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Chernobyl: 40 Years On

10 images by Magnum photographers documenting the impact of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl

Abandoned housing that was built to service Chernobyl stations. Because of the dangerous levels of radiation, all 50,000 residents were evacuated from the city the day after the disaster. Prypiat, (...)

On April 26, 1986, the nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded, releasing fatal amounts of radiation and causing the worst nuclear disaster in history. 40 years on, we revisit 10 images of the region taken by Magnum photographers since the tragedy.

Childrens Cancer Hospital. 2000. Tamara Davidovich helps to care for her son, Vova, who lost a leg to cancer. A family member must be with each patient during hospital treatment. They have been in (...)

Carried by the wind, the radiation triggered widespread contamination and long-term illnesses. In 1997 and 2000, Paul Fusco met young cancer patients in Belarus and one of the 600,000 people who cleaned up the radiation ash.

Nikolai Yanchen, one of 600,000 liquidators conscripted to fight the fires and clean up the radiation ash and contaminated villages. He lost his right leg to cancer after working as a liquidator fo (...)

Jean Gaumy documented the aftermath of the disaster on multiple trips to the region. In 2008, he photographed the nuclear power plant covered by its emergency protective shell, and a monument erected for the victims.

In front of the nuclear power station. It is still covered by the emergency protective shell that was erected in 1986. The construction of the shell exposed many thousands of workers to extremely h (...)

On the roof of a 17 story high block of flats, the higher one goes up the higher the reading of radioactivity. In the background the nuclear power station of Chernobyl. Artwork on the walls made by (...)

Ravaged town close to the nuclear power station of Chernobyl that was evacuated belatedly after the accident. Pripyat, Ukraine. 2008. © Jean Gaumy / Magnum Photos

Over 100,000 people were evacuated after the disaster, yet some still live in the 30-kilometer Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Antoine d’Agata photographed one of the few remaining residents in 2022.

Chernobyl, Ukraine. 2022. © Antoine d'Agata / Magnum Photos

One of the few remaining Samosely, residents of the 30-kilometer Chernobyl Exclusion Zone surrounding the most heavily contaminated areas near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Ukraine. 2022. © An (...)

In the 1990 and early 2000s, Gueorgui Pinkhassov documented communities suffering from the after effects of radiation exposure in Ukraine and Belarus.

Sasha Danklin, an 8-year-old boy, with his sister and father, was one of 40 children from the contaminated villages near Chernobyl to come down with thyroid cancer. His thyroid gland was removed, b (...)

Meanwhile, whilst in Cuba documenting Fidel Castro’s election victory in February 1993, René Burri discovered the centers in Tahara that cared for children affected by the radiation. After the disaster, the island took in over 20,000 victims.

Where the children who were the victims of the Soviet Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe live. Cuba received 12,724 people of whom 11,000 were children. Fifteen treatment centers have been established o (...)

More on this:

Larry Towel: Chernobyl, Survival in the Exclusion Zone

Paul Fusco: Chernobyl Legacy

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