Stalkers of Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Official Documentary)

There has been a nuclear accident in the Soviet Union. And the Soviets have admitted that this happened. The Soviet Union has suffered one of the worst disasters in the history of nuclear energy. One of the atomic reactors at the Chernobyl atomic plant. In the city of Kyiv it was damaged. And soldiers are still trying to control the reactor fire. A considerable amount of radioactivity was dumped into the surrounding area. Apparently massive amounts of radiation have been released. It now seems likely that perhaps the worst accident in the short history of the global nuclear energy industry occurred at some point in the last few days.

The Soviet version is this. According to an

official

statement from the Council of Ministers, help will be provided to the victims of the accident. But the Americans say the casualties were greater. Hundreds of people became ill, 18 seriously. 200 people suffer radiation injuries. And between 20 and 25 people are seriously ill. 50,000 inhabitants A town of around 50,000 inhabitants. 49,000 people have been evacuated and will not be able to return to their homes in the near future. The Soviet nuclear accident in Ukraine generated conflicts today in Chicago. The radioactive cloud affected many countries in Eastern and Western Europe. Some people in Sweden this morning indicate that a huge amount of radioactivity must have come out of the power plant. 18 days before Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made any public statement about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Finally, he said the message from Chernobyl is clear. This is one more toll on the bill and the new and dire warning that in the nuclear age what is needed is new political thinking and new policies. The danger will have diminished rapidly. Once you get out of a radius of a few dozen miles. Radioactivity around the nuclear plant was still high. And he said that there is a dangerous area, which people cannot enter. I think almost everyone has heard of Chernobyl and technically understands what it was. It was the obvious place I wanted to go. It's been one of my goals for years.

Since I was about 10 years old, I had a vision of going to an abandoned city that really appealed to me. I think it appeals to almost any child. And obviously as you get older, you learn more about it and you realize that there are a lot more complications involved and it's not as easy as getting from point a to point b. You actually have to plan for this. You have to have a guide. You have to have all these things online that require it. And you also have to walk almost 50 kilometers to get there. Mounds of different terrain, mounds of different obstacles, it starts to seem like it's getting harder and harder to get to the place.

There are certain parts that are highly radioactive and just a few seconds of exposure could be fatal. Other places have less radiation than your home probably does. As at that time I currently live in Europe. So, it was more of an opportunity to go and experience it because it was a lot closer to me than ever in 2020, we were going to go, we had everything planned, everything thought out, and then COVID hit. , killed everything. He canceled flights, he put restrictions on where you even wanted to walk to the countryside, good luck. It was rebooked three times in 2020, and all were naturally canceled in most cases, the hardest thing for most people when traveling would be just getting into the country and the logistics of it.

Not only did we have problems getting into the country, getting a flight that wasn't canceled to get us into the country, getting equipment and non-essential food stores that simply aren't open during a lockdown period. And that made everything much more difficult to do. Try to put the ankle on it. What are you thinking Matt? I'm thinking that way. What do you think of our current failures? I stay positive. I think it's going to be fine. And I think that would be good. Are you a little depressed from all the walking? A little walking, but it's not a big deal.

You know what I'm talking? I just don't want to do anything else for tomorrow. I have a question for you. You speak Russian? That? If he asks. I don't know how... they're obviously not what the fuck I'm saying. Can you give me change? I only need two twenties and one ten. Is that possible? Yes, of course it is. Last time I was in Pripyat... Um... Life Cell (supplier) was not very good. When was the last time you were there, last year? Yes. Soup, that's how they say it in Spanish. Soup, soup, soup. Morale was pretty high for everyone.

We were actually going to do this and Misha, I'm very grateful to him because he was able to get us all the equipment we needed, including alpine food, which is essential for eating. So, I think on the third day we decided to go to the area. Misha called the stalker's taxi, basically a car. If you pay someone anonymously and he or she takes you to the area, the entrance drops you off and then you start walking. There were three of us in the back and my bag didn't fit, so. It will just float... You can float the mattress away.

We're on a highway right now in the middle of the night. And I just remember looking at my phone and looking at the bars, going from 4, 3, 2, 1 to no service. The driver said 60 seconds. Which means we had to have all our stuff ready to go. Almost exactly 30 seconds. He turns off the lights, stops the car, opens the door and we run towards the forest. Is it stressful, Matt? Well, not right now, but yeah, okay. First impressions. Very ill. Very ill. He expected it otherwise. Intense, all Gucci. Gang, guys. No problem, brother. We follow you. Yeah come on.

