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Curation Team

Chernobyl’s exclusion zone is a haunting reminder of the 1986 tragedy, with abandoned homes and a deserted town standing silent in a radioactive landscape after the reactor accident.
Photos taken over the past few years show the impact of the explosion and the evacuation of the 30,000 inhabitants from the nearby town of Pripyat who fled the fallout and left everything behind to fall into ruin.
Though some signs of life have been re-emerging, with animals starting to return to the desolated forests as the land slowly recovers, the legacy of Chernobyl lingers.
These photos were first published as an SCMP gallery on April 27, 2021








Check out more images in our online gallery here.
Part of this article was produced with the assistance of generative AI.


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SCMP Highlights

Stark Chernobyl images show aftermath decades on from world’s worst nuclear disaster

A child’s gas mask is seen in a kindergarten near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

A view shows the abandoned city of Pripyat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

Children’s beds are seen in a kindergarten near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

An abandoned amusement park in the ghost town of Pripyat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine. Photo: AFP

The rusty emblem of the Soviet Union is seen in the ghost town of Pripyat close to the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Photo: AP

An elk is seen in a burnt forest in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, showing some signs of life is slowly returning to the area. Photo: Reuters

Remains of burnt houses are seen in the abandoned village of Poliske in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

The control centre of the damaged fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

A calendar is seen on the wall in a house in an abandoned village near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

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World

Explore the abandoned town and radioactive landscape that were left by the nuclear reactor explosion in 1986


Explore the abandoned town and radioactive landscape that were left by the nuclear reactor explosion in 1986.


Ukraine

Russia

Recap

.css-t3o2dm{color:#4585FF;}Recap | Stark Chernobyl images show aftermath decades on from world’s worst nuclear disaster

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Explore the abandoned town and radioactive landscape that were left by the nuclear reactor explosion in 1986

Recap | Stark Chernobyl images show aftermath decades on from world’s worst nuclear disaster

Explore the abandoned town and radioactive landscape that were left by the nuclear reactor explosion in 1986