The zone a post atomic journey

THE ZONE, A POST ATOMIC JOURNEY

There's a brand new trendy activity going on among Ukrainian youngsters: some of them in fact have recently started to illegally enter the Chernobyl Zone of Exclusion - in the centre of which there is the infamous Reactor 4 that exploded in 1986, making the area one of the most contaminated of the whole world - to play survival games. Those guys are mostly in their thirties (or even younger) and represent the latest Chernobyl generation. They are referred to as "Stalkers" a name coming directly from Andrei Tarkovski's film "Stalker", a cult movie dated back in 1979 - and from a survival-horror videogame released in 2007 and set right into the Zone named S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Chernobyl' Stalkers have lately developed a proper veneration for this specific area, which they consider it as a post-atomic private home. They seem to be organized in paramilitary groups with names, symbols and rituals, while enjoying a dangerous trip to reach their final destination: the ghost town of Pripyat. In order to get there they have to walk about 60 kilometers through the woods - mostly by night to avoid the police patroling - between nuclear radiations and wild animals. During their journey they usually sleep in abandoned villages, eat canned food and drink the water they find along the way, dirty and contaminated.

They say they want to experience a different adventure, to test themselves and feel like they are the last survivors on the planet, just as they were in a real videogame; they want to break free from their routines and normal lives, while having fun and being isolated in a limbo with no rules for a while. They are a sort of post-romantic travellers, in love with these places which they consider almost sacred permetaed with a tragic story not to be forgotten.

During the last year, some Stalkers started to organize illegal tours for tourists too, a growing popular activity in Chernobyl. They can be contacted via Facebook or other social media: they will take care of everything on the field, like travel solutions, packed meals, camping gear and everything else they think is necessary to live in the Zone of exclusion off the touristic beaten tracks for some days. It's the new frontier of survival: the radioactive trek.

Distributed by Parallelozero

Jimmy in one of the apartments occupied by stalkers in Pripyat

Maxim on the border of Chernobyl the exclusion zone escaping from the police

Jimmy just entered the exclusion zone and checking if police is patrolling the area

Sasha and Maxim approaching the border of the Chernobyl exclusion zone

Jimmy preparing breakfast in the abandoned village of Rudnya Veresnya, inside the Zone of exclusion. The village is located 20 km after the border of of the Zone, and it’s the first stop of the stalkers on their way to Pripyat.

Sasha preparing for the night in the abandoned village of Rudnya Veresnya. Stalkers usually sleep in the garret, to stay safe from wild animals now abundant in the zone: wolves, boars, bears and mooses – mices and ticks keep them good company, anyway

Sasha and Jimmy preparing lunch in the abandoned village of Rudnya Veresnya.

Jimmy preapring dinner and warming himself, in the abandoned village of Rudnya Veresnya before heading to Pripyat

Maxim preparing a cup of tea to get warmer in the abandoned village of Rudnya Veresnya before heading to Pripyat.

Jimmy in the house of the foresters on their way to Pripyat. Stalkers often use these cabins, used by foresters during the day and empty at night. Here stalkers rest, sleep and leave very early, before foresters come on duty.

Sasha in front of the foresters cabin while preparing his backpack before heading to Pripyat

Sasha walking in the contaminated forest of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, on the way to the ghost town of Pripyat

Sasha, Jimmy and Maxim during a pause of their journey to Pripyat while checking their feet filled with blisters for their long walk.

Jimmy and Sasha collecting water in the flooded basement of a house. Stalkers often drink this kind of water or rivers’, dirty and contaminated.

Jimmy preparing for the night in an old pig-shed. This abandoned building is another stop along the way to Pripyat, 45 km from the border of the Zone of exclusion and 15 from Pripyat

Jimmy lighting fire in an abandoned pig-shed

Maxim resting exhausted in the abandoned pig-shed after a 20 km march in the woods

Jimmy having a break in the abandoned pig-shed before leaving for Pripyat.

Jimmy and Maxim in front of the World War II memorial in the village of Chistogolovka. This village was so contaminated by the fallout of Chernobyl incident that was demolished and buried. The only memory is this statue, once located in the main square

Sasha and Maxim just arrived in Pripyat, drinking water and resting after 20 kilometers of walk at night

Jimmy walking in the ghost town of Pripyat-

Jimmy in the abandoned pool of the ghost town of Pripyat. Stalkers spend their days exploring abandoned buildings, reading old USSR magazines or books they find, hiding and escaping police and living as they were the last survivors of the planet

A sign of radioactive hazard inside Jimmy’s apartment in Pripyat. Stalkers often collect objects they found in Pripyat to decorate their apartments and make jokes about radiations to dispel the problem. On this light switch, Jimmy wrote: radiation on/off

Sasha and Maxim waking up in their apartment in the ghost town of Pripyat.

An old USSR poster hanged on Jimmy’s apartment showing USSR astronaut Valery Bykovsky and his GDR colleague Sigmund Jähn, who went together for the Soyuz 31 mission in 1978

Jimmy checking from the window in his apartment in Pripyat if police is around before leaving

Maxim brushing his teeth in Jimmy’s apartment, looking at the landscape of the ghost town of Pripyat.

Jimmy, Sasha and Maxim while preparing their breakfast in their apartment in the ghost town of Pripyat

Maxim escaping the police in the ghost town of Pripyat

Sasha filling his bottle with dirty, contaminated water to drink in a basement of a building in the ghost town of Pripyat.

One of the buildings where stalkers furnished and set their apartments. Usually they settle on the highest floors, to avoid unwanted encounters with animals like wolves, bears and mooses going around at night

A stalker distributing to the other members of his group the water collected in the flood basement of a building in the ghost town of Pripyat

Hangers and graffiti in one of the apartments occupied by stalkers.

Young stalkers resting in their apartment in the ghost town of Pripyat.

One of the apartments occupied by stalkers.

Maxim reading an old book from the Soviet era. Many stalkers come to Pripyat to read old books and magazines abandoned in apartments and schools

Vadim, of the Sector Zone group, in his apartment in the ghost town of Pripyat.

Jimmy welcoming his friends invited to the party in his apartment in Pripyat.

A gas mask hanged on a wall of an apartment occupied by stalkers in the ghost town of Pripyat.

Vodka party for stalkers in Jimmy’s apartment in Pripyat.

Sasha on the roof of a building in the ghost town of Pripyat

Sasha sleeping on the roof of a building in the ghost town of Pripyat. Chernobyl and the unfamous Reactor 4 are on his right, just three kilometres away

Maxim and other stalkers in a roof of a building in the ghost town of Pripyat

Stalkers on the roof of a building in the ghost town of Pripyat.

Jimmy and another stalker laughing and drinking beer on the roof of a building in the ghost town of Pripyat.

Stalkers having fun during the sunset in a roof of a building of the ghost town of Pripyat

A stalker dancing at sunset on the roof of a building of the ghost town of Pripyat.