We take out our things and get situated, we turn on our red lights. And there was an aspect of paranoia. As if we heard the trees creak and croak in the wind with these tall trees. Because of where you were, it seemed a lot more ominous. So Matt, how do you compare these initial miles to your walks when practicing for Chernobyl? The terrain, when I walk, I walk as if I were in the forest, it is like a paved road, although much harder on the feet. It's much easier, better constant, like the speed to where you want to go at the same distance, that's much less tiring.

Then carry something that weighs between 25 and 30 kilos, at least doing it at night. And also through this terrain, also the unexpected factor, like the environment in which people find themselves. You have a lot of different things and it all boils down to one thing. And I think that's what makes following the stalker route so unique and interesting. The first night was painful. That's all I can describe. It was just that we walked at least 15 kilometers. We had arrived at the area practically at 10:30 at night. And we had to, when the sun rose at five in the morning, cross what was called the ambush bridge.

First we started walking through pine trees, cutting each other. Stinger plants, thorns, it's really unpleasant terrain. And I was walking with Misha, Misha and I were in front and I was starting to feel dizzy because it was dark. You were disoriented. You were exhausted. Once we crossed the bridge, I feel like morale was very high as we accomplished something that was really critical to the trip. But we were so exhausted at that point that we walked about 2,300 meters into the forest and collapsed. We took out our sleeping mats, we took out our sleeping bags. We didn't even eat.

We went straight to bed. I don't think any of us have ever been so tired in our entire lives. I promise you. I like how smart phones have GPS, even though there is no signal, basically we are here and we go there and it's about 15 miles or so, but it seems like we already did it last night. Believe. So we continue, this is where we arrive, this is the checkpoint, we turn right. Ah, yes, because then we followed this path. Misha, why were people going to the area? There is no place in the world where you can experience an abandoned city like Pripyat.

The terrain and the hike are a challenge for you. You can understand how strong (resistance) you are. We walked through many fields. much more forest. And then we intercepted what's called a stalker highway, which is a power line. And we basically followed this power line for at least another 10 or 15 kilometers. Good news Michelle! It's easier to walk... a path. Awesome. So let's follow it for a while. Yes. Impressive. We found the way. So Michelle, what are you looking forward to during this trip? Which I guess is like a big group of abandoned buildings. I can't even imagine it.

It won't be like anything you've experienced at home. Definitely. I'm looking forward to it. Misha, I can't understand (see) who it is. Yes, behind this tree. So right now we are hiding. She had binoculars, she says, she saw them from afar. Yes, Misha. He's going to go talk to them, so we'll relax a little more. Wait for Misha. So what do you think of the first meeting with people, Matt? It is what it is. It's like it's nothing. Um, you have to be, you have to be safe because... Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, let's approach them. Hi guys.

Hello, do you speak English? Yes and you? Where are you guys from? kyiv? Local. So how was your trip here on the way back? Just Duga, not Pripyat? Not Duga, not Pripyat. We were standing there and stopped for about 15 or 20 minutes. We don't know if he didn't leave or not. We just crossed the street and ran here. Few buses. Do you like tourist buses? Yes, like the tour buses, not even many tourists. So is this just a day trip for you guys? This is just a day trip. Yes, just a day trip. Speak English? At that time we were very close to Pripyat.

We could see Duga to our left and our objective was further to our right, which is towards Pripyat. Morale was very high. We are very happy to have gotten there. We were still aware that there were consequences, but I think, unfortunately, we became a little more complacent. And this is what led us to failure. Below! We basically all stopped, right on the side of the road. And we were photographing Duga in the distance and made the most rookie mistake ever. We stayed on the road too long. We heard the reverse gear, we just turned back. When a car like this accelerates very quickly in reverse, approaching us in the field.

And we got up, hurried and began to run towards the forest. We were parallel to a forest that was right next to a road. So they were tiring us in a car. At that moment I realized that the car had already intercepted us. It was too late because we had already run at least probably half a mile with these heavy backpacks. Keep in mind that we had walked almost 40 kilometers between the previous day and today we were absolutely exhausted. Very very very disappointed. We all agreed that it was kind of a group mistake, but you can't help but feel responsible sometimes for not saying something, for not talking.

