THESE haunting pictures reveal the reality of life in the Chernobyl exclusion zone three decades on from the disaster.
The 1986 catastrophe led to the mass evacuation over 300,000 people – but some locked their doors and stayed behind.
Canadian photographer Robyn Von Swank visited the surrounding towns as part of a project to find out more about the disaster.
An estimated 300 people refused to leave despite heavy police pressure.
Robyn said: "The people were warm and welcoming and spoke openly about their histories. Some sobbed when speaking of the incident, having been affected so personally."
"Thankfully, the predators have a bounty of prey to eat already, because the zone continues to grow as a biodiverse forest where animals don’t worry about being killed by humans anymore."
Farms in the region reported animals born with grotesque deformities.
There were foals with eight legs, headless calves and piglets with eyes as large as potatoes.
The blame for the world’s worst nuclear disaster and its cack-handed aftermath fell on Soviet incompetence and its cult of secrecy.
The official short-term death toll was just 31. Estimates of those who perished afterwards vary between 4,000 and 93,000.
Ukraine opened Chernobyl to tourists in 2011. Its government said nearly 72,000 visited last year — up from 50,000 in 2017.
Though radiation levels have been passed safe for short periods inside the Exclusion Zone, hot spots still exist.
As long as you stick with your guide, a Chernobyl visit will see you subjected to radiation levels no higher than an intercontinental flight or dental X-rays.
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