The map of Pripyat refers to the so-called, closed to ordinary citizens. You can get into this zone with special passes, which are issued either to tourist groups or to workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, who still monitor the dilapidated station.

It is noteworthy that all other settlements and urban settlements of the Exclusion Zone were recognized as virtually non-existent and deprived of any legal status. After in 1986, the entire population of the city was evacuated. For 30 years, Pripyat has remained empty, but despite the status of a place abandoned by people, Ukraine has not deprived it of the status of a settlement. Chernobyl and Pripyat in the country's documentation are still existing cities.

To get to Pripyat and see the ghost town with your own eyes, you need to overcome a difficult route with checks and a checkpoint. We will tell you how to get into the mystical atom city, where Pripyat is located and what the map of the abandoned city looks like.

Pripyat on the world map is a small Soviet town, designed for 75 thousand inhabitants (however, only 49 thousand people lived in it). It is located on the territory of Ukraine, bordering Belarus. Around the city there are impenetrable forests with unique flora and fauna, and there is a protected area nearby.

Where is Pripyat located? Pripyat on the map of Ukraine is located in the north of the country, "above" Kyiv, very close to the border with Belarus. The city is part of the Ivankovsky district of the Kiev region. The entire Exclusion Zone occupies the north of Ivankovsky and the north of Polessky districts (there are 25 district units in the Kiev region). In fact, Pripyat is subordinate to the Kiev Regional Council.

It is interesting that the Chernobyl region used to exist on the territory of Ukraine. It is not difficult to guess that Chernobyl was its administrative center, and Pripyat was the largest city.

In 1988, the Chernobyl region was abolished, and its territory was given to the Ivankovsky region (the administrative center is Ivankov urban settlement).

After the annexation, Ivankivskyi district became the largest in Ukraine. Its area is 3616 sq. km. About 35 thousand people live in the region.

The main attraction of the area (except for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, of course) is the Chernobyl Special Reserve. In fact, this is a nature reserve, created in 2007 in a forest zone near. Its main goal is to preserve and increase the population of rare animals and plants. Brown bears, European minks and Eurasian lynxes live in the reserve. Despite the proximity to places contaminated with radiation, the animals are alive and well - by the way, as in the city of Pripyat itself.

Interestingly, in Ukraine there is another settlement called Pripyat. The village of Pripyat in the Shatsk district of the Volyn region is located 150 km from Lutsk, in the north-west of the country. The village of Pripyat on the map of Ukraine occupies only 0.001 sq. km. About 600 people live there. This settlement was founded before the ghost town of the same name, in 1946.

How to get to Pripyat?

The Pripyat map allows you to get to your destination in various ways. Let's consider each of the possible routes.

Routes Kyiv - Pripyat

How to get to Pripyat from Kyiv or Moscow? What checkpoints need to be passed? How many kilometers from Kyiv to Pripyat will you have to drive? Is it possible to get to Pripyat "savage" and how dangerous is it?

Since Pripyat is part of the Kiev region, it will be easiest to first get to the capital of Ukraine, and from there move towards the Exclusion Zone. The distance from Kyiv to Pripyat is 152 kilometers. This is approximately 2-2.5 hours by car. You need to go from south to north, from Kyiv and higher on the map. As for the distance from the beginning to the end of the journey, it is approximately the same on different routes Kyiv Pripyat. There are no significant differences in the condition of the roads.

The route "Kyiv Pripyat" by car can pass along two roads. The first option will look something like this: Kyiv - Vyshgorod - Demidov - Katyuzhanka - Ivankov - Dityatki - Chernobyl - Pripyat. In this case, the path will run directly through the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Near the village of Dityatki there is a checkpoint to the 30 km Exclusion Zone. It is called "Checkpoint - Children". Be prepared to show documents.

How to get to Pripyat by another way?

The second route "Pripyat Kyiv" is more bypass, it runs along the T-1019 highway. From Kyiv, you need to head for the village of Dmitrovka, then Mikulichi - Shibenoe - Sosnovka. After Sosnovka, the route will go to Ivankov, then the route will be exactly the same as if you had chosen the map of Pripyat in the first option.

In the second route, the Kyiv Pripyat distance will be a couple of kilometers longer, but locals say that the second road is less busy and more convenient.

It is almost impossible to get lost along the way: the map of Pripyat is quite simple. There is only one normally paved road in the district, in addition, local old-timers are always ready to tell you where the city of Pripyat is located. Despite the fact that after 1986 the majority of the inhabitants of the territories adjacent to the Exclusion Zone left their homes, there has been a recent trend of returning. Of course, few dare to live in the Zone, but the surrounding areas are no longer empty.

Routes Moscow - Pripyat

The Moscow Pripyat route will, of course, be much longer. The direct distance from Moscow to Pripyat is from 950 to 1050 km, depending on which route you prefer to travel.

There are three road options. First: Moscow - Obninsk - Kaluga - Bryansk - Konotop - Brovary - Kyiv - Pripyat. The journey will take 13 hours, excluding Russian-Ukrainian customs.

With the second option of the route Moscow Pripyat, the distance will be maximum - through the city of Orel. It looks something like this: Moscow - Podolsk - Serpukhov - Tula - Oryol - Konotop - Brovary - Kyiv - Pripyat. It will take about 12 hours to drive.

