Pripyat (/ˈpriːpjət,ˈprɪp-/ PREE-pyət, PRIP-yət; Russian: Припять, IPA: [ˈprʲipʲɪtʲ] ), also known as Prypiat (Ukrainian: Припʼять, IPA:[ˈprɪpjɐtʲ]), is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1970 as the ninth atomgrad (a type of closed town in the Soviet Union) to serve the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which is located in the adjacent ghost city of Chernobyl.[3] Pripyat was officially proclaimed a city in 1979 and had grown to a population of 49,360[4] by the time it was evacuated on the afternoon of 27 April 1986, one day after the Chernobyl disaster.[5]
Although it was located within the administrative district of Ivankiv Raion (now Vyshhorod Raion since the 2020 raion reform), the abandoned municipality now has the status of city of regional significance within the larger Kyiv Oblast, and is administered directly from the capital of Kyiv. Pripyat is also supervised by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, which manages activities for the entire Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the entire population of Pripyat was moved to the purpose-built city of Slavutych.
Access to Pripyat, unlike cities of military importance, was not restricted before the disaster, as the Soviet Union deemed nuclear power stations safer than other types of power plants. Nuclear power stations were presented as achievements of Soviet engineering, harnessing nuclear power for peaceful projects. The slogan "peaceful atom" (Russian: мирный атом, romanized: mirnyy atom) was popular during those times. The original plan had been to build the plant only 25 km (16 mi) from Kyiv, but the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, among other bodies, expressed concern that would be too close to the city. As a result, the power station and Pripyat[6] were built at their current locations, about 100 km (62 mi) from Kyiv. After the disaster, the city of Pripyat was evacuated in two days.[7]
In 1986, the city of Slavutych was constructed to replace Pripyat. After the city of Chernobyl, this was the second-largest city for accommodating power plant workers and scientists in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
One notable landmark often featured in photographs in the city and visible from aerial-imaging websites is the long-abandoned Ferris wheel located in the Pripyat amusement park, which had been scheduled to have its official opening five days after the disaster, in time for May Day celebrations.[8][9] The Azure Swimming Pool and Avanhard Stadium are two other popular tourist sites.
On 4 February 2020, former residents of Pripyat gathered in the abandoned city to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pripyat's establishment. This was the first time former residents returned to the city since its abandonment in 1986.[10]