Ukrainians lay flowers at the memorial for ‘liquidators’ who died during the cleaning up after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster during a ceremony in Slavutich city, Ukraine, early 26 April 2019.
In the early hours of 26 April 1986 the Unit 4 reactor at the Chernobyl power station blew apart. Facing nuclear disaster on unprecedented scale Soviet authorities tried to contain the situation by sending thousands of ill-equipped men into a radioactive maelstrom. The explosion of Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is still regarded the biggest nuclear accident in the history of nuclear power generation.
Since 1994, photographer David McMillan has made 21 trips into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone — and under proper guidance and extreme care has documented the changing landscape as nature slowly reclaims what civilization is left in this nuclear wasteland.
His new book Growth and Decay is the result of these excursions and features some 200 of these haunting and beautiful pictures. Here, McMillan shares with BuzzFeed News a gallery of images from the book and his words on what goes into making a picture in a nuclear fallout zone.
Photo EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO
30th April 2026
Travellers heading to Italy next month are being warned to expect widespread disruption as airport and air‑traffic control staff prepare for coordinated strikes that could halt flights f...
30th April 2026
Morning Briefing
Gozo in focus for Labour on second day of campaign: Day two of the 2026 general election campaign saw the Labour Party focused heavily on Gozo, where Prime Minister R...
30th April 2026
Morning Briefing
Gozo in focus for Labour on second day of campaign: Day two of the 2026 general election campaign saw the Labour Party focused heavily on Gozo, where Prime Minister R...
29th April 2026
Morning Briefing
Labour's first proposals centre on families and first-time buyers Labour has launched its 2026 election campaign with a package of early proposals aimed at first-time...
28th April 2026
The European Parliament has thrown its weight behind demands for a bigger long-term EU budget, approving its position for negotiations on the bloc’s next seven-year financial framework f...
25th April 2026
Disinformation is no longer spreading only through fringe actors or political agitators, but through a digital system that rewards outrage, sensationalism and engagement above accuracy, ...
29th April 2026
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will end duty-free sales on board its flights, marking the close of a long-standing retail practice in commercial aviation as the carrier adjusts to...
29th April 2026
OPEC and its allies will lose some of their power over the oil market when the United Arab Emirates leaves the group on May 1, but the rest of the producer alliance is likely to stick to...
14th April 2026
“A company’s workplace culture praised by management, needs to be taken with caution. But when the recognition comes directly from employees, that carries greater weight,” says JONATHAN ...
14th April 2026
EU lawmakers have approved new rules aimed at strengthening how failing banks are managed, extending protections to a wider range of institutions and depositors across the bloc.
The p...
28th April 2026
Malta Public Transport will be operating extended late-night services on the final night of the Malta International Fireworks Festival, scheduled for Thursday 30th April, ensuring specta...
17th April 2026
Malta Public Transport announces that it will be operating two additional evening trips between Mġarr and Nadur in Gozo on Saturday 18 April 2026 to facilitate passenger travel following...
20th April 2026
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained at a virtual standstill on Monday with just three crossings in the space of 12 hours, according to shipping data.
The oil prod...
14th April 2026
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, say Iran carries out more executions per capita than any other country, and more in total than any nation except China, where reliable fig...
25th February 2026
Thousands of Cuban security personnel have begun leaving Caracas after nearly two decades in Venezuela, as Washington ramps up efforts to dismantle the long standing alliance between the...
9th February 2026
María Corina Machado is a prominent figure in Venezuela’s opposition. She has reported that one of her closest associates, Juan Pablo Guanipa, was abducted. This occurred mere hours afte...
28th April 2026
Ukraine struck Russia’s oil infrastructure in the Black Sea port city of Tuapse for the third time in a month, local authorities said Tuesday.
The city, which declared an environmenta...
21st April 2026
Russian forces have taken 1,700 square km (656 square miles) of territory in Ukraine this year and are advancing on its so-called fortress belt in Donbas, Moscow's top general said whil...