They told us we had to get a hotel in Chernobyl town and we all looked at each other like it was a Chernobyl hotel. We are in Chernobyl and that has a lower background radiation, 0.14 microsiemens per hour. That's lower background radiation than my room at home. Unfortunately, I lost all my pictures, but I wanted to take out the SD card to hide them. And I put it in a place that I thought was good. But when I checked, it wasn't there. It's in the place where they picked us up. So, that's where we are, guys. I've lost all my pictures, but I'm going to make this happen.

I'm going to make Chernobyl, Pripyat a reality. The guards had to spend the night with us, they felt a little bad. And instead of letting them into the lobby, just sitting there and having to sleep in a chair. We offered them entry to our room, the boys offered them drinks and they all drank with the guards and people started drinking. I think the truth came out more and more as the honest opinion of the guards. So the guards voluntarily told us that, realistically speaking, they feel it's nonsense, why do they have to catch the

stalkers

, why do they have to chase people who only care about the area.

And it's really interesting to see their honest opinions on it or their drunken opinions, I should say. But not everything people do is because they necessarily want to do it. Sometimes it is more so because they are forced to do it. Well, you guys wanted to be in Chernobyl. I promised you Chernobyl. Welcome to Chernobyl, the city of Chernobyl. Wow. What did he say? He said the Stalkers give up when they come back to them and give up, like arresting us, because they don't... (want to leave) Really? If that's true. Like taxi, Uber. There is a theory that someone burned the forest.

So they could remove the trees from the registry for illegal wood. That's a theory. That's just a theory. Ask them: do you think it was the

stalkers

who did it or do you think it was the illegal loggers? These guys are great. These guys are great, I respect that. We drive down the highway we actually walked no more than a night and a half ago. It's crazy to think that in a car you could be out of there in 45 minutes, but it takes you a day and a half to walk. How do you feel now brother?

I feel awesome enough to read rap! You're already forgetting about Pripyat, right? I'm forgetting.Don't ever mention that shit to me again. Pripyat, Pripyat. That shit didn't even happen. Chernobyl, Chernobyl. She just wanted to be there. Do you understand? A door closes a dozen more open. Dad. It's over only if we say it's over, it's not over. It has not finished. So what are we doing? What's the plan? Fuck KFC tomorrow. Surf train. How does that sound? We realized we wanted to do something fun with this trip. We wanted to make it memorable. You don't want this to be a memory and just look back on it as a complete failure. (Informal) Hello!

The airports, back there. How do you feel brother? Happy! Very happy, right? How do you feel, brother? I feel amazing, motherfucker! I feel fucking amazing, man. I would say we needed this. After getting caught, man. And you know what, we'll be back in a few months and we'll be in Pripyat! Hey, brother, I have dust in my eyes. I can't see anything but it's okay, I have big giggles. Excellent! It's essential! Three for the price of two. Left foot, there you have it. We go into the forest. For our friendship... for our next exploration, it will definitely be.

What is considered good for you and the opportunity to have a mutual exploration with you and thank you for everything. I apreciate it. Health. I love you guys. Well. Bye bye. See you. Yes, see you. Well, good night, friend. And then it will be just the three of us. When the date finally came to return to our home countries, I knew in my mind, obviously I was going to go back and do it, but now the uncertainty is even greater. When you go back and do something you already failed at, things are much worse the first time.

It was constantly on my mind to just be in Chernobyl. It was just in my subconscious. I realized. That we have to make this happen. It's like putting a cookie and a dog's face on it and just when it's about to bite it, you rip it off and never give it to it. Just as we were planning the new trip to try to do this again, we ran into a new law they were trying to implement in the area due to the wildfires. The previous year there was much controversy over who started the fire. They were trying to use that as an example, in trying to pass this legislation, which basically criminalizes invasion of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

This affects everyone. I remember Misha, we were sending each other audio messages and we were talking about this and I only remember one audio message. He sounded incredibly depressed and sad. As if his entire world had just been crushed right beneath him. It really means everything to him, to the guides and to the people who go to Chernobyl. To do that, you have to really care about the area and say that these are the people who are causing safety problems within the area and who are starting fires. Personally I think it's absurd. I really, really, really hope that after this everything stabilizes because, for me, the area is more than just a visit.

