Twenty years after the worst nuclear accident of History, Chernobyl area tries to survive in the memory of everyone. Everything there tries to survive in its own memory. The city of Prypiat, 3 Km far from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, once had 45.000 inhabitants and today it is a phantom city. Everything there is still as waiting for someone or something to come and revive it: the objects, the streets, the buildings... the life that used to be there. The silence is awesome but one can hear the scream of what wants to come to terms with death, or come back to life. About 350 people still live inside the Exclusion Zone, the prohibited area that everyone imagines as a horrible, dead landscape and that for those mostly elderly is the promissed land, the land they were once forced to move from and to which they went back soon after. 'All our beloved ones, our friends, neighbors who left are dead. And look at us', they all say, plenty of life. They love the land they step and take care of. They were born there and will die there. But not from radioactivity. And also those who are suffering the consequences of that catastrophe happened the 26 of April 1986. Those kids whose parents were liquidators, 'patriots', 'volunteers' who were inscribed in lists made by the Government (Soviet by that time) and who couldn't say they did not want to go to work in the Zone. Some of them did the work to help their country. But none of them were asked. They simply were told. Many of their children are being born today with handicaps and ailments that almost none in the scientific community want to relate to Chernobyl. None wants to say the opposite either. Here it is a trip through what's it today. How is it today. Who are they today. The main characters, the victims, the ones who live in that no man's land. The heart of the matter. And the life that claims from death.
Alexander Savitskiy, 20, a mentally disabled boy, shows the document certifying that he's a victim of Chernobyl accident. He was healthy when he was born but after two years he experienced a delay in his mental development. Alexander lives in Boyarka, in the so called Fourth Zone, an area where lots of evacuated people from the Exclusion Zone were relocated and that it is said to be contaminated as well. Boyarka (Kiev-Svyathosin district, Ukraine)
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Electric pylons. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine)
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Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (on the right), the heart of the matter. Yet today the old sarcophagus, constructed right after the accident to stop radioactive emanations, is being completed while they wait for a new, modern one to be built. Prypiat (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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A small cemetery by the forest near the town of Chernobyl. Despite being a forbidden area, lots of relatives of people graved in cemeteries within the Exclusion Zone often go there to leave flowers. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine)
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A fairground that never got to function in the city that once had 45.000 inhabitants and now is completely desert and destroyed. The ground was supposed to be inaugurated on the 1st of May but the city was evacuated one day after the accident. Prypiat (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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A fairground that never got to function in the city that once had 45.000 inhabitants and now is completely desert and destroyed. The ground was supposed to be inaugurated on the 1st of May but the city was evacuated one day after the accident. Prypiat (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Nastya Chikalovets, 81 years old, shows the document that certificates she's a victim of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. She was evacuated but went back home as soon as she could. She's one of the 350 people who yet live inside the Exclusion Zone. Apachichi (Chernobyl region, Ukraine)
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Clavdia Semenivna, 67, is physically handicapped for she has digestive problems. She lives in Boyarka, in the so called Fourth Zone, an area where lots of evacuated people from the Exclusion Zone were relocated and that it is said to be contaminated. Boyarka (Kiev-Svyathosin district, Ukraine)
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Nastya Chikalovets has a look at some old photos in her home. Nastya, 81 years old, was evacuated with her family but they went back home as soon as they could. She's one of the 350 people who keep living inside the Exclusion Zone. Apachichi village (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Nikolay Pavlenko, 82 years old, as he sits inside her friend Nastya's home, in Apachichi, one of the villages evacuated after the accident. Nikolay is one of the about 350 people who keep living inside the Exclusion Zone. Apachichi (Chernobyl region, Ukraine)
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Maria Urupa, 70 years old, as she shows the document that certificates she's a victim of the accident in Chernobyl. Living in the village of Páryshyv, Maria is one of the around 350 people who still live inside the Exclusion Zone. Páryshyv (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Music classrom at Prypiat school. The panel on the wall repeats Shostakovich's sentence: 'How dull the world around us would be if the music got out of it'. This city once had 45.000 inhabitants and now is completely desert and destroyed. It city was evacuated on April the 27, one day after the accident. Prypiat (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Mikhail Urupa at his home. Living in the village of Páryshyv, this old man and his wife are two of the around 350 people who remain inside the Exclusion Zone. Páryshyv village (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Poster of a soviet film on the wall of an abbandoned house in the village of Cherevach, one of the 74 small towns and villages evacuated right after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl. The village is within the 30 Km Exclusion Zone. Cherevach (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Podium in the gymnasium at Prypiat school. The city once had 45.000 inhabitants and now is completely desert and destroyed. 3km far from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, it was evacuated on April the 27, one day after the accident. Prypiat (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Mikhail Urupa, 70 years old, as he shows the document that certificates he's a victim of the accident in Chernobyl. Living in the village of Páryshyv, Mikhail is one of the around 350 people who still live inside the Exclusion Zone. Páryshyv (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Mikhail and Maria Urupa at home. Living in the village of Páryshyv, these elderly couple are two of the around 350 people who still live inside the Exclusion Zone. Páryshyv (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Nastya Chikalovets as she cuts a bread in his home. Nastya, 81 years old, was evacuated with her family but they went back home as soon as they could. She's one of the about 350 people who keep living inside the Exclusion Zone. Apachichi village (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Katerina Novak, Director of the International Charity Fund 'Help for Chernobyl Children', as she shows the document that certificates she's a victim of Chernobyl accident. Katerina was evacuated from Prypiat on the 27 of April 1986. Kiev (Ukraine)
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Workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and of Chernobyl city as they head to the buses that will take them to their work places after having passed Dytyatky check-point, the first 'door' to the Exclusion Zone. Dytyatky check-point (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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The 4th Block of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the heart of the matter. Yet today the old sarcophagus, constructed right after the accident to stop radioactive emanations, is being completed while they wait for a new, modern one to be built. Prypiat (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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The dosimeter on the roof of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant offices building shows 1.08 miliroentgen per hour. Some of the workers who helped cover the broken reactor right after the accident had to face up to 3.000 roentgen per hour. Prypiat (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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At Dytyatky check-point, a visitor of the Exclusion Zone passes the dosimeter test before going out the prohibited area. This machine controls that the levels of radioactivity taken out of the Zone are within the limits of what's allowed. (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Marina Martyniuk, 51, as she shows the document that certificates she's a victim of Chernobyl accident. Marina was a liquidator from 1986 to 1988. Kiev (Ukraine)
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On the left, the cultural centre, and the hotel on the right. The city of Prypiat once had 45.000 inhabitants but it was evacuated the 27 of April 1986, one day after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, and today it is a phantom city.
