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Chernobyl: Women of the Zona

Galina Konyushok, formerly a liquidator of the Chernobyl nuclear accident is now living alone in her home in Zirka village. To keep herself busy, she occasionally knits making traditional folk patterns and images of Jesus Christ on Ukranian cotton fabric. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010

Galina Konyushok, formerly a liquidator of the Chernobyl nuclear accident is now living alone in her home in Zirka village. To keep herself busy, she occasionally knits making traditional folk patterns and images of Jesus Christ on Ukranian cotton fabric. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010

Friends gathered at Nadejda Tislenko's home in Zirka village. Chernobyl, Ukraine, December 2010 Squash under the bench in Hanna Zavorotnya's house in Kapavati village. Chernobyl. Ukraine. December 2010 Men fishing in the frozen river near the village Stariye Sokoli. Fishing is prohibited in these areas, due to high chances of radioactive contamination. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Matrena Olifer (72 y.o.) lives alone in her house in Gornostaypol village. "Why should I be afraid of radiation? It does not byte!" - she jokes. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Lida's flower. Kapavati village. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Galina Konyushok, formerly a liquidator of the Chernobyl nuclear accident is now living alone in her home in Zirka village. To keep herself busy, she occasionally knits making traditional folk patterns and images of Jesus Christ on Ukranian cotton fabric. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Galina Konyushok, formerly a liquidator of the Chernobyl nuclear accident is now living alone in her home in Zirka village. To keep herself busy, she occasionally knits making traditional folk patterns and images of Jesus Christ on Ukranian cotton fabric. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Galina Konyushok (71) worked as a liquidator during the nuclear accident, she collected and distributed flour for other workers in the zone. She is now living alone in Zirka village. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Corn from the orchard and a wine jar on top of the refrigerator in Nadejda Gorbachenko's house. Guben village. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Abandoned house near the village of Noviye Sokoli. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Maria Harlam (82 y.o.) at home for her 82nd birthday. In April 1986 Maria had a tenant who worked in Pripyats. On the day of the accident he informed everyone in the village about it, but people could not understand what kind of “accident” he was talking about. They mostly understood it as some kind of “car accident”. After a couple of days, he did not return back. He was not released from Pripyats along with some others who worked there on liquidation. Maria stayed in the village after the accident: "My place is here” – she said. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Berries hanging on the walls of Maria Harlam's house in Guben village. 25 years after the accident, wild berries are still considered radioactively contaminated and dangerous for consumption. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Maria Vitosh (86 y.o) at home in Guben village. “My years are my fortune!” - she said. On April 26, 1986 Maria was planting potatoes in the fields when the accident happened. They continued working in the fields even after the word got around. Maria did not want to leave her home: “A pigeon flies close to his nest... Those who left are worse off now… all dying of sadness”. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Abandoned house in Kapavati village. Most residents have left since the nuclear accident of 1986 only 4 or 5 homes remain inhabited in the village. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Lyubov Konyushok (72 y.o.) at home. She and her husband live alone in their house in Zirka village, their children visit infrequently, once or twice a year. They eat of their garden, keep chickens and sell wallnuts that grow in their orchard. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Moonshine bottles in the attic of Galina Konyushok's house. Most men in the villages consume large quantities of moonshine and die early of alcohol related illnesses. Moonshine is the most common type of alcohol drink brewed and consumed in rural homes of Chernobyl as well as other parts of the country. However, locals believe that moonshine kills all infection and protects from radiation sickness. Zirka village. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Nadejda Gorbachenko (80 y.o.) at her cousin's home in Guben village. Nadejda's house is a few meters away from the barbed wire of the exclusion zone. The farm fields where she used to collect potatoes are now behind barbed wire and are no longer in use. She often goes through the hole in the wire into the zone to collect mushrooms and berries for her own consumption. "When I see police, I just hide in the bushes. Nobody will stop me" - she says. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Galina Konyushok butchered a chicken to cook a broth. The food chain has been contaminated with radiation, especially animals that consume local food, such as grain and vegetation from the zone. Zirka village, Chernobyl. Ukraine. December 2010 Funerals in Stariye Sokoli village. Lyubov Koval (84) at the funerals of her son Victor Koval (55 y.o) who died that day of radiation related illness. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Deer horns haning in the shed. Galina Konyushok's house. Her son hunted the deer in the forests of the zone. Deer and other animals consuming local vegetation are often contaminated with radiation. Zirka village. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Hanna Zavorotnya (78 y.o.) survived the great Ukrainian famine during Stalin's blockade of 1932 - 33 as well as Nazi occupation. During Stalin blockade, when Hanna was only 6 months old the people in her home village of Kapavati had resorted to cannibalism to survive in the famine and almost butchered her for food. After the nuclear accident in Chernobyl in 1986, the residents of her village were forced to leave. She however chose to go back and resettle 2 months after the accident. Kapavati village, Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Falcon killed by Hanna Zavorotina (78 y.o) and hung up as a trophy. Wild annimals roaming free in the forests and villages of the exclusion zone are often raiding the farms, killing chickens and destroying orchards. Kapavati village. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Maria Urupa (77 y.o.) on the porch of her house in Parishev village. When the authorities came to evacuate the village after the accident, Maria decided to hide in the basement with her cows. "We did not care about radiation, it was hunger that scared us the most" - she said. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Pig butchered for the New Year holidays in Kapavati village. Chernobyl, Ukraine, December 2010 View over the abandoned city of Prypiats. As a result of the nuclear accident and the subsequent radioactive fallout the entire population of Prypiats had been evacuated and never returned home. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Mozaic window in the abandoned city of Prypiats. As a result of the nuclear accident and the subsequent radioactive fallout the entire population of Prypiats had been evacuated and never returned home. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Birch tree growing on the second floor of a GYM in the abandoned city of Prypiats. As a result of the nuclear accident and the subsequent radioactive fallout the entire population of Prypiats had been evacuated and never returned home. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Cash register in a shop in the abandoned city of Prypiats. As a result of the nuclear accident and the subsequent radioactive fallout the entire population of Prypiats had been evacuated and never returned home. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Wallpaper in an appartment in the abandoned city of Prypiats. As a result of the nuclear accident and the subsequent radioactive fallout the entire population of Prypiats had been evacuated and never returned home. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Doll in a kindergarten in the abandoned city of Prypiats. As a result of the nuclear accident and the subsequent radioactive fallout the entire population of Prypiats had been evacuated and never returned home. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Piano in a classroom of a music school in the abandoned city of Prypiats. As a result of the nuclear accident and the subsequent radioactive fallout the entire population of Prypiats had been evacuated and never returned home. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010 Gas masks scattered on the floor of a school lobby in the abandoned city of Prypiats. As a result of the nuclear accident and the subsequent radioactive fallout the entire population of Prypiats had been evacuated and never returned home. Chernobyl, Ukraine. December 2010