The third automobile route lies through Belarus. On the way, you will have to cross two borders, but it is worth noting that all Belarusian-Ukrainian borders are considered less busy than Russian ones, and customs clearance is likely to be much faster. You will have to go like this: Moscow - Smolensk - Mogilev - Gomel - Slavutich - Pripyat.

In addition, the distance from Moscow to Pripyat can be covered by many options for trains. You need to go from the capital of Russia to Kyiv or Mogilev, and then get by road, because. there are no trains or buses to Pripyat. True, it is impossible to fly to Kyiv by plane, Russian airlines do not operate on Ukrainian territory after the events of 2013-2014.

Pripyat. Checkpoints

It is important to know that the entire map of Pripyat is divided into three territories: a 30-kilometer zone, a 10-kilometer zone and a danger zone.

The danger zone is the land in the immediate vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the nuclear power plant itself.
This 10-kilometer zone extends around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as is clear from the name of the zone, for 10 km.
30 km zone - 30 km, respectively.

The entire territory of the Exclusion Zone is surrounded by various checkpoints. From whichever side you drive in or enter, you will have to show a pass to the Zone or write it out on the spot. Who issues a pass to the Zone? Pass Office of the Administration of the Exclusion Zone.

To get a pass, you must fill out an application, where you explain why you are visiting a closed area. As a rule, passes are not issued to specific individuals, applications are filled out by certain enterprises, for example, tour agencies, research centers or law enforcement agencies. After filling out the application within 10 days, the Zone Administration will issue a pass.

In the 30-kilometer zone there are such checkpoints (from east to west) as Zeleny Mys, Dityatki, Starye Sokoly, Dibrova, Polesskoye, Ovruch, Vilcha. The latter is already right on the border with Belarus.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW:

In the 10-kilometer zone, the checkpoints are: Paryshev, Lelev (near the city of Chernobyl), Pripyat and Benevka.

How to get to Pripyat without a pre-arranged pass? It's possible. But only twice a year. On April 26 and May 9, the map of the city of Pripyat becomes available to everyone. These are the so-called "commemoration days", when relatives of those who are buried in the territory of the Zone can come to the graves to their relatives.

In the case of commemoration days, you must inform the checkpoint that you are going to the cemetery and the guards are required to issue temporary passes for you. You need to know that, according to the law, checkpoint workers can inspect the car and ask to open the trunks and glove compartments.

To Pripyat without a pass

How to get to Pripyat "savage", that is, without passes and accompanying people? (people who explore abandoned places) organized their secret paths long ago. Based on information from bloggers and stalkers, we will briefly describe how to get to Pripyat in a roundabout way. But you need to understand that this is an illegal and even jurisdictional case.

The most popular illegal route is from the abandoned village of Rudnya-Veresnya, which stands on the right side of the Uzh River. This settlement is the first thing that opens the map of Pripyat from the western side of the Kiev region.

The beginning of the path, Rudnya - Veresnya, is located quite far from the city of Pripyat, where the final destination of the walking tour is located. They are separated by 25 kilometers. You will have to walk less to the city of Chernobyl, about 13 km.

After the abandoned village, where quite whole houses remained, you will have to cross the river Uzh.

Then keep to the Chernobyl direction, after Chernobyl a little more than 10 km you need to walk to Pripyat. The path, of course, is extreme, but on the road from Chernobyl to the city of ghosts, there are many abandoned places that will be interesting to look at. Tour groups show them infrequently, the route is inconvenient, but the places deserve attention. We will talk about them below.

The illegal way from the border with the Zone to Pripyat on foot from the stalkers takes about two days.

Objects of Pripyat: what to see?

What is the map of Pripyat today? This is 8 sq. km of an abandoned Soviet city, 5 residential districts, hospitals, schools, cinemas and parks. Everything has been abandoned for a long time. Most of the buildings either collapsed on their own, or looters and the homeless helped them fall apart.

After the evacuation of residents in 1986, people in trucks often visited the city. Food, equipment and furniture were taken out of empty apartments and shops. Today, it is unlikely that it will be possible to take anything out of the Exclusion Zone: cars are inspected at the checkpoint in search of radioactive items. With dosimeters, this is done as easy as shelling pears. And if you load an old chair from an abandoned apartment in Pripyat into the trunk, it will quickly become known.

However, now there is nothing to take out of the territory. There is almost nothing left. The city of Pripyat on the map turned into an empty wild jungle.

Few people know that the map of Pripyat is not only an abandoned city and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In the immediate vicinity of the ghost town there were many interesting objects, the ruins of which still exist near Pripyat.

If you go by the usual car route, then you can only look at these objects from afar and catch a glimpse, but if you stop and explore the area, you can find a lot of interesting things.

Object "Arc"

Pripyat on the map of the Kiev region is located in close proximity to the city of Chernobyl, between them about 10 kilometers. In any case, Chernobyl will have to be passed along the road to the ghost town. But not only the well-known city, but also the secret, small town of Chernobyl-2, built for the employees of the Duga radar station.

Over-the-horizon radar station "Duga" (ZGRLS) is an object whose main purpose is to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles that will fly to the territory in the region of three kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Outwardly, this is a pile of very high antennas that caught the radar of incoming objects. The station was super secret, and the map of Pripyat is silent about such a large-scale construction close to the city. ZGRLS performed an important strategic function, the map of Ukraine does not know about it either, Pripyat disguised "Duga" as a children's summer camp.

