Pripyat

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Pripyat
Прип'ять
City and ghost town
Prypiat
Clockwise from top-left:
Interactive map of Pripyat
Pripyat is located in Kyiv Oblast
Pripyat
Pripyat
Pripyat is located in Ukraine
Pripyat
Pripyat
Coordinates: 51°24′17″N 30°03′25″E / 51.40472°N 30.05694°E / 51.40472; 30.05694Category:Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
Country Ukraine
OblastKyiv Oblast
Raion
Founded4 February 1970
City rights1979
Abandoned1986
Named afterPripyat River
Government
 • AdministrationState Agency of Ukraine on the Exclusion Zone Management
Area
 • Total
6.59 km2 (2.54 sq mi)
Elevation
[1]
111 m (364 ft)
Population
 (2026)
 • Total
0
 (c. 49,000 in 1986)
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Postal code
None (formerly 01196)
Area code+380 4499[2]

Pripyat,[a] also known as Prypiat,[b] is an abandoned industrial city in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1970 as the ninth atomgrad ("atom city"), a type of closed city in the Soviet Union that housed nuclear workers. Residents of Pripyat worked at the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, north of the abandoned city of Chernobyl, after which the power plant was named.[3] Pripyat was officially proclaimed a city in 1979 and had ballooned to a population of 49,360[4] by the time it was evacuated on the afternoon of 27 April 1986, one day after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.[5]

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. Following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the entire population of Pripyat was moved to the purpose-built city of Slavutych.

History

Early years

Panoramic view of Pripyat in May 2009
View of the Chernobyl power plant including 2003 radioactive level of 0.763 milliroentgens per hour

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 atomCategory:Articles containing Russian-language text) 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[6] were built at their current locations, about 100 km (62 mi) from Kyiv.[7]

A panorama of Pripyat during summer. The Chernobyl power plant, currently undergoing decommissioning, is visible in the distance, at top center.

Post-Chernobyl disaster

Pripyat amusement park, as seen from the City Center Gymnasium
Aerial view of Pripyat in 2019
The Azure Swimming Pool was still in use by liquidators in 1996, a decade after the Chernobyl incident.
In 2009, over two decades after the Chernobyl incident, the Azure Swimming Pool shows decay after years of disuse.

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.[8][9] 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.[10] The 2020 Chernobyl Exclusion Zone wildfires reached the outskirts of the town, but they did not reach the plant.[11]

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.[12] On 31 March Russian troops withdrew from the plant and other parts of Kyiv Oblast.[13][14] On 3 April Ukrainian troops retook control of Pripyat.[15][16]

Infrastructure and statistics

The following statistics are from 1 January 1986.[17]

  • 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: Yanov railway station, 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.

Safety

The external relative gamma dose for a person in the open near the Chernobyl disaster site. The intermediate lived fission products like Cs-137 contribute nearly all of the gamma dose now after a number of decades have passed, see opposite.
The impact of the different isotopes on the radioactive contamination of the air soon after the accident. Drawn using data from the OECD report and the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual'.
Pripyat 2007

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.[18]

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.[19]

Climate data for Pripyat
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −3
(27)		 −1.4
(29.5)		 3.7
(38.7)		 13.2
(55.8)		 20.3
(68.5)		 23.5
(74.3)		 24.6
(76.3)		 23.9
(75.0)		 18.8
(65.8)		 11.8
(53.2)		 4.3
(39.7)		 −0.1
(31.8)		 11.6
(53.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) −6.1
(21.0)		 −4.7
(23.5)		 0.1
(32.2)		 8.4
(47.1)		 14.8
(58.6)		 18.0
(64.4)		 19.1
(66.4)		 18.4
(65.1)		 13.7
(56.7)		 7.8
(46.0)		 1.8
(35.2)		 −2.6
(27.3)		 7.4
(45.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −9.1
(15.6)		 −9
(16)		 −3.5
(25.7)		 3.7
(38.7)		 9.3
(48.7)		 12.6
(54.7)		 13.7
(56.7)		 12.9
(55.2)		 8.6
(47.5)		 3.8
(38.8)		 −0.7
(30.7)		 −5.1
(22.8)		 3.1
(37.6)
Source: [20]

Films

(Alphabetical by title)

  • The horror film Chernobyl Diaries (2012) was inspired by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and takes place in Pripyat.[21]
  • 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.[22]
  • 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).[23][24]
  • 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).[25]
  • The documentary White Horse (2008) was filmed in Pripyat.[26]

Literature

(Alphabetical by artist)

Music

(Alphabetical by artist)

Television

(Alphabetical by series)

  • The 60 Minutes episode "Chernobyl: The Catastrophe That Never Ended" (early 2014) aired on CBS.[23][32]
  • HBO's drama miniseries Chernobyl (2019) is based on the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. The scenes set in 1986 Pripyat were filmed in Vilnius, Lithuania.
  • in the Chris Tarrant: Extreme Railways Season 5 episode "Extreme Nuclear Railway: A Journey Too Far?" (episode 22), Chris Tarrant visits Chernobyl on his journey through Ukraine.
  • Discovery Science Channel's Mysteries of the Abandoned episode "Chernobyl's Deadly Secrets",[33] produced and hosted by Philip Grossman,[34] was filmed over a four-day period in Pripyat and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, in 2017.
  • The Animal Planet nature investigation series River Monsters conducted an extensive 2013 investigation within Pripyat, the exclusion zone, and the Chernobyl Power Plant in search of a radioactive mutated wels catfish.[35]
  • A Life on Our Planet, a documentary by David Attenborough, depicts natural life in Pripyat.[36]

