Some 37 years after the world's worst nuclear accident, Chernobyl has evolved from a disaster zone into a nature reserve that is also home to villagers. Despite access being cut off due to Russia's unprovoked invasion, Kyiv is ensuring that these elderly residents are cared for.
Tending To The Elderly In Ukraine's Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Yevdokia Beznoshchenko, 78, waits in front of her home in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in northern Ukraine on October 18.
The nuclear accident that occurred on April 26, 1986, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, contaminated roughly 150,000 square kilometers of land in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine and forced nearly 200,000 people from their homes.
Ukrainian soldiers cross a river near a destroyed bridge as they deliver food and medicine to civilians who live in the exclusion zone.
Despite the risks of elevated radiation exposure, some elderly people have chosen to return and live out their lives in the zone without electricity and easy access to the outside world.
Despite Kyiv battling the Kremlin's forces in the east, its military is continuing to assist those who live in the zone.
The Russian military took control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on February 24, 2022 after it launched its full-scale invasion. With bridges destroyed, the villagers' access to supplies and medical aid abruptly ended.
Ukrainian soldiiers ferry goods from a boat that will be delivered to the elderly residents.
Though Kyiv's forces took full control of the Chernobyl power plant on April 3, 2022, access to the exclusion zone was suspended for the duration of martial law in Ukraine.
Beznoshchenko is seen inside her home as Ukrainian soldiers arrive to deliver aid and offer assistance.
Though no children are allowed to officially live in the zone due to the elevated radiation levels, there has been one official birth recorded.
Beznoshchenko watches as the soldiers work to repair her home.
According to data from 2013 that the Ukrainian government made public, 200 to 2,000 people are thought to reside in the exclusion zone.
Another elderly pensioner who resides in the exclusion zone is 89-year-old Ivan Troyanok.
However, refugees fleeing the fighting from the 2014 war in the Donbas have also moved to the zone.
Troyanok speaks to a military medic in his home.
No figures on the number of people living in the zone have been released since 2013.