KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Efrem Lukatsky, a Kyiv-based photographer for The Associated Press, was living in the city on April 26, 1986, when the explosion and fire struck the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, about a two-hour drive away.
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Oz announces a 50-state audit of Medicaid program oversightA small but growing movement wants you to put down your phone. But first read thisApple's 50-year odyssey has redefined technology, pop culture and comeback stories'If my people': Here's why the Bible passage Trump read aloud is so potent and polarizingFauna y vegetación en el paisaje radiactivo de Chernóbil muestran la resiliencia de la naturalezaDriven by the pressures of war, Iran gives its field commanders more power over militias in IraqJudge postpones OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma's sentencing to let opioid victims attend in personVirginia voters approve redistricting plan that could boost Democrats’ seats in CongressChicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan resigns after 6 seasonsAlan Osmond, the eldest member of the Osmonds, has died at 76Warsh says he got no pressure from Trump to cut rates even as president publicly pushes for them1 million bees make for bumper-to-buzzer traffic on a Tennessee highway rampHot dogs and steaks and bacon, oh my! Meat raffles keep a beloved Midwest tradition aliveWorking unseen to frame risk and ritual in a conflict-zone funeralFederal judge strikes down some Trump administration actions that have slowed clean energy projectsDr. Oz announces a 50-state audit of Medicaid program oversightA small but growing movement wants you to put down your phone. But first read thisApple's 50-year odyssey has redefined technology, pop culture and comeback stories'If my people': Here's why the Bible passage Trump read aloud is so potent and polarizingFauna y vegetación en el paisaje radiactivo de Chernóbil muestran la resiliencia de la naturalezaWorld NewsThe highly contaminated control room for Reactor No. 4 is seen inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000. Engineers threw a switch at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, that triggered two explosions and the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Remains of the collapsed roof at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, damaged in the separate 1991 fire in a turbine hall for Reactor No. 2, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Oct. 13, 1991. Efrem Lukatsky, now an Associated Press photographer, wears protective clothes outside the sarcophagus that covers destroyed Reactor No. 4 in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in this undated photo taken several years after the explosion. Soldiers taking part in cleanup operations following the Chernobyl power plant explosion rest in a tent camp inside the “exclusion zone” in the autumn of 1986, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. A security officer gestures to a photographer outside the gates of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in this 1989 photo, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. People hold signs reading “Down with the Chernobyl mysteries!” and “Who is responsible for Chernobyl?” during a protest rally demanding the truth about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident at a stadium in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 26, 1989, on the third anniversary of the disaster. About 1,350 Soviet military helicopters, buses, bulldozers, tankers, transporters, fire engines and ambulances, all highly contaminated with radiation, sit abandoned in a junkyard, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000, after being used in cleanup operations following the 1986 explosion in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Beds sit in a room of an abandoned kindergarten in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, which housed Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers and their families. Ivan Kalenda turns away to wipe his tears as he visits his 3-year-old grandson Vitya, right, in the children’s cancer hospital ward in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly a decade after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. Alec Zhloba sits in a children’s cancer ward with markings made by doctors on his head following chemotherapy in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly 10 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. A medical worker attends to a 17-year-old girl recovering from surgery to remove her cancerous thyroid at the intensive therapy unit of the Endocrynology Institute in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 30, 2000, nearly 15 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Alehandra Lihova, sister of a worker who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, wipes away tears at a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument to victims in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 26, 2004. The monument depicts the plant and its inscription reads “Near the grave, near the Chernobyl nuclear power station, near the dead Prypiat, a tree is the cross.” Portraits of Soviet officials covered by radioactive dust sit in a city club in Pripyat, Ukraine, April 10, 2006, where Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers lived and were evacuated after the deadly explosion and fire. An investigator points toward damaged Reactor No. 4 inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000. A worker checks radiation levels after leaving a nuclear waste storage site at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, March 23, 2016. A broken clock hangs on a wall in a school in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant about 3 kilometers away. A pommel horse sits in a school gymnasium in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Bumper cars sit in a playground in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Praskoviya Nezhyvova places a photo of her son, Viktor, who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, at a monument to the victims in Kyiv, April 26, 2004. A dome-shaped shelter covering the damaged reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant is seen on the horizon, April 15, 2021, from the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to some 50,000 people whose lives were connected to the plant. Workers examine the damage to the roof of the New Safe Confinement structure, which was built to contain the radioactive remains of Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, following what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian drone attack in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Feb. 14, 2025. A radiation sign stands near the remains of a vehicle belonging to the Russian military near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 