Everybody knows Prypat, the ghost town, but nobody knows about Poliske, the second biggest agglomeration of the Chernobyl’s forbidden zone. This city, built in the 14th century, was strongly contaminated by the radioactive pollutions. However, its evacuation didn’t happen until 6 years after the catastrophe. Just after the explosion of the nuclear power plant, the authorities decided that Poliske will be the first refuge of Prypat ‘s residents. Some of Poliske’s families volunteered to lodge them for a few weeks, but the time passed, and Prypat’s people came to Kiev. Poliske then became the main city in the contaminated zone.
In 1992, the Ukrainian government decided to rehouse all the voluntary people. However, this was after the fall of the Soviet Empire, and the evacuation and moving extended to ten years. It’s really strange to see Poliske today; an abandoned city, where stalkers pillage all they can: metal, windowpanes, and even bricks. Only about ten people live inside this landscape of ruin, all of them refuse to leave Poliske. Poliske once was a paradise, where even the birds loved to be.
This place has the taste of the end of the world, as the citizens like to say. A prison for the last citizens, and a nightmare for the visitors.