CHERNOBYL DISASTER 25TH ANNIVERSARY

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant sits crippled two to three days after the explosion in Chernobyl, Ukraine in April, 1986. In front of the chimney is the destroyed 4th reactor.

On April 26, 1986, reactor number four at the Chernobyl nuclear power facility in what is now Ukraine exploded. The largest civil nuclear disaster in history led to mass evacuations, and long-term health, agricultural, and economic distress. The nearby city of Pripyat has been abandoned, and a 19-mile radius "exclusion zone" established where radiation contamination makes continued habitation dangerous. Collected here are archival pictures of the catastrophe, as well as more recent images of the area. In addition, two photographers who've made extensive studies of the aftermath have been gracious enough to share their work with us here. Diana Markosian documented the lives of pensioners Lida and Mikhail Masanovitz, who continue to live in the abandoned ghost town of Redkovka, Ukraine. Her work is found here in photographs 13 through 16. Michael Forster Rothbart has produced one of the most extensive records available of life near Chernobyl. His work is found here in photographs 23 through 29. Links to the websites of both photographers can be found below.


A helicopter sprays a decontaminate over the region surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power station on June 13, 1986.

An engineer working at the Chernobyl plant is checked by doctors of the sanatorium of Lesnaya Polyana on May 15, 1986, a few days after the No. 4 reactor's blast.

Lida Masanovitz stands beside her husband, MIkhail Masanovitz, 73, as she speaks to her daughter on the phone. After the Chernobyl accident on April 26, 1986, Masanovitz's daughter was hospitalized and treated for thyroid issues. An estimated 7 million people in the former Soviet republics of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine suffered from radiation-linked ailments, including thyroid and circulation problems after the accident.

A hunter chases a fox just outside the 19-mile exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor near the village of Novosiolki, Belarus on January 11, 2009. Despite radiation levels, wildlife in and around the exclusion zone has been teeming since people left the area after the 1986 nuclear disaster. Wolves, foxes and racoon dogs can be hunted all year around.

A cancer patient leans against the window of a special treatment chamber in a hospital in Donetsk, Ukraine on April 25, 2006.

Olya Podoprigora, 13, and 18-month-old Parvana Sulemanova, recover in the ICU one day after open-heart surgeries in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Both girls had congenital heart defects, and every year, 6,000 children in Ukraine are born with genetic heart disease. Radiation is suspected as the cause, but is not proven.

Graffiti adorns a wall April 4 in the ghost city of Pripyat near the fourth nuclear reactor (background) at the former Chernobyl Nuclear power plant, site of the world's worst nuclear disaster.


People hold a rally to protest against a Ukrainian initiative to cut social benefits for "liquidators", emergency workers who fought the blaze at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, near the government's headquarters in Kiev on March 16.

A Ferris wheel sits abandoned in the deserted town of Pripyat, less than two miles from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.


Beds sit in disarray in a kindergarten in the ghost city of Pripyat on April 4.

A man visits his ruined house in the 19-mile exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the abandoned village of Lomysh, Belarus on March 18.

Seventy-two year old Natalia Makeenko (left) hugs eighty-two year old Galina Shcyuka in the abandoned village of Savichi on April 21, close to the 19-mile exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor.

In Slavutych, Ukraine, a memorial hall in the city museum is dedicated to the Chernobyl accident, with photographs of the men and women who died immediately following the explosion. Former Chernobyl plant worker Sergii Kasyanchuk manages the Chernobyl Information Center museum now that his health no longer allows him to enter the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. More than half the families in Slavutych have a member who still works at the plant, and everyone knows colleagues who became ill or died due to the Chernobyl accident.

A gas mask and children's toys gather dust in a kindergarten in the ghost city of Pripyat on April 4

A geiger counter shows a reading of the radiation levels in the air by the 4th power block of Chernobyl's nuclear power plant, covered with a "sarcophagus" as it lies derelict on March 31.

Vehicles contaminated by radioactivity lay dormant on November 10, 2000 near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Some 1,350 Soviet military helicopters, buses, bulldozers, tankers, transporters, fire engines and ambulances were used while fighting the nuclear accident. All were irradiated during the clean-up operation.

