10 Most Terrifying Moments From HBO's Chernobyl
4. Lyudmilla Visits Her Husband
Of all the stories in HBO’s retelling of Chernobyl, Lyudmilla Ignatenko’s might just be the most tragic, especially when put in the context of this being a real life story.
As previously mentioned, Lyudmilla’s husband is a fireman, meaning he’s been exposed to deadly amounts of radiation. She travels across the country to see him, and at the hospital is given strict instructions (but no supervision) about her conduct in the room.
This includes a very clear rule about not touching him, and is asked several times if she’s pregnant; each time she lies and denies it.
There’s some instant, graphic terror as we see the shocking damage the radiation has done to him, but Chernobyl doesn’t linger on this. Instead, it’s the first embrace between the pair, with Lyudmilla unsure but unable to hold herself back from the man she loves, which signals her death knell.
The third episode in the series ends with him and his fellow fireman being buried in soulless metal coffins, with cement poured over them.
The next time we see Lyudmilla, we learn her baby absorbed the deadly radiation, protecting her from any serious ill effects but killing the child in utero.