16, 2022. An abandoned Ferris wheel stands in a city park, April 15, 2021, in the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to workers and their families whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The highly contaminated control room for Reactor No. 4 is seen inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000. Engineers threw a switch at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, that triggered two explosions and the world’s worst nuclear disaster. The highly contaminated control room for Reactor No. 4 is seen inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000. Engineers threw a switch at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, that triggered two explosions and the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Remains of the collapsed roof at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, damaged in the separate 1991 fire in a turbine hall for Reactor No. 2, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Oct. 13, 1991. Remains of the collapsed roof at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, damaged in the separate 1991 fire in a turbine hall for Reactor No. 2, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Oct. 13, 1991. Efrem Lukatsky, now an Associated Press photographer, wears protective clothes outside the sarcophagus that covers destroyed Reactor No. 4 in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in this undated photo taken several years after the explosion. Efrem Lukatsky, now an Associated Press photographer, wears protective clothes outside the sarcophagus that covers destroyed Reactor No. 4 in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in this undated photo taken several years after the explosion. Soldiers taking part in cleanup operations following the Chernobyl power plant explosion rest in a tent camp inside the “exclusion zone” in the autumn of 1986, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. Soldiers taking part in cleanup operations following the Chernobyl power plant explosion rest in a tent camp inside the “exclusion zone” in the autumn of 1986, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. A security officer gestures to a photographer outside the gates of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in this 1989 photo, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. A security officer gestures to a photographer outside the gates of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in this 1989 photo, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. People hold signs reading “Down with the Chernobyl mysteries!” and “Who is responsible for Chernobyl?” during a protest rally demanding the truth about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident at a stadium in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 26, 1989, on the third anniversary of the disaster. People hold signs reading “Down with the Chernobyl mysteries!” and “Who is responsible for Chernobyl?” during a protest rally demanding the truth about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident at a stadium in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 26, 1989, on the third anniversary of the disaster. About 1,350 Soviet military helicopters, buses, bulldozers, tankers, transporters, fire engines and ambulances, all highly contaminated with radiation, sit abandoned in a junkyard, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000, after being used in cleanup operations following the 1986 explosion in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. About 1,350 Soviet military helicopters, buses, bulldozers, tankers, transporters, fire engines and ambulances, all highly contaminated with radiation, sit abandoned in a junkyard, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000, after being used in cleanup operations following the 1986 explosion in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Beds sit in a room of an abandoned kindergarten in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, which housed Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers and their families. Beds sit in a room of an abandoned kindergarten in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, which housed Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers and their families. Ivan Kalenda turns away to wipe his tears as he visits his 3-year-old grandson Vitya, right, in the children’s cancer hospital ward in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly a decade after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. Ivan Kalenda turns away to wipe his tears as he visits his 3-year-old grandson Vitya, right, in the children’s cancer hospital ward in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly a decade after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. Alec Zhloba sits in a children’s cancer ward with markings made by doctors on his head following chemotherapy in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly 10 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. Alec Zhloba sits in a children’s cancer ward with markings made by doctors on his head following chemotherapy in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly 10 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. A medical worker attends to a 17-year-old girl recovering from surgery to remove her cancerous thyroid at the intensive therapy unit of the Endocrynology Institute in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 30, 2000, nearly 15 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A medical worker attends to a 17-year-old girl recovering from surgery to remove her cancerous thyroid at the intensive therapy unit of the Endocrynology Institute in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 30, 2000, nearly 15 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Alehandra Lihova, sister of a worker who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, wipes away tears at a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument to victims in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 26, 2004. The monument depicts the plant and its inscription reads “Near the grave, near the Chernobyl nuclear power station, near the dead Prypiat, a tree is the cross.” Alehandra Lihova, sister of a worker who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, wipes away tears at a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument to victims in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 26, 2004. The monument depicts the plant and its inscription reads “Near the grave, near the Chernobyl nuclear power station, near the dead Prypiat, a tree is the cross.” Portraits of Soviet officials covered by radioactive dust sit in a city club in Pripyat, Ukraine, April 10, 2006, where Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers lived and were evacuated after the deadly explosion and fire. Portraits of Soviet officials covered by radioactive dust sit in a city