It is interesting that in the USSR there were only three such missile-detecting complexes: in addition to Duga, it was also near Nikolaev (it was called Duga-N) and in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The Duga has survived, albeit in a ruined form, only near the city of Pripyat, the map, however, still does not indicate this object. It is interesting that because of the constant characteristic knock, "Duga" was called the "Russian woodpecker".

Object Chernobyl-2

This is a super small town near the "Duga" for the families of the station workers. However, no matter how small it was, there was a kindergarten, a hospital, and small residential buildings. Chernobyl-2, like the Duga, was classified. The abandoned city still exists today.

Anti-aircraft missile system S-75 "Volkhov". It seems that all the secret objects of the Ukrainian SSR were “stuffed” into a map of the city of Pripyat and its environs. S-75 objects are a popular weapon in the Union, which is still used today.

It is impossible to say for certain whether the weapons map of Ukraine included the Pripyat fortifications. On the territory there were barracks, canteens, all military palaces and observation platforms. They have remained to this day. Rockets, of course, no longer exist.

Rockets "Volkhov" no one has ever seen. This is a secret object, which was located in the forest zone, a couple of kilometers from Pripyat. Its task is to provide air defense of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the Duga.

The most famous “monument” of the missile system is the now abandoned bunker. According to assumptions, ammunition was stored there. It is located next to all the buildings of the S-75 complex in a forest near Pripyat.

Map of Pripyat in detail

The city of Pripyat on the map of the country is a very popular place for excursion groups, stalkers and scientific researchers. But the map of Pripyat today is a rather vague thing, because. some objects that existed earlier have long been wiped off the face of the Earth, and no one records new, recently discovered finds that were previously classified.

Therefore, it is theoretically unrealistic to indicate the exact location of the "Duga" or "Volkhov", no one considered the mileage to these places. The same thing happens with abandoned villages. Some especially small ones completely fell apart, some, on the contrary, became populated by self-settlers and gained a “second wind”.

In addition to self-settlements, the territory of Pripyat is occupied by marauders, who are still exporting scrap metal, and drug addicts who are trying to grow drugs near the city. There are also homeless people who, out of hopelessness, occupy old apartments and houses of residents - among them there are many escaped criminals who are caught by law enforcement agencies from time to time.

Due to the proximity of forest areas, Pripyat has become a favorite place for many wild animals that roam the ruins of the city. Of course, often because of the large share of radiation that fell on their heads, but it’s already good that they didn’t die out at all.

Other objects on the map of Pripyat

On the territory of the Exclusion Zone, in addition to Pripyat and Chernobyl, there are several rather large abandoned objects. For example:

Novoshepelichi village. Until 1986, the inhabitants of the village were mainly engaged in cattle breeding. The population before the evacuation was a little less than two thousand people. The village is notable for the fact that the most famous self-settlers lived there for a long time - the heroes of many documentaries - Savva Gavrilovich and his wife. The couple has become something of a symbol of the Exclusion Zone.

Polesskoe village. A very old village, where only 11,000 people lived at the time of the accident. Today, about 50 self-settlers live there and, interestingly, the only fire station in the district operates.

The village of Kopachi. This settlement was located a couple of kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Therefore, he suffered from radiation especially hard. Kopachi are interesting in that all the objects of the village were completely buried, that is, they were dug into the ground. Only the building of the kindergarten remained, and that was pretty battered by time.

There really is something to see in Pripyat - come!

This phrase terrifies and at the same time arouses the interest of millions of people around the world. Exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Movies, games and books on the subject are becoming hits. But not everyone knows where the boundaries of the zone lie. Let's try to figure it out and find out how things are now in the infected areas.

History of Chernobyl

For a whole year, the designers were looking for a place to build. Finally, near and not far from the Yanov station, unproductive lands were discovered. In 1970, V.P. was appointed director of the nuclear power plant. Bryukhanov and preparations for construction begin. A total of 4 power units are planned to be put into operation. While the construction of the station is underway, all the people involved in the project live in the territory of the nearest villages. At this time, the construction of a new city three kilometers from the station is in full swing.

Pripyat

A beautiful picturesque place promised to become a new home for 50 thousand people. The architects tried to make a real resort out of a simple working town. Numerous trees and green bushes surrounded the high-rise buildings and places for recreation. A large park in the city center promised to become the most popular place and attract young children with fun rides. To provide work for all residents, a huge plant "Jupiter" was built. People could always find a place in various enterprises.

The young city quickly acquired shops and entertainment venues. The cinema "Prometheus" worked every day, and residents could go to a screening of a new film at any time. For versatile and talented individuals, the Energetik cultural center was built. Amateur activity was encouraged and circles for children and adults were constantly working in the club. Own palace of arts invited all connoisseurs of art to visit the exhibition halls. The construction of the Palace of Pioneers and a new large cinema was in full swing. These buildings did not manage to be put into operation before the beautiful city became the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

sports city

The population of Pripyat consisted mainly of young people. Average age - 26 years. Much attention was paid to sports at that time. In this regard, a huge stadium was built where football matches were held. Weekends of the rostrum were filled with residents and guests. There were several football teams in the city - youth and adult squads competed in the art of ball possession. Later, another stadium was built. For lovers of water sports, there were three pools. It should be noted that in such a relatively small city there were as many as 10 gyms. Young people had a lot of choice and many opportunities to spend their free time usefully.

