Oleksandr Lelechenko Hrihorovich

Olexander Hryhorovych Lelechenko was born on July 26, 1938 in the village of Novoorikhivka, Lubensky district, Poltava region. After graduating from school, he studied at the Kharkiv Flight School to become an aviation navigator. In 1961-1966, he studied at the power engineering faculty of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.

After graduating from the institute, he worked at the Slavyansk State District Power Plant (DRES), then in the city of Energodar at the Zaporizhia DRES in the thermal automation and measurement department. Since 1975, he worked as the deputy head of the energy department of the Chornobyl NPP.

On April 26, 1986, after the explosion of the fourth reactor of the Chornobyl NPP, Oleksandr Lelechenko went to the electrolysis plant three times to shut off the supply of hydrogen to the emergency generators. Working up to his knees in highly active water, he studied the condition of the switchgear, trying to energize the feed pumps. The total radiation dose he received reached 2500 rads. He received first aid (intravenous infusion of saline solution) in the Pripyat medical unit, but returned to the unit and worked there for a few more hours.

He died on May 7, 1986 in the Department of Radiation Pathology in Kyiv. Buried in the cemetery of the village of Stepne, Poltava district, Poltava region.

Awards

• Hero of Ukraine with the award of the Golden Star Order (April 21, 2006, posthumously) — for a heroic deed in the name of the lives of current and future generations, personal courage and self-sacrifice, shown in the liquidation of the accident at Chornobyl NPP.
• Award of the President of Ukraine - cross "For Courage" (April 26, 1996, posthumously) - for personal courage and bravery, shown during the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl NPP.
• Order of Lenin (1986, posthumous).

Commemoration

The Hero's name is engraved on one of the memorial plaques to the Heroes of Chernobyl in Kyiv at the intersection of Verkhovna Rada Boulevard and Myru Avenue.

In the school of Novoorikhivka, which now bears the name of Oleksandr Lelechenko, hosts a museum exhibition that tells about the Chernobyl tragedy and the feat of a countryman.

In many cities of Ukraine there is a Street of Heroes of Chernobyl, to which Oleksandr Lelechenko belongs.

In 2021, a monument was erected near educational building #20 of NTUU "KPI".