For me it's what I do every year with the area and it's part of my life, I won't be able to live without the fucking area. So I'll be honest, this shit is for everyone. I remember sleeping there and the next morning. I told everyone to book our tickets. This is the last chance we may have; If that legislation passes in the fall, the time will have come to do so. And three days later I received a text message from Misha. He stepped on a nail. Know? My first thought was I hope he's okay. But immediately after that it was, wow!

That's it, we're screwed. We can not do it. This is life. This is what life can do. And whether you like it or not, I can sit here and cry about it, or we can do something to change this and make this a success or at least a try. And that's really what I was aiming for at least in one attempt. Realistically, we were about to do something most people would never dare try. Go to the Chernobyl

exclusion

zone

without any previous successful experience on your own and without a guide. And that's exactly what we did.

Hey! What's up man? How are you? Nice to meet you, man. How are you man? Nothing. We were discussing the area. This is Oleg. Nice to meet you, friend. Do you want to go up to a roof? Yeah come on. Look, if it were anywhere else, I would question it, but I'm not going to question it. I think they just didn't take the keys. Hello Siemprivet (Hello everyone). Not so high. Smile for the camera. He said you could have asked for the key. Oh really? I love Ukraine, man. Well. So, to simplify it, the guy was telling us, if they wanted to go to the roof, they could have asked for the key and he would have given it to us.

He went to the checkpoint. (Pripyat) That's what you see at the Chernobyl checkpoint. He was caught. Then they took him away and he was able to see the monitor. Not a bad way to end the day. I'm hungry. Tomorrow will be the day to prepare and plan and then hopefully get into the

zone

in the evening for round two. This is going to be interesting guys, this is going to be really interesting. There are a lot of circumstances (without guidance) that are up in the air right now. And I just, I don't know. I hope it plays out differently, but we'll see whichever way we're here and we'll give it a try.

Even if we had to go alone, that's the bottom line. If we don't try, we will fail 100%, that's how I see it. So let's enjoy the view for now. Then we do it again. We take a taxi, we arrive at a different delivery point, where we have to cross the river, which does not connect at all with the Pripyat river, which connects to the reactor. So it's a completely separate river. I appreciate it, man. Thank you. See you soon. Well. Here. Mosquitoes are horrible. They are fucking huge. Almost to the river. Yes. I'd say stick with it.

Are you OK? Oh, wow. This is something else in summer. We almost arrive. We almost arrive. Well. Guys, that was at least a kilometer of that, temperatures like 30°C. That's like 90 degrees Fahrenheit. That was horrible. Let's go to the river. That's all I'm thinking about right now. Oh boy. Yes. Here it is guys. I've heard some advice about possible ambushes. We must be very careful. Parallel for a moment. And then we can cross. It's like I'm on the beach. It's time to get naked. Well. Chernobyl blyat. Well. I can't... that's as far as I can go.

I will support your back. Thank you. Let me help Michelle. Are you OK? Yeah, I think my phone got wet. Then it could be broken. Ready. 1, 2, 3. Got it. Good. Well. Very good guys. So we began the long march again. We're crossing this kind of semi-open field, but there, it's a little difficult to see what bushes are in the path, but there is like a collapsed building or this collapsed building. I'm not really sure what it is. We don't want to get too close to that. We don't know anything about it. So let's see how far we can go overnight.

But I'll tell you one thing. That bath felt good. What do you think? Yeah, that's pretty good. He's like, no camera. Where, where, where did you get that apple from? Dude, I wish I had recorded him just pulling... Waiting in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone? He literally just ripped it off the tree. But Chernobyl. Pretty normal, I mean, my house is 0.18, so it's pretty good. It's actually below what my house is right now, the radiation. I would protest against eating anything in this

exclusion

zone, but at the end of the day it's your funeral. And there we go.

Do you have life insurance? Do you want some pepper? And he stopped for more berries, guys. Oh boy! They smell very good. And if I were anywhere else in the world, and I mean literally anywhere else in the world, I would eat - I offered it to him in Switzerland - because I couldn't tell what they were. They are clearly raspberries. You were eating it like it was a strange bush that had a red bulb at the end. One of those poisonous berries. Is it a right? The road then branches off again to the northeast, if that makes sense.

And then it intercepts the power line. So now we are on the road. It's probably about two miles to the power line. So all the sand was used here because at the beginning of 2020, many of you probably know that unfortunately there was a wildfire recently, what they have done to prevent the spread of wildfires. If there was another outbreak, it's because they added sand. If there was fire coming out of that end, you don't let it go to that end or you try to reduce the amount that will. But the sun starts to set a mile and a half from the power lines, checkmate.