All the best for children

Much attention was paid to the little inhabitants of Pripyat. 15 kindergartens, designed to meet all possible requirements, opened their doors for 4980 children every day. Pre-school institutions were provided with everything necessary and maintained at the highest level. There were only five secondary schools, but this was enough for a young city. Each school had its own swimming pool and gym. For entertainment, 35 playgrounds were built. In each district there was a colorful town where the children came to play and communicate with their peers.

end of fairy tale

On a warm April night in 1986, there was an explosion. The inhabitants did not pay attention to slight fluctuations in the soil and continued to sleep peacefully. At this time, a real apocalypse occurred at the station, which led to the formation of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The fourth reactor exploded after unsuccessful tests and is now actively releasing radioactive substances into the atmosphere. One worker died on the spot. The rest did not understand the danger and were looking for comrades in the uranium hell. The fire brigade arrived within minutes, but, having assessed the scale of the disaster, they were forced to admit that they could not cope with such a mission. They were able to prevent fire from reaching the third block and prevented an even greater scale of the disaster. Messages about the tragedy flew to Moscow. It remains to wait for the decision of the top management.

Big Deception

In the morning, rumors about a fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant spread throughout the city. The townspeople did not attach much importance to this event. No one knew that the fourth reactor exploded at night. People calmly walked around the city and enjoyed the warm April rays of the sun. Children swarmed in sandboxes and roadside dust. And at this time, radioactive substances penetrated into their bodies, in order to later remind themselves of various diseases. The appearance of soldiers and equipment in the city also did not cause a violent reaction. An announcement slipped through that it was necessary to close all windows and take iodine. There was no fear. People did not know about the deceit and the invisible enemy, they were not afraid. On the first day after the accident, there was still no talk about the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Evacuation

After 36 hours, residents heard a message from the announcer. The entire city was subject to temporary evacuation. The population should take documents and the most necessary things. There was no panic, and people calmly boarded the buses, fully confident that they would return home soon. Having cut off gas and water, they took a minimum of luggage and set off on a long journey. At that time, people were already driving around the city and washing away radioactive dust from the roads. No one was allowed to leave by personal transport and take pets with them. The area of ​​the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant covered not only Pripyat, but also several dozen villages. Residents were preparing to plant crops when the order came to evacuate.

Cleanup

As soon as the last bus disappeared from sight, a mass sweep began in the city. The policemen and servicemen began to shoot the animals, bypassing all the houses along the way. They quickly found people who refused to leave their apartment and took them out of the city by force. There was a lot of work to be done. While the robots and people in overalls were clearing the roof of the reactor, responsible workers were clearing the apartments. Refrigerators, sofas, TVs and washing machines flew from the windows. What people bought for a lot of money now had to be buried. Huge pits were filled with household appliances and furniture. Cars and motorcycles were buried in a special place. If you now look at the photo of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, you can see the colossal parks of abandoned military equipment. At the moment, all this stuff has been stolen and taken away, but once it was an impressive picture.

The boundaries of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

In the early days, clear boundaries were established - 30 km around the station. The nearby forest turned red in a matter of days, and the military had to bury not only human property, but also trees. It looked pretty wild, but it was a necessary measure. The most terrible had to endure the inhabitants of the villages. Their houses were demolished and also buried in the ground. Never before has mankind seen such terrible pictures. Many photos of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant have forever preserved these incredible events. After some time, the people realized that they had been severely deceived and would never be allowed to return to their homes. Some tried to break through the checkpoints, but law enforcement officers vigilantly monitored the situation. It is no longer a secret that the most valuable things and equipment were taken out of Pripyat and sold by valiant policemen and their assistants. Somewhere in the apartments there are still objects and they infect their new owners with radiation.

Video footage and photographs of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant of that time confirm the fact of looting on an unprecedented scale. While some heroes, at the cost of their health, threw off graphite from the roof of the reactor, others threw someone else's goods into cars and took them to sell. Diplomas, thanks and honors were received by both.

Animals in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant felt like real wild animals. They quickly weaned themselves from people and went into the forest. Wild and free, they no longer let a man near them. Now wild cats roam the forests of Pripyat, and their population is increasing every year. Boars, hares, foxes and other animals were mutated, but survived the most terrible first years. Of course, their meat cannot be eaten, as they receive daily doses of radiation.

Secret objects in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

There is only one object in the contaminated area, which is still carefully guarded. He no longer represents any secrecy and is guarded for only one reason - there are too many who want to dismantle the structure and sell the metal. ZGRLS at one time cost the Soviet Union 7 billion rubles and promised to serve faithfully for many decades. Thanks to this huge structure, the military could monitor the launch of missiles not only over Europe, but also over America. Its construction near the nuclear power plant was due to the high consumption of electricity. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant itself cost the country twice as much as its neighbor, the scout. At the moment, the building is rusting and standing idle.

Affected Parties

Belarus took over most of the radioactive elements. The closest neighbor, which was located just 11 km from the nuclear power plant. Wind and precipitation in the first days after the accident created the Belarusian exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The photo of those years shows how global the disaster was. 6.7 thousand sq. km. was recognized as a contaminated area and was subject to evacuation and resettlement. At the moment, 92 settlements belong to the city. This figure decreases every year, but it is still too early to talk about big changes.

Among the affected countries is Russia. In the Bryansk region, 4 villages were evacuated and 186 residents took refuge in other villages and cities. There are no other exclusion zones in Russia from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Several areas have been recognized as contaminated, but no significant excess of radiation levels has been observed at the moment.

