Once home to around 50,000 people, complete with an amusement park, apartment blocks, schools and other public places, the Ukranian city of Pripyat near the border of Belarus was built to house the workers and families of the nearby Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
However, the once-thriving city changed dramatically overnight in April 1986, when a catastrophic explosion at the Chornobyl plant released vast amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere.
Just days later, authorities ordered the town’s complete evacuation, forcing residents to abandon their homes and belongings overnight.
They were told it would be a temporary measure. However, nearly four decades later, Pripyat remains uninhabited and these so-called closed zones are still so contaminated that they are forbidden to enter.
Overall, the explosion of the nuclear reactor affected the lives of millions of people in Western Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Those brave enough to contend with not only the high levels of radiation but also the overall situation in Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022, have taken guided tours around the city which had been overtaken with vegetation and where remnants of everyday life – including school textbooks and toys – still litter the floors of homes, schools and public spaces.
One of the eeriest sections of the city is the Pripyat amusement park, complete with a Ferris wheel, which had been scheduled to have its official opening five days after the disaster in time for May Day celebrations.
The Azure Swimming Pool and Avanhard Stadium are two other popular tourist sites.
Elsewhere in the city, there were 15 kindergartens and elementary schools for nearly 5,000 children and five secondary schools for around 6,800 students. There was also one hospital that could accommodate up to 410 patients, 25 shops and malls, 27 cafes and restaurants, and 10 warehouses that could hold an impressive 4,430 tons of goods.
The city was served by Yaniv station on the Chernihiv–Ovruch railway. The electric train terminus of Semikhody, built in 1988 and located in front of the nuclear plant, is currently the only operating station near Pripyat connecting it to Slavutych.
In February 2020, former residents gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city – the first time former residents returned since its abandonment.
During Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the city was occupied by Russian forces during the Battle of Chernobyl after several hours of heavy fighting. At the end of March, Russian forces withdrew and on April 3, Ukrainian troops re-took control of Pripyat.
Chernobyl remains the worst nuclear disaster ever and the costliest disaster in human history, with estimations put at a staggering £560 billion. A 2006 WHO study projected 9,000 cancer-related fatalities in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, including 15 childhood thyroid cancer deaths as of 2011.
From 2016 to 2018, the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement was constructed around the old sarcophagus to enable the removal of the reactor debris. Clean-up is scheduled for completion by 2065.