This paper examines the Soviet press model, i.e. media coverage of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. One of the biggest tragedies of the XX century showed the consequences of such model. Dealing with propaganda in critical situation and telling lies, the Government caused irreparable harm to the citizens of the USSR. Citizens were not timely informed of the general average, which resulted in grave consequences – millions of irradiated people with deadly diseases, “children mutants”, abandoned cities. Bearing in mind the consequences of a nuclear disaster, there is a whole range of issues. Were journalists accomplices or victims of the Soviet regime? Would the existence of the Internet allow citizens to get better information about the nuclear disaster? These are just some of the questions that the author tries to answer in his work.