Nikolay Solovyov was on shift the night of April 26, 1986, when the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. Instead of fleeing, he chose to fight his ¡°first war¡± against radiation.

Four decades later, a second war ¡ª Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine ¡ª has taken his son.

Solovyov, 67, a fan of hard rock music, still wears his hair long, though it has turned gray.