Chernobyl: Russia wants an ‘alternative ‘ending to HBO’s show on the nuclear accident of Ukraine

HBO's "Chernobyl", which dramatises one of the world's worst nuclear accident will likely be seeing a different type of dramatisation. The show that scored an astounding 9.6 ratings in IMDb dethroning shows such as "Game of Thrones" and "Breaking Bad" to become the newest TV favourites just days after airing has been asked for an ‘alternative’ ending by the Russians according to reports.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that the Russian state TV network NTV is developing its own, more pro-Russia version of the 1986 nuclear disaster. The NTV drama will reportedly deviate from the acclaimed HBO series - and from historical reality - by claiming that the CIA was involved in the disaster.

In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russian director Alexey Muradov says his new show “proposes an alternative view on the tragedy in Pripyat.” “There is a theory that Americans infiltrated the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant,” he told Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda (via BBC News). “Many historians do not rule out the possibility that on the day of the explosion, an agent of the enemy’s intelligence services was working at the station.”

And reports now add that the new NTV series will follow a group of Soviet KGB officers working to uncover the CIA agent stationed at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and involved in espionage.

The Moscow Times reported on multiple Russian media outlets that criticized the HBO’s show as a ‘propaganda’. KP ran a headline read, “Chernobyl did not show the most important part – our victory,” while newspaper Argumenty i Fakty reportedly called the show “a caricature and not the truth.” 

The five-episode miniseries which came to an end on June 3 chronicles the massive explosion of the nuclear power plant in Ukraine on April 26, 1986 when a massive explosion caused by a failed nuclear reactor killed at least 31 people with the effects still continuing to be felt to this day.