Self-settlers of the Zone. People, who are stronger than radiation

These people do not like, when they are called "self settlers", they logically object: "we did not come to the place, where somebody else lives, we are here on our own land".

In May 1986, armed soldiers appeared in more than a hundred Polissya villages. They gave people only a few hours to gather the essentials and leave their homes for a few months, but in fact forever… It was a shock, especially for the elderly people, because the last time they saw armed soldiers was during World War II. So the whole unique culture was moved from its ancient lands. Some of those evicted decided to return to their homes, built with their own hands, or in which their families lived for many generations. Others, as they did long ago during the war, took their pets and went with them deep into the woods until the danger passed. This was the beginning of self-settlers history.

Every year we can meet less and less of them, and it's not about radiation, but time – it's just impossible to stop it; most of the self-settlers nowadays are deep in their 80th or even 90th! We consider it our duty to tell the world about these unique people. That's why we visit self-settled people during our multi-day or private tours.

This is a very touching and emotional part of the tour. We are always cordially welcomed with traditional Ukrainian hospitality and sincere treats. They are always happy that “the whole world comes to their houses”. This is a truly unique experience, as hearing stories from live participants of events is not the same as reading about them somewhere in a history textbook or on the internet.