pain debilitates him for a week at a time. He cannot lift a spoon during such episodes.4/6
Dmitrii decided not to have children as he feared his children could have genetic disorders. "I do not want to inflict this pain on anyone." 5/6
His story is the story of thousands of victims of Soviet nuclear testing in Kazakhstan. 6/6
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