(Shcherbina: I don’t believe much that comes out of the Kremlin, but when they told me they were putting me in charge of the cleanup and they said it wasn’t serious, I believed them.
You know why?
Legasov:Because they put you in charge.)」
這不只是權力使人腐化的簡單宣稱,而是於政治場域中,在權力面前一切都不再重要,無論對錯、真假以及美醜。所以裡面有一段對話是以消防員之妻子流德米拉(Lyudmilla Ignatenko,該消防員進入災難現場進行救災,兩週後死於輻射,而妻子所懷的孩子因妻子與丈夫接觸而出生後不久即死亡,因吸收了過多輻射)失去孩子的事件類比蘇聯:「我們活在一個孩子必須死亡來拯救他們母親的國家。(We live in a country where children have to die to save their mothers.)」畢竟,蘇聯在那時也讓大量人員暴露於輻射來清理事故,由這個體制的顢頇所導致的事故。
(Judge:Professor Legasov, if you mean to suggest the Soviet State is somehow responsible for what happened, then I must warn you, you are treading on dangerous ground.
Professor Legasov:I’ve already trod on dangerous ground.
We’re on dangerous ground right now, because of our secrets and our lies.
They’re practically what define us.
When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there.