Motherland

In recent years, more and more people began to return to their native places. Despite the fact that the level of radiation is still high and it is dangerous to live in the Chernobyl zone, people are settled in houses and live an ordinary life. Self-settlers, as they are called, start a household and are not afraid to grow crops. Journalists with a dosimeter regularly visit local residents. But the harsh Ukrainian villagers are not afraid of the crackle of the counter. They feel good and believe that their native land will never kill them. For guests, they are always ready to open a jar of pickled mushrooms or cucumbers from their own garden. But they are not offended if visitors refuse treats. Someone else's fear they understand.

Most of the returnees are old people who once lived here and could not survive parting with their home. Of the younger generation, one can meet only people without a fixed place of residence and criminals released from prison. The villages in which they settle are included in the list of exclusion zones of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. But no one has been trying to evict them for a long time. All the same, they will return and will stubbornly stand for their houses and plots.

Games with death

After the release of the computer game S.T.A.L.K.E.R, many people appeared who wanted to visit the exclusion zone. Basically, these are young people and lovers to tickle their nerves. They make their way in a roundabout way through the borders and go for a walk through the houses and enterprises of Pripyat. Often, they do not carry any means of protection against radiation. There are still a lot of “dirty” spots in the city and its environs, and if you get into them, you can seriously worsen your health. There are daredevils climbing on the ZGRLS and surveying the local beauties from there. Any awkward movement will be impossible to save such extreme lovers. But that doesn't stop researchers. Even a fine does not deter desperate stalkers. It will take many more years before the exclusion zone becomes safe for people. But most likely, no one will ever live there ...

The terrible catastrophe in Chernobyl became an unprecedented event in the historical chronicle of nuclear energy. In the first days after the accident, it was not possible to assess the real scale of the incident, and only some time later, within a radius of 30 km, the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was created. What happened and is still happening in the closed area? The world is full of various rumors, some of which are the fruit of an inflamed fantasy, and some are the true truth. And far from always the most obvious and realistic things turn out to be reality. After all, we are talking about Chernobyl - one of the most dangerous and mysterious territories of Ukraine.

History of Chernobyl construction

A plot of land 4 km from the village of Kopachi and 15 km from the city of Chernobyl was chosen in 1967 for the construction of a new nuclear power plant, designed to compensate for the energy shortage in the Central Energy Region. The future station was named Chernobyl.

The first 4 power units were built and put into operation by 1983, in 1981 the construction of power units 5 and 6 began, which lasted until the infamous 1986. Near the station, a town of power engineers arose in a few years - Pripyat.

The first accident covered the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1982 - after a scheduled repair, an explosion occurred at the 1st power unit. The consequences of the breakdown were eliminated within three months, after which additional security measures were introduced to prevent similar cases in the future.

But, apparently, fate decided to finish what it started, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was not supposed to work. So on the night of April 25-26, 1986 Another explosion thundered at the 4th power unit. This time, the incident turned into a catastrophe on a global scale. No one can still say for sure what exactly caused the explosion of the reactor, which led to thousands of broken destinies, twisted lives and premature deaths. The catastrophe, Chernobyl, the exclusion zone - the history of this incident is controversial to this day, although the time of the accident itself is set to within seconds.

A few minutes before the explosion of the 4th power unit

On the night of April 25-26, 1986, an experimental test of the 8th turbogenerator was scheduled. The experiment started at 1:23:10 on April 26, and after 30 seconds, a powerful explosion thundered as a result of pressure drop.

Chernobyl accident

Unit 4 was engulfed in flames, firefighters managed to completely extinguish the fire by 5 o'clock in the morning. And a few hours later it became known how powerful the emission of radiation into the environment had been. A couple of weeks later, the authorities decided to cover the destroyed power unit with a concrete sarcophagus, but it was too late. The radioactive cloud spread over a fairly large distance.

The Chernobyl disaster brought a big disaster: the exclusion zone, created shortly after the event, forbade free access to the vast territory belonging to Ukraine and Belarus.

The area of ​​the Chernobyl exclusion zone

Within a radius of 30 kilometers from the epicenter of the accident - abandonment and silence. It was these territories that the Soviet authorities considered dangerous for permanent residence of people. All residents of the exclusion zone were evacuated to other settlements. Several more zones were additionally defined in the restricted area:

• a special zone, which was directly occupied by the NPP itself and the construction site of power units 5 and 6;
• zone 10 km;
• zone 30 km.

The borders of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were surrounded by a fence, installing warning signs about an increased level of radiation. The Ukrainian lands that fell into the forbidden territory are directly Pripyat, the village of Severovka in the Zhytomyr region, the villages of the Kiev region Novoshepelevichi, Polesskoe, Vilcha, Yanov, Kopachi.

The village of Kopachi is located at a distance of 3800 meters from the 4th power unit. It was so badly damaged by radioactive substances that the authorities decided to physically destroy it. The most massive rural buildings were destroyed and buried underground. Previously prosperous Kopachi were simply wiped off the face of the earth. At present, there are not even self-settlers here.

The accident also affected a large area of ​​Belarusian lands. A significant part of the Gomel region fell under the ban, about 90 settlements fell into the radius of the exclusion zone and were abandoned by local residents.

