The village of Zalissya is the first stop on a tour of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Despite being close to the edge of the exclusion zone, it was the first place in the area to be fully evacuated in May 1986. Located at about 25km from the nuclear power plant, it was once a thriving village with 3,200 people living there. I’ve put together a photo gallery of the abandoned buildings that we explored – the hospital, general store and school. Further away is the Palace of Culture that was used as barracks for soldiers cleaning up the reactor after…