Imagine a nuclear power plant explodes and your government is trying to conceal it. A bizarre thought that became bitter reality on April 26^th, 1986 in Ukraine (back then part of the Soviet Union).

The political lethargy in Moscow after the nuclear meltdown in reactor four of Chernobyl’s nuclear power plant just added to the suffering of soviet comrades and their children. Thousands were exposed to radioactive material in amounts that spell certain death way before the clean-up had started or the politburo of the Communist Party even acknowledged that this disaster even happened.

That’s the end of the history lesson. The viewers are free to investigate further and come to their own conclusions.

The nuclear exclusion zone is surreal. It is very unfamiliar to be in an empty urban environment that is being reconquered by nature with wild animals running stray. As for humans, we are dependent on the Geiger counter telling us which roads to take or rooms to enter. Without it, it is impossible to avoid critical radiation exposure, a deadly force we cannot smell, hear, see, nor can we feel or taste it.

Much has changed in the past years. Due to international aid, effort and ingenuity, the old concrete sarcophagus no longer sees the light of the day. The Chernobyl reactor is shielded by a new safe confinement, which reflects bright and silver from afar. Its primary function is to keep the radioactive remains of reactor four concealed for the next 100 years – to the extent possible.

Today, people are returning to Chernobyl’s exclusion zone. It is not because the environment got miraculously cured of its invisible poison but the need for affordable and available living space has made it appealing to those on the bottom of society to return. The war in Eastern Ukraine creates massive pressure on the corroded Ukrainian institution and densely populated areas. This leaves some families with little choice but to take up residency in the shadow of Chernobyl’s former glory.