Mutants of Chernobyl

The territories abandoned by people were soon chosen by wild animals. And people, in turn, launched into lengthy discussions about monsters, in which radiation turned the entire animal world of the exclusion zone. There were rumors of mice with five legs, three-eyed hares, glowing boars, and many other fantastic transformations. Some rumors were reinforced by others, multiplied, spread and gained new fans. It got to the point that some "storytellers" spread rumors about the existence of a museum of mutant animals in the closed area. Of course, no one managed to find this amazing museum. Yes, and with fantastic animals turned out to be a complete bummer.

Animals in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant are indeed exposed to radiation. The radioactive vapors are deposited on plants that some species feed on. The exclusion zone is inhabited by wolves, foxes, bears, wild boars, hares, otters, lynxes, deer, badgers, bats. Their organisms successfully cope with pollution and increased radioactive background. Therefore, involuntarily, the restricted area has become something of a reserve for many species of rare animals living on the territory of Ukraine.

And yet, there were mutants in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This term can be applied to plants. Radiation has become a kind of fertilizer for the flora, and in the first years after the accident, the size of the plants was amazing. Both wild and commercial crops grew huge. The forest 2 km from the nuclear power plant was particularly affected. The trees are the only ones that couldn't escape the radioactive explosion, so they completely absorbed all the fumes and turned red. The red forest could turn into an even more terrible tragedy if it caught fire. Fortunately, this did not happen.

The Red Forest is the most dangerous forest on the planet, and at the same time, the most resistant. Radiation, as it were, preserved it, slowing down all natural processes. So, the Red Forest plunges into some kind of parallel reality, where the measure of everything is eternity.

Residents of the Chernobyl exclusion zone

After the accident, only the station workers and rescuers remained on the territory of the exclusion zone, eliminating the consequences of the accident. The entire civilian population was evacuated. But years passed, and a significant number of people returned to their homes in the exclusion zone, despite the prohibitions of the law. These desperate guys began to be called self-settlers. Back in 1986, the number of inhabitants of the Chernobyl exclusion zone numbered 1,200 people. What is most interesting, many of them were already at retirement age and lived longer than those who left the radioactive zone.

Now the number of self-settlers in Ukraine does not exceed 200 people. All of them are dispersed over 11 settlements located in the exclusion zone. In Belarus, the stronghold of the inhabitants of the Chernobyl exclusion zone is the village of Zaelitsa, an academic town in the Mogilev region.

Basically, self-settlers are elderly people who could not come to terms with the loss of their home and all property acquired by overwork. They returned to the infected dwellings to live out their short lives. Since there is no economy and any infrastructure in the exclusion zone, people living in the Chernobyl exclusion zone are engaged in household farming, gathering, and sometimes hunting. In general, they were engaged in their usual kind of activity in their native walls. So no radiation is terrible. This is how life goes in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

Chernobyl exclusion zone today

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant finally stopped working only in 2000. Since then, the exclusion zone has become very quiet and gloomy. The abandoned cities of the village cause chills on the skin and a desire to run away from here as far as possible. But there are also brave daredevils for whom the dead zone is the abode of exciting adventures. Despite all the physical and legal prohibitions, stalkers-adventurers constantly explore the abandoned settlements of the zone, and find a lot of interesting things there.

Today there is even a special direction in tourism - Pripyat and the vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Excursions to the dead city arouse great curiosity not only among the inhabitants of Ukraine, but also among guests from abroad. Tours to Chernobyl last up to 5 days - this is how much one person is officially allowed to stay in the contaminated area. But usually hikes are limited to one day. A group led by experienced guides walks along a specially designed route that does not cause harm to health.

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Virtual tour of Pripyat

And for those curious who do not dare to get acquainted with Pripyat with their own eyes, there is a virtual walk through the Chernobyl exclusion zone - exciting and certainly absolutely safe!

Chernobyl exclusion zone: satellite map

For those who are still not afraid to go on a trip, a detailed map of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant will be very useful. It marks the boundaries of the 30-kilometer zone, indicating settlements, station buildings and other local attractions. With such a guide, it is not scary to get lost.

Reminds me to this day. Three decades have passed since the man-made disaster that took the lives of millions of people. However, the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is still the subject of increased attention. Stories are dedicated to her at school, films are made about her, tourist excursions are constantly held in Chernobyl itself.

For more than 30 years after the accident about the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, many films and series have been shot, many books have been written, and computer games have been made. What happens in the forgotten city years later? Is it dangerous to visit the affected area of ​​the Chernobyl nuclear power plant today and how contaminated is it with radioactive elements? We will talk about this and much more in this article.

Many modern analysts and environmentalists talk about why people today can live in peace and not be afraid of radiation and contamination, and the borders on the map of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant are still closed for living. The logical answer to this question is that more than 70 years have passed since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During such a period, all radioactive elements managed to decay and not be harmful to the human body. However, there are significant differences between Chernobyl and the mentioned cities with their history, which are important to emphasize.

First of all, the fire in the zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was much larger and more significant than in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the explosion of the fourth reactor, about 18 tons of radioactive elements were thrown into the air. At the same time, in Hiroshima, the population suffered from 64 kg of uranium, and in Nagasaki - from 6 kg of plutonium. The ratio of weight and damage is obvious.

The second difference between the resettlement zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is that the explosion of the "Kid" caused maximum damage at the place of release. Radionuclides spread over the area in the amount of only 1% of the mass of substances ejected. At the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the situation was quite different.