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Outside Mikhail Urupa's house. Almost all the land behind him was farmed before the accident. Living in the village of Páryshyv, this old man and his wife are two of the around 350 people who remain inside the Exclusion Zone. Páryshyv village. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
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Vladimir Ivanovich, 49, is physically disabled, for he has breathing problems and lungs cancer. In the image, he shows the document that certificates he's a victim of Chernobyl accident. He lives in Boyarka, in the so called Fourth Zone, an area where lots of evacuated people from the Exclusion Zone were relocated and that it is said to be contaminated as well. Boyarka (Kiev-Svyathosin district, Ukraine)
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Ylia, 10, smiles at his mother, Nadya. He's disabled, for he's got eskeleton problems. Nadya is both physically and mentally handicapped. They live in Boyarka, in the so called Fourth Zone, an area where lots of evacuated people from the Exclusion Zone were relocated and that it is said to be contaminated as well. Boyarka (Kiev-Svyathosin district, Ukraine)
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Ylia, 10, as he sits in the kitchen while his mother, Nadya, dances with his cousin Lena. The three of them are physically or mentally handicapped. They live in Boyarka, in the so called Fourth Zone, an area where lots of evacuated people from the Exclusion Zone were relocated and that it is said to be contaminated as well. Boyarka (Kiev-Svyathosin district, Ukraine)
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Ylia, 10, as he shows the document that certificates he's a victim of Chernobyl accident. He's disabled for he's got eskeleton problems. Ylia lives in Boyarka, in the so called Fourth Zone, an area where lots of evacuated people from the Exclusion Zone were relocated and that it is said to be contaminated as well. Boyarka (Kiev-Svyathosin district, Ukraine)
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Empty cots at Prypiat hospital. The city once had 45.000 inhabitants and now is completely desert and destroyed. 3km far from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the city was evacuated on April the 27, one day after the accident. Prypiat (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine)
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Nastya, 7, is a direct victim of Chernobyl accident. She is the daughter of a liquidator and she was born with cerebral palsy, like all her partners at the boarding school for children with consequences of cerebral palsy and polio. Doctors cannot prove that it is a consequence of Chernobyl accident, but they do not say it is not. Kiev (Ukraine)
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Shreia, Roman and Kostya at the dining room. They were born with cerebral palsy, like all her partners at the boarding school they attend to, for children with consequences of cerebral palsy and polio. Doctors cannot prove that it is a consequence of Chernobyl accident, but they do not say it is not. Kiev (Ukraine)
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Dima tries to put on her jacket. She and all her partners at school, like Ylia and Sasha (left and right) have cerebral palsy. They attend to a boarding school for children with consequences of cerebral palsy and polio . Doctors cannot prove that it is a consequence of Chernobyl accident, but they do not say it is not. Kiev (Ukraine)
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Sviatoslav, 10, has bronchial asthma. Though he does not have the official doccument that certificates so, he's physically disabled. He lives in Boyarka, in the so called Fourth Zone, an area where lots of evacuated people from the Exclusion Zone were relocated and that it is said to be contaminated as well. Boyarka (Kiev-Svyathosin district, Ukraine)
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Lena Martyniuk, 12, is a direct victim of Chernobyl accident. Her mother, Marina, 51 (left), was a liquidator from 1986 to 1988. By the time the accident happened she already had two children, both healthy. Lena was born in Kiev time after the family had evacuated from Prypiat and she has lots of health problems, a very big thyroids amongst others. Kiev (Ukraine)
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Clavdia Semenivna, 67, shows the document that certificates she's a victim of Chernobyl accident. She is physically handicapped for she has stomach problems. She lives in Boyarka, inside the so called Fourth Zone, an area where lots of evacuated people from the Exclusion Zone were relocated and that it is said to be contaminated as well. Boyarka (Kiev-Svyathosin district, Ukraine)
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