Employees of the Polessky State Radiation Ecological Reserve wear facemasks on April 20 as they plant trees on contaminated land near the abandoned village of Bogushi, Belarus, inside the 19-mile exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, to form a natural windbreak to stop radioactive particles from blowing away. One-fifth of the country's agricultural land was contaminated following the blast at the nuclear reactor and around 70% of the fallout fell in Belarus.

Schoolchildren wear gas masks during nuclear safety training lessons in Rudo, Ukraine near an isolated zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant April 3, 2006.

Teenage dancers wait backstage for their turn to perform during a Slavutych, Ukraine city concert. Slavutych is the new city built after the accident to house evacuated Chernobyl personnel. The Chernobyl plant once funded many programs in the city. Now the city struggles with decreased resources due to layoffs at the Chernobyl plant.

PHOTOJOURNALIST CHRIS HONDROS : AT WORK IN MISURATA,LIBYA

A rebel fighter moves through a hole punched in a wall near the front line fighting on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata, Libya. Tripoli Street once was Misurata's posh main avenue for shops and expensive apartments. Now weeks of house-to-house battles between forces loyal to Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi and rebels have left it in ruins. Fighting continues between Libyan government forces that have surrounded the city and anti-government rebels ensconced there, as the Libyan uprising enters its third month. April 18, 2011.

Getty Images Photographer Chris Hondros, 41, was mortally wounded Wednesday in Misurata, Libya, not long after filing intimate, striking images of the fighting between rebel and government forces. Tim Hetherington, the director and producer of the documentary "Restrepo," was killed in the same attack. While Hetherington's photos were not available to us, we honor both his and Hondros' intense commitment to creating inspiring, touching, storytelling images with this post. The images that follow were made by Hondros in Misurata, Libya, the last three days of his life. Hondros and Hetherington will be missed by colleagues and millions worldwide who have been impacted through simply seeing their work

A rebel fighter stands near the front lines on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata. Fighting continues between Libyan government forces and anti-government rebels ensconced there, as the Libyan uprising enters its third month. April 18, 2011.

A rebel fighter ducks from incoming fire at the front lines on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata. April 18, 2011.

A libyan rebel fighter runs up a burning stairwell during an effort to dislodge some ensconced government loyalist troops. April 20, 2011.

A rebel fighter stands in the destroyed lobby of a office building on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata. April 18, 2011.

A rebel fighter stands near the front lines on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata. April 18, 2011

The front line between Libyan government forces (L) and rebel insurgents (foreground) is seen on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata. April 18, 2011.

A rebel fighter fires at troops loyal to Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi at the front lines on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata. April 18, 2011.

A rebel fighter wounded by shrapnel in the leg is brought to the hospital in the besieged city Misurata, Libya. Thousands of civilians are trapped in Misurata as fighting continues between Libyan government forces that have surrounded the city and anti-government rebels there, as the Libyan uprising enters its third month. April 18, 2011.

A Libyan government fighter captured by rebels has his bound hands freed by doctors before he is treated in the hospital in Misurata. April 18, 2011.

A man tends to his brother's wounds after he was wounded driving his car the day before during fighting in the besieged city. April 18, 2011.

A doctor stands by a Libyan woman who suffered shattered bones and serious abdominal injuries from an explosive shell landing on her home during fighting in the besieged city of Misurata. April 19, 2011.

Doctors work on a baby who suffered cuts from shrapnel that blasted through the window of his home earlier in the morning during fighting in Misurata. April 18, 2011.

Foreign workers from Nigeria, Ghana, and other African countries pile in the back of a truck with their belongings trying to leave as the sun sets on the port in Misurata, Libya. Thousands of foreign workers and Libyans alike are trying to leave war-torn Misurata, as fighting continued between Libyan government forces and anti-government rebels. April 18, 2011

A rebel fighter signals to his comrades across Tripoli Street during street battles with Libyan government forces in downtown Misurata. April 18, 2011.

A rebel fighter points in the direction of a Libyan army sniper near Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata. April 18, 2011.

Rebel fighters fire at government loyalist troops during street fighting on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata. Rebel forces assaulted the downtown positions of troops loyal to Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi, briefly forcing them back over a key bridge and trapping several in a building that rebel troops then surrounded. April 20, 2011.

