Forty years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, officials are grappling with the impact of a 2025 Russian drone strike that set back decades of efforts to contain it. Ukrainian officials said the Russians deliberately targeted the structure, but the Kremlin has denied responsibility.

Ideas have been floated for how the contaminated zone could bring economic benefits to Ukraine. But for the foreseeable future, it will be an army-controlled security belt.

Photographs from the first days of the Chernobyl disaster and of the aftermath years later show the response, the evacuation and the long-term consequences of the world’s worst nuclear accident.