Pripyat was founded in 1970 to house workers for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979 but was abandoned in 1986 following the Chernobyl disaster. Currently Pripyat is being supervised by the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine as part of the Zone of Alienation jurisdiction.

The city was named after the river it was founded by.

This old picture shows the road from the bridge to the city.

This is what it looks like now.

“Lenin’s Party is the power of the nation! It is meant to lead to country to triumph of Communism!”

The city has become overgrown with trees and it is difficult to see the houses now.

An elite residential house on Kurchatov Street.

Now it doesn’t look like it’s elite at all.

A telephone booth.

You can still find it here!

This 16-storeyed condominium was one of the tallest buildings in Pripyat.

Today, they don’t let people in because it may collapse any minute.

Downtown Pripyat with its administrative buildings, hotels and stores.

A hotel.

Kurchatov Street.

It’s hardly recognizable today.

Whose traces are these?

You can see a lot of dog roses growing in the city.

“Dead kids don’t cry…”

So, here’s the hotel.

Its lobby.

Its elevators are out of order.

Let’s take the staircase.

Its roof is leaking…

Its terrace opens a magnificent view of the city!

In 1972, they would complete and rent out one apartment complex a month! It was amazing. The city was growing, developing and changing so fast!

In seven years, they opened six kindergartens for 2,100 children, schools for 2,348 pupils, a hospital and a clinic!

In 11 years, they rent out 337, 318 m2 of rentable area, 12 stores, a restaurant, recreation center, hotel, pool, sports complex, college, music school with a concert hall, movie theater, laundry, sauna, communications center and other important city facilities.

Each year, the city’s population would increase by 1,500 people with 500 to 600 people having moved to Pripyat from other regions of the Soviet Union.

You can see the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant from here.

The city’s central square.