Chernobyl through the years - in pictures

  • Chernobyl nuclear power plant pictured three days after reactor number four exploded on April 26, 1986. Getty Images
    Chernobyl nuclear power plant pictured three days after reactor number four exploded on April 26, 1986. Getty Images
  • West German customs workers check goods, vehicles and people coming in from Eastern Europe for radiation, in May 1986. The explosion at Chernobyl's reactor number four –which contained 200 tonnes of uranium – sent radioactive particles into the atmosphere. Getty Images
    West German customs workers check goods, vehicles and people coming in from Eastern Europe for radiation, in May 1986. The explosion at Chernobyl's reactor number four –which contained 200 tonnes of uranium – sent radioactive particles into the atmosphere. Getty Images
  • 'Chernobyl veterans', who took part in the dangerous clean-up operation, leave their medals near Red Square in Moscow in October 2020, in protest at plans to cut their benefits. Getty Images
    'Chernobyl veterans', who took part in the dangerous clean-up operation, leave their medals near Red Square in Moscow in October 2020, in protest at plans to cut their benefits. Getty Images
  • A view of the town of Pripyat and reactor number four, when the remaining three Chernobyl reactors were shut down permanently on December 15, 2000. Getty Images
    A view of the town of Pripyat and reactor number four, when the remaining three Chernobyl reactors were shut down permanently on December 15, 2000. Getty Images
  • Abandoned dodgem cars in a fairground in Pripyat in 2006. Deserted since 1986, the town had 30,000 inhabitants before the Chernobyl accident. Getty Images
    Abandoned dodgem cars in a fairground in Pripyat in 2006. Deserted since 1986, the town had 30,000 inhabitants before the Chernobyl accident. Getty Images
  • An abandoned school classroom in Pripyat in 2006. Getty Images
    An abandoned school classroom in Pripyat in 2006. Getty Images
  • A deserted swimming pool in Pripyat in 2006. Officials said the town will not be suitable for habitation for centuries. Getty Images
    A deserted swimming pool in Pripyat in 2006. Officials said the town will not be suitable for habitation for centuries. Getty Images
  • A visitor touring Chernobyl takes a photo through a window in 2015. Getty Images
    A visitor touring Chernobyl takes a photo through a window in 2015. Getty Images
  • A worker in the control room of reactor number two in September 2015, during the decommissioning process for reactors one, two and three. Getty Images
    A worker in the control room of reactor number two in September 2015, during the decommissioning process for reactors one, two and three. Getty Images
  • A tribute to 27 men and three women who died during or after the Chernobyl accident, marking the 30th anniversary, on April 26, 2016, in Slavutych, Ukraine. Getty Images
    A tribute to 27 men and three women who died during or after the Chernobyl accident, marking the 30th anniversary, on April 26, 2016, in Slavutych, Ukraine. Getty Images
  • Vasil Davidchuck, left, and Vadim Zhilyayev, who have blood cancers, at the National Research Center for Radiation Medicine in Kyiv. Both men worked in the Chernobyl exclusion zone soon after the 1986 explosion. Getty Images
    Vasil Davidchuck, left, and Vadim Zhilyayev, who have blood cancers, at the National Research Center for Radiation Medicine in Kyiv. Both men worked in the Chernobyl exclusion zone soon after the 1986 explosion. Getty Images
  • Petro Kotenko, a former Chernobyl 'liquidator', near his home in Kyiv, in 2016. A maintenance worker at Chernobyl, he spent 11 months performing repairs there following the 1986 meltdown. Getty Images
    Petro Kotenko, a former Chernobyl 'liquidator', near his home in Kyiv, in 2016. A maintenance worker at Chernobyl, he spent 11 months performing repairs there following the 1986 meltdown. Getty Images
  • The New Safe Confinement sarcophagus covers the destroyed reactor number four at Chernobyl in November 2016. Getty Images
    The New Safe Confinement sarcophagus covers the destroyed reactor number four at Chernobyl in November 2016. Getty Images
  • The former Energetika cultural centre in the abandoned town of Pripyat in 2017. Getty Images
    The former Energetika cultural centre in the abandoned town of Pripyat in 2017. Getty Images
  • An abandoned ferris wheel in Pripyat in 2017. Getty Images
    An abandoned ferris wheel in Pripyat in 2017. Getty Images
  • A view inside the New Safe Confinement structure, entombing the destroyed reactor number four, in 2019. Getty Images
    A view inside the New Safe Confinement structure, entombing the destroyed reactor number four, in 2019. Getty Images
  • A Russian firing position near the New Safe Confinement structure at Chernobyl. Russian forces invading Ukraine in late February 2022 occupied the site, churning up contaminated soil. AP Photo
    A Russian firing position near the New Safe Confinement structure at Chernobyl. Russian forces invading Ukraine in late February 2022 occupied the site, churning up contaminated soil. AP Photo
  • A Ukrainian soldier holds the national flag and gives the thumbs up near Chernobyl on April 3, 2022, after Russian forces retreated. AP Photo
    A Ukrainian soldier holds the national flag and gives the thumbs up near Chernobyl on April 3, 2022, after Russian forces retreated. AP Photo
  • A Ukrainian serviceman on patrol near Chernobyl in April 2022. AP Photo
    A Ukrainian serviceman on patrol near Chernobyl in April 2022. AP Photo