The most dangerous thing in this situation was not the explosion itself, but the fact that over the next 30 days a large amount of radioactive elements was gradually released from the reactor and spread over the area. The zone of contamination of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is still considered an open source of radiation, despite the ongoing work to decontaminate the city.

Consequences of the disaster

After the incident, there is still no clear statistics on how many victims she brought. In the contaminated territories of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Belarus, after the accident, hundreds and thousands of people died due to natural causes. However, the explosion changed the minds of people so much that in these countries it is still customary to associate any disease, primarily cancer, with the consequences of the Chernobyl accident.

In 2006, the WHO published a report called "Chernobyl: the true extent of the accident." This document indicated the exact data on the incident, the number of victims, as well as the approximate number of deaths due to the disaster at the station. According to the document, 4,000 people died due to the Chernobyl events.

A little later, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine made its statistics on the victims of Chernobyl. The 2016 document contains data that the total number of deaths after the disaster was about 2 million 397 thousand. Most of these people are the liquidators of the disaster, their relatives, residents evacuated from the exclusion zone, as well as those who voluntarily remained at the site of the accident and continued to live there.

People who were evacuated from the exclusion zone formed after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl and Pripyat are increasingly suffering from cancer today. Their endocrine system has been disrupted, problems with the digestive tract, organs of vision, blood supply and heart are increasingly being diagnosed. In children who were victims of the Chernobyl disaster or were born in a family of evacuated residents, congenital diseases and defects are found less and less. However, all the same, some babies are still diagnosed with serious congenital pathologies, cancers, and benign diseases.

How dangerous is the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant today?

The map of the affected area of ​​the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine is today conditionally divided into three main sections. Radiation indicators on each of them has its own specific danger indicators.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW:

special zone

This part of the territory on the map of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is the most dangerous and therefore the most rarely visited by tourists and guests, along with the cemetery of radioactive equipment located near the exclusion zone and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The station itself, the destroyed reactor, as well as many technical and government buildings are located in this zone. In this zone there are buildings for employees involved in the construction and maintenance of a stable state of the Sarcophagus.

Unique photos inside the Chernobyl Sarcophagus:

10 km zone

Less contaminated area of ​​the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which occupies the area around the power plant and the areas adjacent to it. This exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is relatively safe. The only thing that can cause severe harm to a person in this area is eating all the vegetation that appeared from the Chernobyl soil.

You can't drink local water in this area. The presence of a dosimeter when walking through this area will help protect against areas where the level of radiation exceeds safe levels. Such sites can be places of iron waste dumps, old and collapsed buildings, basements, accumulation of a large number of contaminated items and objects.

30 km zone

The maximum safe territory on the map of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant pollution zone, which occupies the suburbs of Chernobyl and Pripyat. It is relatively safe to be in this area; the main number of sightseeing tours and walks take place here. In this area, the radiation background is practically equal to that observed in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. However, due to the long decay of some particles, this exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is also not suitable for growing crops.

Despite many warnings about the danger and contamination of the soil in Chernobyl, many today come here to settle down and start farming. Such people are called self-settlers. Today, no one is forbidden to live in the territory of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. However, contrary to some videos about the Exclusion Zone, growing crops in this area is the most hazardous to health and can lead to the development of many diseases, tumors and cancerous diseases. Safe construction and cultivation of crops in Chernobyl can only be possible after the complete decay of all radioactive elements in the air and soil, and this will take more than one hundred years.

Dead zone as a nature reserve

On April 26, 2016, it was decided to start building a radiation-ecological reserve in the Chernobyl zone. The total area of ​​this place will be approximately 227 thousand hectares. The main purpose of the construction of the reserve is to protect wild animals - those that today involuntarily sheltered the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. After the evacuation of the inhabitants, the local animals increased significantly in number and began to live in the city, being exposed to the danger of landslides and infection.

Today, badgers, lynxes, Przewalski's horses, muskrats and many other rare species of mammals live in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and Pripyat.

In addition to protecting the animals of the Chernobyl zone, the ecological reserve is being built with the aim of attracting more people to the historical sites and telling them the real story of this place.

From the moment when the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant became relatively safe for a short visit, many tourists from different parts of the world began to come here.

Today, there are two legal methods to get to Chernobyl and see the consequences of the disaster and the forgotten city with your own eyes: with an official, previously registered delegation or as part of a tourist group, which is organized in advance by guides and travel companies. After the disaster, many people living on the territory of Chernobyl began to revive the history of their hometown and create separate organizations that collect tourists who want to see the exclusion zone.

Thanks to the experience and awareness of travel companies, excursions to the exclusion zone are as safe as possible for health. A ten-hour walk in the Chernobyl area is equivalent to one flight by plane in terms of the amount of radiation received. A pre-planned and designed route ensures that no one can come into contact with contaminated and hazardous buildings or objects.

The most dangerous are independent walks or illegal visits to the city, when you can unknowingly get into the danger zone and get irradiated.

This zone attracts not only tourists who come here for short excursions, but also stalkers who spend a lot of time here and travel through abandoned cities and villages.
How stalkers spend their time in the exclusion zone, will tell the photo report with the story of one of the stalkers.
Under the waning moon, we walked through the thick summer air, filled with the aromas of field herbs. Walks easily in the cool of the night. Periodically, a variety of night creatures proboscis in the bushes strive.
After a short halt and replenishment of water supplies from the nearest swamp, we crossed the Uzh River ford.