And I both agree that the best thing to do is try to cross the street at night. The only thing is that we are very tired, so let's see how far it is and if we feel like we can go. Wow, it's huge. In fact, you can hear the electricity flowing through it. As you can see. I'm exhausted just like everyone else here. Checkmate there, Michelle, there, we've reached the power lines. We cross the street. Are we about a kilometer down the road? Exactly. Yes. Yes. I would say about a kilometer and basically right now we are sleeping in a bush and going to eat something.

Set up camp and then get a great night's sleep or at least try to, so let's get it set up. E=DA, I also added salt and pepper, some meat with raisins and barberry... I'm just eating some food right now. Is very good. Yes, try to get enough sleep. I think you didn't put enough water in one. Mine came out like mashed potatoes. Mine is like mashed potatoes too. Chili. Let's get some sleep. Say goodnight. How much does it cost? 0.52 and rising. 0.6, let me change the threshold. What is the dangerous level like? Thousands. Alright? Keep moving towards it in the distance.

It's a little hard to see, but you can see what looks like a dome. And that is the cooling tower for reactor five, which was the new reactor that was being built during the disaster. But once it happened, it was obviously abandoned. We have realized that we are not going to go through the red forest because we do not want the radiation to increase further. But what we're going to do is something similar, but we're going to walk along the side of one of the non-active roads and listen for any cars. If it comes, we have a duck, but obviously we don't want to risk the radiation.

So that's what we're going to have to do. And a little bit, keep walking to the place. As soon as we hit concrete, we went down to 2.6 (uSv) Nice. And this is the road we have to turn left on, but I don't like the way it looks. I don't like the way it looks. Even more so compared to the one we just left. Well. The reason we ran is because we were in the last hundred meters to the curve in the road we were on, which was very rough. He had this really strange turn, he couldn't see around him.

Then the wind was picking up. So you won't be able to hear it either. So we just want it to work, to get it out of that way. We're off that main road. Guy. We are about a kilometer from Pripyat and right now we are in the middle of the forest, just resting because we had to walk very fast. Oh man, we're exhausted. Tell Michelle we have to be quick to cross the fence. Cut the forest, cut the forest. Go (towards) this building. Come on, we have to keep moving. I don't know if they were wild dogs or guard dogs, either way they were running after us.

Push and push through it. I know it sucks... in Watch your steps, don't trip. Let's just listen. (For dogs) There are other Stalkers in this building. Look at that floor (apartment) We were successful. And when we all went up on that roof and could see the reactor and saw the whole city, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off your chest. That's all I can say. I was so happy. I can't even find words to describe how amazing this place is. Amazing how nature can recover something in 35 years. And I mean, it's perfect. The sunset, the weather, the birds.

Moon. It's amazing that we are actually standing in a city. It was once a city that was home to almost 70,000 people. At one point, it is very quiet when there is no electricity, there are no people, there are no cars. These people said they would return in a few weeks and would never return to this place again. That's reactor four, that dome. That's the sarcophagus on top. That's Duga over there. That's where they caught us. I know this is so stupid to some, it's an abandonment. city, but for me, this is an achievement that I have been planning for years.

I've wanted to do this for over a decade, you know, I'm in my twenties. So I'm not that old. What an incredible journey this has been so far. And I am very, very happy. I can bring you and show you, I can share this with you. 0.24 So it may not be as radioactive as they think. All the odds were against us. I can't really emphasize that and we still managed to do it. And that is a very rewarding feeling. Your goal will not always be achieved on the first try. You have to keep trying. You have to!

Failures are only final if you don't keep trying, you can't give up if you want something. If you give up, you fail. If you try, there is always a chance. If we had listened to our fear of failure, being a complete waste of time, this entire

documentary

wouldn't even have been possible because it wouldn't have had a story to tell.tell them. And he would still have me sit here and be empty. We never did that. We never tried. Wow. Do you know he's actually taller than I thought? I think I see my route up. Wow.

Get to the top. Those are the cranes. Swimming... That's amazing, man. Even if your goal is not Pripyat or the area. In life, if you want something, you have to go out and get it! Make what you want to happen come true! Life is too short to wait.