Continuous depressing news coming out of Ukraine. Not that Russia is making much progress (that’s the good news), but more along the lines of more and more people getting hurt, killed and displaced. So needless.
Here are a few photos from the Jupiter Factory in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
It’s great to see and hear about the Ukraine people fighting back and not letting the Russian military run right over them. But I can only imagine the toll they are paying in blood to make that happen. I stand with Ukraine!!
Here are some photos I took (pre-war) of abandoned ships in the Chernobyl River (technically this is near Pripyat which is the city next to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plants.
Abandoned ship
Abandoned boat leaning to port
Same boat as the 2nd photo above.
Lifeguard station at a kids summer camp on the river
This is the Pripyat Hospital lobby inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This hospital received and cared for the firefighters who responded to the nuclear reactor disaster when the Chernobyl accident occurred. All of the firefighters died of radiation exposure.
On this Sunday, I have a photo for you that I took inside one of the many abandoned schools within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This specific school was in the city of Pripyat (the town right next to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant). We explored this school and took a ton of photos of it and frankly everything else we explored during our 4 days within the Zone.
This is a photo looking down, via my drone, at the City of Pripyat, which sits next to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It has been abandoned since April 1986 following the nuclear disaster at this site. As you can see, mother nature is taking over. These buildings are high rise apartment buildings.
I’m not sure why I didn’t share this photo in the past. Regardless, here it is!! I captured this in Pripyat, Ukraine a few miles from Chernobyl nuclear reactor number 4. The entire region is abandoned and will be for decades to come. There was a carnival setup for a village celebration, which of course never happened, with the nuclear reactor meltdown. The carnival rides are some of the most popular tourist attractions within the Exclusion Zone.
To view a larger version, click HERE
I really wanted to return to Chernobyl in 2020, but like all good things this year, COVID messed that up. Let’s hope that trip can happen in 2021. Here is a photo I took from 2018 at the Soviet Nuclear Missile Detection site.
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It’s hard to believe it has been two years since our Chernobyl trip. We planned to go back this October, but that isn’t going to happen. No shock there, since 2020 is messed up from top to bottom.
I took this photo in the Pripyat Hospital, which is a few miles from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
To view a larger version, click HERE
Here is another photo from the Jupiter Factory inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. See my last post for a few more details on this factory. I took this photo on an upper floor within the factory complex. I think this was a mechanical space or maybe support space. It didn’t look like factory production space to me. I liked the columns and other support beams in this room.
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This is the abandoned Jupiter Factory located on the edge of Pripyat within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The Russian’s officially claimed this factory manufactured cassette recorders and components for home appliances, but it secretly produced semiconductor components for the Soviet military and had a test workshop for robotic systems.
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This iconic Chernobyl building is the Cultural Center in the main square of downtown Pripyat. It has a couple swimming pools, boxing ring, gymnastic equipment, auditorium, exercise rooms, and a bunch of other things. Right behind this building is where the carnival was setup to start a festival that never happened. By the way, this structure was a great building to explore.
To view a larger version, click HERE
Tonight, I have a flashback for you. Here is a photo I took in downtown Pripyat, Ukraine during our 2018 trip to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This abandoned ferris wheel was setup as part of a traveling carnival behind main street, but the rides never got used due to the disaster. Over three decades later, they are still sitting there.
We used a bunch of flashlights to light paint this so I could capture this photo.
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I loved the stained-glass windows in this abandoned restaurant along the river in Pripyat, Ukraine. Before the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, this must have been a great place to enjoy a meal.
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Blair and I found this cool spot upstairs in the Jupiter Factory. This is one of hundreds of abandoned buildings within Pripyat, Ukraine, which is part of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
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My article got published again on a French website called PixFan.com . You can see it by using this LINK.
I honestly can’t remember where within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone I took this photo. I think it was inside a factory building, but I’m not sure. Regardless, after I finished processing this a couple of days ago, I knew I had to post it. I loved how simple and powerful this scene is within the photo. I liked the shadows, the single push cart in the room, etc….
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Short post tonight….. I took this photo of the pool inside the Pripyat Cultural Center. Pripyat was a large city next to the Chernobyl Power Plant built to support the employees and their families. All of this is now within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. As I was exploring the Cultural Center, I happened upon it at the back of the building. I loved the reflections.
To view a larger version, click HERE
One of the most popular spots to visit inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is the abandoned carnival. Unfortunately, the city of Pripyat was set to have a carnival/celebration for a few days, when the radioactive disaster struck. So the carnival rides (bumper cars, ferris wheel, and rides) got left behind like everything else since they became radioactive from the nuclear fallout.
This is one of the highlights for most visitors to Chernobyl. You can see we were at this spot early in the morning, thus the long shadows and we got to experience some great fall colors.
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This is the bridge our train crossed going back and forth to Chernobyl every day. Towards the end of the week, we went to this spot to photograph the bridge with the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Number 4 and its new sarcophagus in the background. As you can tell, it was very overcast that afternoon…..
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Today’s post is another photo from our Chernobyl trip. I took this photo along the Pripyat River of an abandoned river loading winch. As you can see, it is starting to fall into the river. We happened to be here early in the morning at a beautiful time.
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