club in Pripyat, Ukraine, April 10, 2006, where Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers lived and were evacuated after the deadly explosion and fire. An investigator points toward damaged Reactor No. 4 inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000. An investigator points toward damaged Reactor No. 4 inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000. A worker checks radiation levels after leaving a nuclear waste storage site at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, March 23, 2016. A worker checks radiation levels after leaving a nuclear waste storage site at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, March 23, 2016. A broken clock hangs on a wall in a school in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant about 3 kilometers away. A broken clock hangs on a wall in a school in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant about 3 kilometers away. A pommel horse sits in a school gymnasium in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A pommel horse sits in a school gymnasium in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Bumper cars sit in a playground in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Bumper cars sit in a playground in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Praskoviya Nezhyvova places a photo of her son, Viktor, who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, at a monument to the victims in Kyiv, April 26, 2004. Praskoviya Nezhyvova places a photo of her son, Viktor, who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, at a monument to the victims in Kyiv, April 26, 2004. A dome-shaped shelter covering the damaged reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant is seen on the horizon, April 15, 2021, from the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to some 50,000 people whose lives were connected to the plant. A dome-shaped shelter covering the damaged reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant is seen on the horizon, April 15, 2021, from the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to some 50,000 people whose lives were connected to the plant. Workers examine the damage to the roof of the New Safe Confinement structure, which was built to contain the radioactive remains of Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, following what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian drone attack in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Feb. 14, 2025. Workers examine the damage to the roof of the New Safe Confinement structure, which was built to contain the radioactive remains of Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, following what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian drone attack in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Feb. 14, 2025. A radiation sign stands near the remains of a vehicle belonging to the Russian military near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 16, 2022. A radiation sign stands near the remains of a vehicle belonging to the Russian military near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 16, 2022. An abandoned Ferris wheel stands in a city park, April 15, 2021, in the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to workers and their families whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. An abandoned Ferris wheel stands in a city park, April 15, 2021, in the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to workers and their families whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. a Kyiv-based photographer for The Associated Press, was living in the city on April 26, 1986, when the explosion and fire struck the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, about a two-hour drive away. He has visited the plant and the “exclusion zone” around it dozens of times.Remains of the collapsed roof at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, damaged in the separate 1991 fire in a turbine hall for Reactor No. 2, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Oct. 13, 1991. Remains of the collapsed roof at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, damaged in the separate 1991 fire in a turbine hall for Reactor No. 2, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Oct. 13, 1991. There was no official announcement about the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant when it happened in 1986 — only fragments of information passed quietly among colleagues. I was in my late 20s at the time and was a specialized underwater welder for a Kyiv institute that sent me to offshore platforms and classified military bases across the Soviet Union. Efrem Lukatsky, now an Associated Press photographer, wears protective clothes outside the sarcophagus that covers destroyed Reactor No. 4 in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in this undated photo taken several years after the explosion. Efrem Lukatsky, now an Associated Press photographer, wears protective clothes outside the sarcophagus that covers destroyed Reactor No. 4 in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in this undated photo taken several years after the explosion. No one spoke openly about what happened at Chernobyl — which is transliterated as “Chornobyl” in Ukraine — but unease was growing. There was a metallic taste in my mouth and a dryness in my throat. Others had it, but no one understood why. The first official, brief acknowledgment came two days later — that an accident had occurred. Nothing more. People spoke in hushed tones about plant firefighters being flown to hospitals in Moscow. A security officer gestures to a photographer outside the gates of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in this 1989 photo, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. A security officer gestures to a photographer outside the gates of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in this 1989 photo, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. At night, we tuned in to Western broadcasts — still considered subversive in those days — for news the state would not provide. We learned the accident had spread a plume of radiation beyond the USSR’s borders. Experts urged people to seal windows, wear masks and give iodine to children. I followed their advice, placing an iodine drop each day on a sugar cube to protect my thyroid gland from absorbing contamination.My family home was in Kyiv, where a neighbor warned me about radioactive dust. Later, I saw her husband, a policeman, strip off his clothes in the stairwell and seal them in a bag before going inside. A friend, a nuclear physicist, called and urged me to leave Kyiv for good, and some residents sent their children to other regions. I didn’t go. My parents were here and it was my home. Alec Zhloba sits in a children’s cancer ward with markings made by doctors on his head following chemotherapy in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly 10 