Here are a few more photos from my Ukraine trip (pre-war). All of these were taken near the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor and within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
I hope the Ukraine military and people can keep on giving the Russian military a good fight and that they stay safe.
Abandoned Pripyat Apartment building with the Soviet logo on top
Abandoned buildings in Pripyat
DUGA - abandoned Russia military radar station to detect NATO Nuclear missile launches
Soviet Propaganda
Did you have a great week? I’m glad we’re going into the weekend, and I can get some things done around the house.
Today’s photo is from the abandoned Jupiter Factory in Pripyat Ukraine, which sits a few miles from Chernobyl and is within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The Russians claimed the factory made cassette recorders, but in reality it made semiconductor components for their military. We spent a couple hours exploring this site during our 2018 Chernobyl trip.
I’ve posted a few photos from this spot in the past.
This abandoned Russian early warning missile radar station is a pretty cool spot to visit. This one sits inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
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.
I took this photo these Soviet Statues under the People’s Friendship Arch in Kiev back in 2018. The Arch, you can see a portion of it on the right side, and these Hero’s Statues were constructed in 1982. They are supposed to depict friendship between Russian and Ukrainian peoples (soldiers - left statue and workers - right statue).
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian government announced plans to dismantle the arch as part of their 2016 decommunization laws.
Here is a mural I captured inside an abandoned building in the city of Pripyat. Sorry I can’t remember which building. Maybe some of my travel companions will remember. I think it was the Post Office in the town square….maybe????
To view a larger version, click HERE
I found these old Soviet propaganda signs at the back of the Pripyat Cultural Center. Pripyat had over 49,000 people before it was abandoned after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The Cultural Center building was a great explore.
To view a larger version, click HERE
This sculpture in Kiev is part of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. This photo doesn’t do the sculpture justice….it is very big, very big. This stainless steel statue is over 203 feet tall and weighs 560 tons. The sword is 52 feet long and the shield is 43 feet long/26 feet wide. The Soviets build this to impress.
To view a larger version, click HERE
I finally got around to editing some of my Chernobyl videos…… some of them. I probably have dozens left that I haven’t even looked at yet since our trip last year. I put this video together with drone video and photos I took during our time at DUGA which is an abandoned Russian early warning ballistic missile system.
During our time inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, we got to explore this DUGA site. DUGA was a Soviet over-the-horizon radar system used as an Soviet Union missile defense warning radar network. They used this to watch for and track potential NATO missiles. They had two of these in Ukraine (Chernobyl & Chernihiv) and one in eastern Siberia.
It earned the nickname of Russian Woodpecker because it would make sharp, repetitive tapping noises across shortwaves. So amateur radio operators would have to deal with the tapping noise.
This thing is huge. I couldn’t find a size via the Internet but trust me with I say it is very big…. It has two sections. I think the taller section was maybe 200 ft tall and the entire thing was maybe half a mile long….. give or take a little. If anyone knows the actual size, please let me know.
Anyway, as you can tell, we finished our day here and I captured it at sunset.
To view a larger version, click HERE
During our time in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, we had a cool opportunity to visit Duga. Of course, the entire experience was amazing, but this spot was super cool.
Duga is a Soviet built Over-The-Horizon radar system used as an early missile defense system from 1976 to 1989. When it was working, it was nicknamed the Russian Woodpecker by shortwave listeners due to its pattern of clicks and napping noises.
This thing is massive. I’m guessing here so don’t hold me to this (and I looked on the Intranet for specs but failed to final anything), but I’d say it is a couple hundred feet high and maybe a half mile long. It just when on, and on, and on…… This photo captures about a third of the entire structure.
As you can tell, it was fall at the time and I took this photo with my drone at sunset. It might not seem like such a good photo to you, but for me, it’s the memory that makes it special.
I captured a ton of video at this spot and around Chernobyl. Maybe someday I’ll edit some of that to share with you.
To view a larger version, click HERE