After winding in the fields, we went to the ruins of the church and decided to spend the night in an abandoned village, the forces after the night fields were running out.


We found a well-preserved hut in the village and decided that it would shelter us. In the morning we laid out the luggage and began to have breakfast under a peacefully crackling dosimeter.




It was impossible to walk during daylight hours. We used the day to have a good rest and replenish our water supplies. We had plenty of walks through the beautiful nature and the abandoned village. There are ruins of an Orthodox church in the village, local priests look after it and put metal-plastic windows in the room with the altar (!), It looks wild in these parts.








The night was a long and difficult journey. We broke through the forests along the paths of wild animals, scratched under high-voltage lines, and by dawn we reached the outskirts of Pripyat.




Checkpoint of an abandoned city with traces of a stalker parking lot. The forest between the checkpoint and the Jupiter plant made a very depressing impression on me. The remains of radioactive equipment are scattered among the trees, which glow so much that even marauders did not cut them into metal.


We have breakfast on the roof with a view of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and go to bed. During the day it is not safe to walk, you can run into a police patrol.


In the morning and at night we saw another stalker group and later we met friends with whom we periodically crossed paths until the very exit from the zone. We met, drank moonshine with lard and garlic in luxurious apartments and drove for a walk around the night city.
Stained-glass window of the cafe "Pripyat" near the pond.


On the far bank of the pond there are huge 30-meter-high abandoned harbor cranes. Against the backdrop of the starry sky, they looked like Star Wars vehicles.









In the rays of dawn, we quietly made our way through some radioactive burial grounds to the oil depot in order to photograph the ISU-152 - a self-propelled artillery installation from the times of the last world war, which rests behind the fence of the residential part of the oil depot. I can't confuse the smell of radioactive dumps with anything now.




126 medical unit in the basement of which is one of the dirtiest places in the zone. In a small room are the things of firefighters who received doses of radiation several times higher than the lethal ones and are still wildly glowing. More than once I thought about the dedication of people who raked up the consequences of a radioactive catastrophe. I watched a lot of old videos, and there people really realized what they were doing, that they were sacrificing themselves for the sake of others - this is very ... It is important when the conditions in which people grew up make them capable of such actions for the sake of others.







Abortion Journal. There was no sex in the Soviet Union, but there were abortions.


Shoes on the shelf in kindergarten. It's hard to imagine a darker place.


Traditional sunset on the roof of a 16-storey building with a hookah and our new friends. From here you have a beautiful view of the city.






View of the fifth microdistrict at night. The ghostly nine-story panel buildings, like the gnawed bones of an animal, reflect the pale moonlight.


One of the most powerful places is two chairs on the roof, which one of the stalkers took out there. We stuck there for many hours, smoked a hookah, looked at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, into the density of the starry sky and at the ghost town along the overgrown streets of which nocturnal animals roam.


Ferris wheel in an amusement park.


Ferris wheel in the center of Pripyat. Against the background of the starry sky, it can only be seen illegally.


We met dawn on the roof of a sixteen-story building with a coat of arms. I was very interested in the coat of arms, I have not seen anything like it anywhere else.


I fell asleep without waiting for dawn.


They say that sometimes these letters on the roof of the building are rearranged by stalkers and the local police organize a wild search of the whole city on this occasion.




Swimming pool of school number 3.


Some places in the city are specially furnished with very high quality for sightseeing photo work, like this room with gas masks.


A fresco at the post office, we went to take a couple of shots, we have a long road ahead through the night forests.




Having entered the dark strip after the red forest, somewhere very close we heard the many-voiced howl of a large pack of wolves. It was scary, because they howled right on the course, having collected a point in a fist and getting ready to break through, we moved forward. I kept firecrackers with me - in the hope that in an emergency, loud pops would scare away predators. Everything worked out and closer to the morning we came to a trolleybus abandoned by someone in the middle of the field. This is a popular stalker base, here we drank tea and had a snack. This place seemed to me somewhat similar to the bus from the movie "Into the Wild", where the main character spent his last days.




Stalker lodge. We caught up with our friends not far from Chernobyl-2.


A long and gloomy corridor between the antennas and the military camp.


Closer to sunset, we climbed the Duga-1 air defense radar, an abandoned huge antenna, towering 150 meters above the forests of the zone. Obiwan climbed onto the resonator. There was a wind, it shook and staggered, but he just gathered the eggs into a fist and walked along the pipe at a height of one hundred meters.


The higher we climbed, the stronger the wind became, and with it a special almost ultrasonic "Ring". The wind whistled through the millions of steel cables and antenna resonators, singing a brain-burning song.


From the top, we watched the setting sun and watched the columns of smoke. Somewhere in the distance, a forest burned. The stalkers say that the current authorities are deliberately burning forests, pushing through some kind of bill to tear up the zone and shrink it from 30 to 10 kilometers next year.


Another creepy story. There is a room with dead wolves in the abandoned military town. It is not clear how they got there, but the walls of the room are scratched from the inside by paws and two mummies lie on the floor.


And then there was a long road home. The zone for me is an endless starry sky, open space.


Passing under the power line, we saw that a tree had fallen on the wires. It smoldered, pulled wires and could start a fire. Having entered the foresters' house, we drank tea and left them a note with the exact coordinates of the accident.