A spate of social media influencers have drawn criticism for posting “disrespectful” photos from inside the Chernobyl radioactive zone.
One user, @nz.nik, posed topless wearing a gas mask, and posed in a hazmat suit exposing her G-string.
The posts have arisen in the wake of HBO’s hugely popular Chernobyl miniseries. Craig Mazin, who wrote the miniseries, posted an acknowledgement of the controversial photos on Twitter, writing “Comport yourselves with respect for all who suffered and sacrificed.”
It’s wonderful that #ChernobylHBO has inspired a wave of tourism to the Zone of Exclusion. But yes, I’ve seen the photos going around.
If you visit, please remember that a terrible tragedy occurred there. Comport yourselves with respect for all who suffered and sacrificed.
— Craig Mazin (@clmazin) June 11, 2019
The Chernobyl site, near Pripyat in northern Ukraine, has been open to dark tourists for many years. Visitors must carry a Geiger counter at all times, a device which detects dangerous levels of radiation. Short stays in the area are deemed safe, though some parts of the site contain radioactive “hot spots” which are still extremely dangerous.
Tourism numbers have boomed since the HBO miniseries went out, with Sergii Ivanchuk of SoloEast Travel revealing that bookings for May 2019 were 30 per cent higher than May of 2018.
Another tour guide in the area told The Sun that “more visitors than ever are flocking to the disaster zone.”