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. Alec Zhloba sits in a children’s cancer ward with markings made by doctors on his head following chemotherapy in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly 10 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. Ivan Kalenda turns away to wipe his tears as he visits his 3-year-old grandson Vitya, right, in the children’s cancer hospital ward in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly a decade after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. Ivan Kalenda turns away to wipe his tears as he visits his 3-year-old grandson Vitya, right, in the children’s cancer hospital ward in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly a decade after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. A medical worker attends to a 17-year-old girl recovering from surgery to remove her cancerous thyroid at the intensive therapy unit of the Endocrynology Institute in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 30, 2000, nearly 15 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A medical worker attends to a 17-year-old girl recovering from surgery to remove her cancerous thyroid at the intensive therapy unit of the Endocrynology Institute in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 30, 2000, nearly 15 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. I found an old military radiation meter and checked everything — my apartment, my clothes, the streets. The readings were unsettling. At a playground, they climbed far above normal. At home, they were even higher. I used tape to lift the dust off my clothes. Five days after the explosion, the annual May Day parade went ahead in Kyiv as planned. Thousands filled the streets, many of them children. I marched too, past a monument to Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, and was handed a banner praising the leadership. Alehandra Lihova, sister of a worker who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, wipes away tears at a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument to victims in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 26, 2004. The monument depicts the plant and its inscription reads “Near the grave, near the Chernobyl nuclear power station, near the dead Prypiat, a tree is the cross.” Alehandra Lihova, sister of a worker who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, wipes away tears at a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument to victims in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 26, 2004. The monument depicts the plant and its inscription reads “Near the grave, near the Chernobyl nuclear power station, near the dead Prypiat, a tree is the cross.” Days later, the city hosted a cycling race, and spectators lined the streets as if nothing had happened. The state said nothing was wrong, but we already knew otherwise.After the accident, long columns of buses moved slowly into Kyiv, carrying thousands of evacuees from Pripyat, the city adjacent to Chernobyl where most of its workers lived. Beds sit in a room of an abandoned kindergarten in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, which housed Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers and their families. Beds sit in a room of an abandoned kindergarten in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, which housed Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers and their families. I remember their faces — uncertain but calm. They were told they’d be gone only a few days. They left behind homes, belongings and pets who died waiting for owners who never returned.A broken clock hangs on a wall in a school in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant about 3 kilometers away. A broken clock hangs on a wall in a school in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant about 3 kilometers away. a 2,600-square-kilometer area, having been sent there as part of a team from my scientific institute, and later as a stringer photographer for the Soviet magazine, Ogonyok. Silent apartment blocks stood beside schools, swimming pools and businesses that looked as if their occupants had just stepped out. Soldiers taking part in cleanup operations following the Chernobyl power plant explosion rest in a tent camp inside the “exclusion zone” in the autumn of 1986, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. Soldiers taking part in cleanup operations following the Chernobyl power plant explosion rest in a tent camp inside the “exclusion zone” in the autumn of 1986, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. But what stayed with me most were those sent to contain the disaster. Firefighters, we learned, had dragged hoses across wreckage, trying to extinguish a blaze that water couldn’t quench. Tens of thousands of cleanup crews, or “liquidators,” were sent in to remove contaminated soil or seal the damaged reactor in concrete. Soldiers scraped radioactive debris from the plant’s roof, risking lethal exposure in minutes. An investigator points toward damaged Reactor No. 4 inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000. An investigator points toward damaged Reactor No. 4 inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000. Then there were the coal miners. To prevent the plant’s radioactive fuel from reaching the groundwater, they dug tunnels beneath it through darkness and heat, often stripped to their shirts. We had little protection — suits, boots and masks — that felt inadequate. Before leaving, we were inspected and washed down, as if that could undo any exposure. After each trip, I sealed my clothes in bags and discarded shoes and coats.People hold signs reading “Down with the Chernobyl mysteries!” and “Who is responsible for Chernobyl?” during a protest rally demanding the truth about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident at a stadium in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 26, 1989, on the third anniversary of the disaster. People hold signs reading “Down with the Chernobyl mysteries!” and “Who is responsible for Chernobyl?” during a protest rally demanding the truth about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident at a stadium in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 26, 1989, on the third anniversary of the disaster. But the truth already was spreading. People spoke more openly in Kyiv. The first protests were small and tentative but soon grew into larger demonstrations demanding answers — rallies that in turn formed the nucleus of Ukraine’s independence movement. That was when my career as a journalist began. My photos were shown at an amateur exhibition, then published abroad. I thought I might be arrested.Portraits of Soviet officials covered by radioactive dust sit in a city club in Pripyat, Ukraine, April 10, 2006, where Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers lived and were evacuated after the deadly explosion and fire. Portraits of Soviet officials