Stories from Pripyat, Oblast de Kyiv, Ucrânia

Chernobyl: the night of Reactor Four and the decades that followed

In the early hours of 26 April 1986, a test at Chernobyl’s Reactor Four ended in explosions and a release of radioactive material. This dossier follows the technical sequence, delayed public warning, emergency work, measured health effects and uncertain projections, through to the continuing challenges of confinement.

928 km · Čachtice

Čachtice Castle: Erzsébet Báthory’s case and the blood legend

In present-day Slovakia, a medieval fortress became the place of Countess Erzsébet Báthory’s confinement. This dossier follows her estate management, the 1610-1611 inquiry, the fate of servants, her will and the much later emergence of the blood-bathing story.

1,040 km · Espoo

Lake Bodom: the night, the evidence and the acquittal

Four teenagers camped beside Finland’s Lake Bodom in June 1960. Three were killed and one survived injured. Decades later, shoes, a preserved tent and DNA brought the case back to court; the 2005 trial ended in acquittal. No killer has been identified.

1,467 km · Veneza

Poveglia: the real island behind the horror legend

In the Venetian Lagoon, Poveglia was a community, quarantine station and care facility. A documented outbreak killed 12 sailors in 1793; centuries later, pictures from another lazaret and television turned the island into a supposed mass grave. Maps, archives and today’s struggle for public access reveal a more complex history.