Chernobyl

26th of April 1986 at 1:23 AM, the rest is history


One of the last remaining statues of Lenin still standing in Ukraine


A Trumpeting Angel of Chernobyl

The alley consists of indicators taken from every village in the exclusion zone.


Coming from Kiev, one must pass through the “Dityatki” checkpoint where passport and entrance permit will be carefully checked. The exclusion (evacuated) zone consists of three areas: a special inner zone around the power plant, 10 km and 30 km radius zone.

Lots of abandoned houses in town.


Level of radiation in Chernobyl is 0.12 μSv per hour, while 0,25 μSv is considered as norm.

Before the tragic accident the city was inhabited by 14 thousand people. After the accident, Chernobyl was evacuated but today about 900 people live in Chernobyl (power plant employees, guards, scientists, support staffworkers). There are also about 400, mostly elderly people, who illegally moved back and live somewhere in exclusion zone.


Ship graveyard


Residents

Chernobyl’s bus station


Monument to first responders who extinguished a fire during the first hours and days after the accident. It was paid for and put up by firefighters.

I also wanted to visit mass vehicle graveyard in Rossokha, but unfortunately it was closed for visitors in 2008. This area is 20km southwest of Chernobyl city where most of the vehicles and helicopters from the accident, evacuation and cleanup were laid to rest. Guide explained that as these vehicles where all used in cleanup operations, radiation levels were extremely high even after 26 years. Because of the dangerous mass looting of the vehicles for parts, Zone administration stopped visits to this area in April 2008. Most of the cars, tanks, fire trucks and helicopter remains that were there have been moved to other sites or buried, so now there is pretty much nothing left to see and radiation levels on what is left there and in the soil can reach 300 mSv per hour!
Rossokha photo source: google maps