covered by radioactive dust sit in a city club in Pripyat, Ukraine, April 10, 2006, where Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers lived and were evacuated after the deadly explosion and fire. After the USSR collapsed in 1991 and Ukraine gained independence, I returned to the exclusion zone many times, often with scientists, police and firefighters. I was hired by the AP in 1989. A worker checks radiation levels after leaving a nuclear waste storage site at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, March 23, 2016. A worker checks radiation levels after leaving a nuclear waste storage site at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, March 23, 2016. Another lasting image was seeing people awaiting medical checks. I photographed them — the very old and the very young — standing quietly for examinations for signs of illness. Immediately after the accident, 30 plant workers and firefighters died from acute radiation sickness. Later, thousands of people died from radiation-related illnesses. Six photographers and cameramen sent there in the first days all died of illness later.Pripyat was frozen in time. At a hospital where the first victims were treated, radiation levels remained dangerously high. Nearby was a vast machinery graveyard: Ambulances, buses, trucks, armored vehicles and helicopters used in the cleanup were abandoned as too contaminated. To photograph them, we moved quickly to minimize exposure. About 1,350 Soviet military helicopters, buses, bulldozers, tankers, transporters, fire engines and ambulances, all highly contaminated with radiation, sit abandoned in a junkyard, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000, after being used in cleanup operations following the 1986 explosion in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. About 1,350 Soviet military helicopters, buses, bulldozers, tankers, transporters, fire engines and ambulances, all highly contaminated with radiation, sit abandoned in a junkyard, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000, after being used in cleanup operations following the 1986 explosion in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Inside the power plant, dust hung thick in the air, catching the light. We moved quickly but carefully to the control room, where a routine test for Reactor No. 4 had gone wrong at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, triggering two explosions. Many buttons from the panels were missing — taken as souvenirs. As we moved deeper into the plant, radiation levels rose, and we turned back. Some limits you do not cross.Workers examine the damage to the roof of the New Safe Confinement structure, which was built to contain the radioactive remains of Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, following what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian drone attack in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Feb. 14, 2025. Workers examine the damage to the roof of the New Safe Confinement structure, which was built to contain the radioactive remains of Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, following what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian drone attack in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Feb. 14, 2025. As years passed, the original shelter over the reactor deteriorated, opening gaps where radiation leaked out. In 2019, the entire building was covered by an enormous arch-shaped shelter, designed to last generations. It seemed the situation finally was under control. A radiation sign stands near the remains of a vehicle belonging to the Russian military near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 16, 2022. A radiation sign stands near the remains of a vehicle belonging to the Russian military near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 16, 2022. Without people, the still-contaminated exclusion zone has recovered in unexpected ways. Forests have spread. Wildlife has multiplied. Rare species now move through places once defined by disaster. A dome-shaped shelter covering the damaged reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant is seen on the horizon, April 15, 2021, from the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to some 50,000 people whose lives were connected to the plant. A dome-shaped shelter covering the damaged reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant is seen on the horizon, April 15, 2021, from the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to some 50,000 people whose lives were connected to the plant. A pommel horse sits in a school gymnasium in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A pommel horse sits in a school gymnasium in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Bumper cars sit in a playground in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Bumper cars sit in a playground in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Praskoviya Nezhyvova places a photo of her son, Viktor, who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, at a monument to the victims in Kyiv, April 26, 2004. Praskoviya Nezhyvova places a photo of her son, Viktor, who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, at a monument to the victims in Kyiv, April 26, 2004. An abandoned Ferris wheel stands in a city park, April 15, 2021, in the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to workers and their families whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. An abandoned Ferris wheel stands in a city park, April 15, 2021, in the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to workers and their families whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Pripyat remains frozen, but it’s no longer entirely empty, as animals roam through it. After 40 years, that could be the clearest truth: Lives were upended, and for a long time, reality was kept hidden. But left alone, nature endures — even at Chernobyl.
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343 days on the front line: Ukrainian officer’s long deployment underscores Kyiv’s manpower issuesInfantry officer Oleksiy just spent 343 days on the front line, in what his brigade believes is one of the longest combat deployments for a Ukrainian officer.
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Ukraine completes Druzhba pipeline repairs, hopes to unlock EU loanUkraine has completed repairs on a damaged oil pipeline and is preparing to resume flows. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this Tuesday, warning that Russia might target the infrastructure again. Repairs to the Druzhba pipeline delayed approval of a major EU loan intended to support Ukraine’s military and economic needs.
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Ukraine completes Druzhba pipeline repairs, hoping to unlock blocked EU loanUkraine has completed repairs on a damaged oil pipeline and is preparing to resume flows.
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