Rebel fighters carefully move into a building where they had trapped government loyalist troops during street fighting on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata. April 20, 2011.

Rebel fighters move up a stairway where they had trapped government loyalist troops during street fighting. Rebel forces assaulted the downtown positions of troops loyal to Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi, briefly forcing them back over a key bridge. April 20, 2011.

A Libyan rebel fighter quickly rounds a corner and fires on trapped government loyalist troops a few meters away during house-to-house fighting on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata. April 20, 2011

A Libyan rebel fighter rolls a burning tire into a room containing ensconced government loyalist troops who were firing on them during house-to-house fighting on Tripoli Street. April 20, 2011

A Libyan rebel fighter covers a burning room containing government loyalist troops who were firing on them during house-to-house fighting. April 20, 2011.

A Libyan rebel fighter celebrates as comrades fire on government loyalist troops who refused to surrender in a surrounded building (background) during house-to-house fighting on Tripoli Street. April 20, 2011.Libyan rebel forces fire a heavy rocket propelled grenade at a building holding government loyalist troops during street fighting on Tripoli Street. April 20, 2011.

Libyan rebel forces fire a heavy rocket propelled grenade at a building holding government loyalist troops during street fighting on Tripoli Street. April 20, 2011

YEMEN : MONTHS UNREST AND TURMOIL

A woman with her message written on her sunglasses takes part in a demonstration to demand the ouster of Yemen's president in the southern city of Taiz, April 14, 2011. Yemen's opposition set a two-week deadline for Saleh to step down.

Yemen is a poor, deeply divided country in turmoil since January 2011, when mass demonstrations called for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign. Saleh has been in power since 1978. Demonstrations have continued for months and Saleh's support has crumbled as some army commanders and tribal leaders have called for his ouster. On April 7, an organization of oil-rich Persian Gulf states joined the increasing number of international voices calling for a transfer of presidential powers. Protests and deadly clashes continue daily with security forces and rival military factions allied with the government and the rebels. More than 100 protestors have died since the turmoil began.

Anti-government protestors march during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Taiz, Yemen. Saleh has welcomed mediation efforts by the regional bloc of oil-rich Arab nations even as he rejected their calls for him to step down, in a blow to regional efforts to resolve the weeks of turmoil that have been wracking this impoverished Arab nation. April 12, 2011.

Yemeni soldiers chew qat, a local light narcotic plant, during a break while anti-regime protesters demonstrate in Sanaa against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, April 11, 2011.

A girl expresses her love for her home country of Yemen during a demonstration in Taiz, April 14, 2011.


Yemeni army soldiers block the way of anti-government protestors attending a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Taiz, Yemen. Yemen's president had welcomed a proposal by Gulf Arab nations for him to step down to end the country's political crisis. But he indicated he would do so only when his term ended in 2013, a condition already rejected by the protesters calling for his immediate exit. April 12, 2011.

Anti-government protesters perform noon prayers during a rally demanding the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern city of Taiz. Yemen opposition parties urged Gulf mediators to spell out whether Saleh would hand over power early under their proposal to end a two-month crisis over leadership and political reforms. April 12, 2011

Anti-government protesters recite prayers to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern city of Taiz. April 12, 2011

Thousands of people demonstrate in Yemen's Ibb province, 190 km southwest of the capital Sanaa, April 12, 2011, as Yemen anti-regime protest movement rejected for the second day running, a proposal from mediating Gulf states that embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh should pass power to his deputy, an offer welcomed by the mainstream opposition.

Women attend a demonstration to demand the ouster of Yemen's president in the southern city of Taiz, April 12, 2011. Yemen opposition parties asked Gulf Arab mediators to spell out whether Saleh would hand over power early under their proposal to end the country's two-month-old crisis.

Anti-government protestors chant slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni president, in Taiz, Yemen, Wednesday, April 13, 2011.

Yemeni girls display their hands during a demonstration in Taiz, Yemen, April 14, 2011. Arabic reads: " Leave".

An anti-government protester salutes during a demonstration at Sanaa University April 14, 2011.

Resisting months of calls for his resignation, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh greeted hundreds of his supporters in an appearance during a rally in Sanaa,Yemen. April 15, 2011.