Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova will donate $250,000 to support people living in regions affected by the 1986 Chernobyl blast, the Belarusian news agency Belta said on Thursday.
On April 26 in 1986, the worst nuclear accident in history occurred in the Soviet Union when reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded.
Vast areas, mainly in the three then-Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, were contaminated by the fallout from the critical nuclear meltdown. Some 200,000 people were relocated after the accident.
The money will be used for the development of children's sports in the regions, the tennis star said during a visit to the Belarusian city of Gomel.
"My pregnant Mom left here [Gomel] in 1986 because of Chernobyl. If it had not been for this, I would have been born here," Sharapova said.
MOSCOW, July 1 (RIA Novosti)
