One of the settlements that was not resettled was Tatar Karabolka, located about 30 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion. The village was inhabited by the Tatar minority. Residents born in the 1940s now believe that the decision not to resettle the village was made deliberately and that the residents of Tatar Karabolka were treated as a control group to study the effects of radiation on people.
From witness accounts, we learn that many teenagers at the time died of cancer, and those "lucky" survivors are struggling with symptoms of radiation sickness. The Tatar population considers the Soviet failure to respond to the exposure of Tatars to loss of health and life as genocide.
