Chornobyl Museum

The National Museum 'Chornobyl' is located at Khoryva Street 1 in the Podil district of Kyiv, Ukraine, in a former fire station building near the Dnipro River. The museum was opened in 1992 to document the 26 April 1986 accident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history, and its consequences for Ukraine, Belarus and the wider world. It was founded as a response to the disaster and its aftermath, with a focus on preserving memory of those who took part in the clean-up, known as liquidators, and those who were evacuated from the exclusion zone.

The building itself has a link to the story: the museum sits in a former fire station, a reminder of the firefighters who responded first and many of whom died from radiation exposure. The permanent exhibition is installed in a dramatic, immersive way, using dark halls, symbolic installations and a large collection of artefacts. Displays include personal belongings from evacuated villages, protective clothing and dosimeters used by liquidators, maps of the contamination zone, documents, photographs and a model of the reactor and sarcophagus. One of the best-known installations is a hanging collection of signs from the names of towns and villages that were abandoned.

The museum's approach is thematic as well as chronological, moving from life before the accident, to the hours of the disaster, the emergency response, the evacuation of Pripyat, the clean-up and the long-term effects. Audio and video materials include testimonies of those involved. Ukrainian historical memory and the Soviet cover-up in the early days are key themes, and the later sections discuss ongoing monitoring, the New Safe Confinement and the effects on health and the environment.

The museum is housed in a historic 19th-century building that has been adapted for exhibition use. It is accessible by metro to Kontraktova Ploshcha, and is often visited together with Podil and Andriyivskyy Descent. Because of its subject, the mood is serious, and the museum is an important stop for those planning or recalling a visit to the Chornobyl exclusion zone.