Pripyat · Lablypedia

Although it is located in Vyshhorod Raion, the abandoned municipality is administered directly from the capital of Kyiv. Pripyat is supervised by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine which manages activities for the entire Chernobyl exclusion zone.

History

Early years

Access to Pripyat, unlike cities of military importance, was not restricted before the disaster as the Soviet Union deemed nuclear power stations safer than other types of power plants. Nuclear power stations were presented as achievements of Soviet engineering, harnessing nuclear power for peaceful projects. The slogan "peaceful atom" (Russian: мирный атом, romanized: mirnyy atom) was popular during those times. The original plan had been to build the plant only 25 km (16 mi) from Kyiv, but the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, among other bodies, expressed concern that would be too close to the city. As a result, the power station and Pripyat were built at their current locations, about 100 km (62 mi) from Kyiv.

Post-Chernobyl disaster

In 1986, the city of Slavutych was constructed to replace Pripyat. After Chernobyl, this was the second-largest city for accommodating power plant workers and scientists in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

One notable landmark often featured in photographs in the city and visible from aerial-imaging websites is the long-abandoned Ferris wheel located in the Pripyat amusement park, which had been scheduled to have its official opening five days after the disaster, in time for May Day celebrations. The Azure Swimming Pool and Avanhard Stadium are two other popular tourist sites.

On 4 February 2020, former residents of Pripyat gathered in the abandoned city to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pripyat's establishment. This was the first time former residents returned to the city since its abandonment in 1986. The 2020 Chernobyl Exclusion Zone wildfires reached the outskirts of the town, but they did not reach the plant.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the city was occupied by Russian forces during the Battle of Chernobyl after several hours of heavy fighting. On 31 March Russian troops withdrew from the plant and other parts of Kyiv Oblast. On 3 April Ukrainian troops retook control of Pripyat.

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Infrastructure and statistics

The following statistics are from 1 January 1986.

The population was 49,400. The average age was about 26 years old. Total living space was 658,700 m² (7,090,000 sq ft): 13,414 apartments in 160 apartment blocks, 18 halls of residence accommodating up to 7,621 single males or females, and eight halls of residence for married or de facto couples.
Education: 15 kindergartens and elementary schools for 4,980 children, and five secondary schools for 6,786 students.
Healthcare: one hospital could accommodate up to 410 patients, and three clinics.
Trade: 25 stores and malls; 27 cafes, cafeterias, and restaurants collectively could serve up to 5,535 customers simultaneously. Ten warehouses could hold 4,430 tons of goods.
Culture: the Palace of Culture Energetik; a cinema; and a school of arts, with eight different societies.
Sports: 10 gyms, 10 shooting galleries, three indoor swimming-pools, two stadiums.
Recreation: one park, 35 playgrounds, 18,136 trees, 33,000 rose plants, 249,247 shrubs.
Industry: four factories with annual turnover of 477,000,000 rubles. One nuclear power plant with four reactors (plus two more planned).
Transportation: railway, 167 urban buses, plus the nuclear power plant car park with 400 spaces.
Telecommunication: 2,926 local phones managed by the Pripyat Phone Company, plus 1,950 phones owned by Chernobyl power station's administration, Jupiter plant, and Department of Architecture and Urban Development.

Transport

The city was served by Yaniv station on the Chernihiv–Ovruch railway. It was an important passenger hub of the line and was located between the southern suburb of Pripyat and Yaniv. An electric train terminus of Semikhody, built in 1988 and located in front of the nuclear plant, is currently the only operating station near Pripyat connecting it to Slavutych.

Safety

A concern is whether it is safe to visit Pripyat and its surroundings. The Zone of Alienation is considered relatively safe to visit, and several Ukrainian companies offer guided tours around the area. In most places within the city, the level of radiation does not exceed an equivalent dose of 1 μSv (one microsievert) per hour.

Unrelated to the 1986 nuclear disaster, but still very much a safety concern, is the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine; Russian forces briefly occupied the Chernobyl area in 2022, before being forced out again by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Climate

The climate of Pripyat is designated as Dfb (Warm-summer humid continental climate) on the Köppen Climate Classification System.

Notable people

Markiyan Kamysh (born 1988) writer, illegal Chernobyl explorer
Vitali Klitschko (born 1971) politician, mayor of Kyiv and former professional boxer
Wladimir Klitschko (born 1976) former professional boxer
Alexander Sirota (born 1976) photographer, journalist and filmmaker
Lyubov Sirota (born 1956) poet, writer, playwright, journalist and translator

In popular culture

Films

(Alphabetical by title)

The horror film Chernobyl Diaries (2012) was inspired by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and takes place in Pripyat.
The majority of the film Land of Oblivion (2011) was shot on location in Pripyat.
Pripyat is featured in the History Channel documentary Life After People.
The drone manufacturer DJI produced Lost City of Chernobyl (May 2015), a documentary film about the work of photographer and cinematographer Philip Grossman and his five-year project in Pripyat and the Zone of Exclusion.
Filmmaker Danny Cooke used a drone to capture shots of the abandoned amusement park, some residential shots of decaying walls, children's toys, and gas masks, and collected them in a 3-minute short film Postcards From Chernobyl (released in November 2014), while making footage for the CBS News 60 Minutes episode "Chernobyl: The Catastrophe That Never Ended" (early 2014).
With the help of drones, aerial views of Pripyat were shot and later edited to appear as a deserted London in the film The Girl with All the Gifts (2016).
The documentary White Horse (2008) was filmed in Pripyat.

Literature

(Alphabetical by artist)

Markiyan Kamysh's novel, Stalking the Atomic City: Life Among the Decadent and the Depraved of Chornobyl, is about illegal trips to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
The Chernobyl Poems of Lyubov Sirota by the professor of Washington University Paul Brians
Lyubov Sirota’s novel "The Pripyat Syndrome"; Language: English, Publisher: Independently published (18 February 2021), Paperback: 202 pages, ISBN 979-8710522875 – Lyubov Sirota (Author), Birgitta Ingemanson (Editor), Paul Brians (Editor), A. Yukhimenko (Illustrator), Natalia Ryumina (Translator)
Much of the James Rollins' novel The Last Oracle takes place in Pripyat and around Chernobyl. The story revolves around a team of American "Killer Scientist" special agents who must stop a terrorist plot to unleash on the world the radiation of Lake Karachay, during the installation of the new sarcophagus over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The exclusion zone is the setting for Karl Schroeder's science fiction short story "The Dragon of Pripyat".

Music