Pripyat and the exclusion zone

Its almost a fortnight since my visit to Chernobyl, Pripyat & the exclusion zone in Ukraine and i've started to go through the pictures. This is a small selection of images i took there and really show the devastation left by looters over the years. 

All the pictures i post are done out of respect for the victims of the Chernobyl disaster. The people's stories extend far beyond a TV series and if these pictures can make you stop and think, even just for a second, then it will have been worth it. 

I'll let the images talk for me.............

Pripyat harbour looking towards the abandoned apartment blocks

Avanhard football stadium, home of FC Stroitel Pripyat. This shot was taken from what would have been the pitch, close to the half way line.

This is Cafe Pripyat, on the banks of the river. With its beautiful stained glass windows it was known by the locals as "the dish". Amazingly, much of its stained glass remains. In its day it was a very popular meeting place. River boats docked at the pier just a few steps away.

Medicine bottles left in the town's main hospital.

Childrens cots lying abandoned in one of the town's kindergartens. The babies who were in this room will be almost 40 now, if they were lucky enough to survive. 

This shot is of the tour group inside Pripyat's Music Hall. The wooden stage is outside of shot, to the left, with its solitary decaying piano 

This chilling doll was found in one of the town's kindergartens.

The Polissya hotel is one of the tallest buildings in the abandoned city of Pripyat. It was built in the mid-1970s to house delegations and guests visiting the Chernobyl Power Plant.

The infamous ferris wheel at the Pripyat amusement park. It was to be opened for the first time on 1 May 1986, in time for the May Day celebrations,but these plans were cancelled on 26 April, when the Chernobyl disaster occurred a few kilometers away. Several sources report that the park was opened for a short time on 27 April before the announcement to evacuate the city was made.