A Ukrainian mine worker failed in an attempt to break a 75-year-old coal-digging record set by one the Soviet Union's most famous labourers, dpa cited the Interfax news agency as reporting Tuesday. Serhy Shemiuk, a mine worker in the east Ukrainian city of Dzerzhinsk, used a standard jackhammer to break free 170 tons of coal in a single shift on Monday, the report said, citing officials at the mining firm Mekhanyk. Two men helped Shemiuk load the coal onto rail cars, officials said. The Soviet Union's single-shift record, 207 tons, was set on September 19, 1935, by Aleksey Stakhanov, who also used a jackhammer and was assisted by two helpers, according to the Interfax report. Mekhanyk praised Shemiuk for "exceeding the plan for mined coal by 2,023 per cent." The Soviet government in the 1930s singled out Stakhanov as a model worker, making him a Hero of Socialist Labour. Some modern historians have suggested Soviet authorities faked his achievement. Stakhanov went on to become the titualar leader of the "Stakhanovite Movement" - a Kremlin campaign aimed at inspiring Soviet workers to increase industrial output. Stakhanov and the Stakhanovite Movement are still well-known throughout the former Soviet Union, and are often cited as examples of the worst of Communist-era propaganda. Shemiuk's attempt to break Stakhanov's record was part of a two-month programme of memorial ceremonies called "Stakhanov Days," organized by authorities in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region to raise public awareness of local industry.
