 In 1976, he joined the newly-formed Ukrainian Helsinki Group, set up to monitor the USSR's compliance with the 1975 Helsinki Accords.In 1978 Chornovil was exiled to the Soviet Far East, travelling the thousands of miles by train, and on foot to the village of Chappandu (Yakutia).There he worked as a laborer at a local state farm (sovkhoz), later as a supplier in Nyurba.