Video games

Transport

City diagram
  Neighborhood I
  Neighborhood II
  Neighborhood III
  Neighborhood IV
  Neighborhood IVa
  Neighborhood V
  City Center
  Medicare complex
  Public buildings complex
  Public buildings and educational buildings

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.[39]

Notable people

See also

Notes

References

  1. ↑ "Elevation of Pripyat, Scotland Elevation Map, Topography, Contour". Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "City Phone Codes". Archived from the original on 15 August 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  3. ↑ Pripyat: Short Introduction Deprecated link archived 11 July 2012 at archive.todayCategory:Webarchive template archiveis links
  4. ↑ "Chernobyl and Eastern Europe: My Journey to Chernobyl 6". Chernobylee.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Pripyat – City of Ghosts". chernobylwel.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  6. ↑ "History of the Pripyat city creation". chornobyl.in.ua. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  7. ↑ Anastasia. "dirjournal.com". Info Blog. Archived from the original on 17 November 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Hjelmgaard, Kim (17 April 2016). "Pillaged and peeling, radiation-ravaged Pripyat welcomes 'extreme' tourists". USA Today. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  9. ↑ Gais, Hannah; Steinberg, Eugene (26 April 2016). "Chernobyl in Spring". Pacific Standard. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  10. ↑ LEE, PHOTOS BY ASSOCIATED PRESS, EDITED BY AMANDA (4 February 2020). "AP Gallery: Chernobyl town Pripyat celebrates 50th anniversary". Columbia Missourian. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Category:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list
  11. ↑ Roth, Andrew (13 April 2020). "Ukraine: wildfires draw dangerously close to Chernobyl site". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  12. ↑ "Fighting breaks out near Chernobyl, says Ukrainian president". The Independent. 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "Russia Hands Control of Chernobyl Back to Ukraine, Officials Say". Wall Street Journal. 31 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  14. ↑ Ukrainian flag was raised at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant Archived 2 April 2022 at the Wayback MachineCategory:Webarchive template wayback links, Ukrainska Pravda (2 April 2022)
  15. ↑ Kyiv region: Ukrainian military take control of Pripyat and section of border Archived 25 June 2022 at the Wayback MachineCategory:Webarchive template wayback links, Ukrainska Pravda (3 April 2022)
  16. ↑ "Ukrainian forces regain control of Pripyat, the ghost town near the Chernobyl nuclear plant". 3 April 2022. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  17. ↑ Припять в цифрах Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback MachineCategory:Webarchive template wayback links ("Pripyat in Numbers"), a page from Pripyat website
  18. ↑ "Radiation levels". The Chernobyl Gallery. 24 October 2013. Archived from the original on 29 September 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  19. ↑ Mindat.org https://www.mindat.org/loc-271143.html Archived 6 January 2020 at the Wayback MachineCategory:Webarchive template wayback links
  20. ↑ "Prypiat climate". Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  21. ↑ Chernobyl Diaries at IMDb
  22. ↑ DJI (14 August 2015), DJI Stories – The Lost City of Chernobyl, archived from the original on 25 August 2015, retrieved 24 March 2016
  23. 1 2 "Witness a Drone's Eye View of Chernobyl's Urban Decay". The Creators Project. 24 November 2014. Archived from the original on 26 November 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  24. ↑ "من فوق.. كيف يبدو ما بقي من تشيرنوبل بعد 30 عاما من الكارثة النووية؟". CNN Arabic. December 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  25. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (4 August 2016). "The story behind 'The Girl With All The Gifts'". Screen International. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  26. ↑ White Horse at IMDb
  27. ↑ "Stalking the Atomic City by Markiyan Kamysh". Penguin Random House Canada. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  28. ↑ "Exuvia". Record Store Day. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  29. ↑ "DELIA". Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  30. ↑ "Molchat Doma - Volny (Official Lyrics Video) молчат дома - волны". YouTube. 5 September 2020. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  31. ↑ Johns, Matt (19 May 2014). "Pink Floyd release new Marooned video...and TDB20 countdown!". Brain-damage.co.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  32. ↑ "من فوق.. كيف يبدو ما بقي من تشيرنوبل بعد 30 عاما من الكارثة النووية؟". CNN Arabic. December 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  33. ↑ "Philip Grossman - Mysteries of the Abandoned Cast". Science. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  34. ↑ "Philip Ethan Grossman". IMDb. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  35. ↑ "Atomic Assassin". Animal Planet. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  36. ↑ "Our Planet" Forests (TV Episode 2019) ⭐ 9.1 | Documentary. Retrieved 31 May 2025 – via m.imdb.com.
  37. ↑ Burford, GB (23 October 2014). "Why Modern Warfare's 'All Ghillied Up' Is One Of Gaming's Best Levels". Kotaku. Univision Communications. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  38. ↑ Natividad, Sid (29 August 2021). "5 Things We Loved About Chernobylite (& 5 Things We Don't)". gamerant.com. Valnet. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  39. ↑ "Radioactive Railroad". Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
Category:Pripyat#%20 Category:Populated places established in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Category:Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Category:Cities in Kyiv Oblast Category:Ghost towns in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Category:Modern ruins Category:Ghost towns in Ukraine Category:Cities of regional significance in Ukraine Category:1970 establishments in Ukraine Category:Populated places established in 1970 Category:Company towns in Ukraine Category:Socialist planned cities Category:Populated places disestablished in 1986 Category:1986 disestablishments in Ukraine
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