Post B2miXcm3Fu0h31gFuK by agaperealm@poa.st
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 (DIR) Post #B2miXcm3Fu0h31gFuK by agaperealm@poa.st
       2026-01-21T03:31:14.568130Z
       
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       I had never heard this before this evening..."LuluLegacy@LegacyofLulu1hAfter the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986, Soviet authorities used cloud seeding to manipulate weather patterns and limit the spread of radioactive fallout. As winds shifted northeast, threatening to carry contaminated clouds toward Moscow and other populated areas, military pilots seeded approaching rain clouds with silver iodide. This induced artificial rainfall over rural parts of Belarus, causing radioactive particles (such as cesium-137 and iodine-131) to precipitate out of the atmosphere and fall to the ground, effectively washing the fallout from the air before it reached major Russian cities.This operation, sometimes called "Operation Cyclone," involved aircraft like TU-16 bombers loaded with artillery shells containing seeding agents.While it protected urban centers in Russia, it caused disproportionate contamination in Belarus—where about 60% of the total Chernobyl fallout landed—rendering hundreds of villages uninhabitable and contributing to long-term health issues, including a sharp rise in thyroid cancer. The Belarusian population was not informed at the time, and the decision has been criticized as a deliberate sacrifice of rural areas to safeguard political and economic hubs."