Abandoned village Klyvyny, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Most abandoned villages in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone have no high-rises, no factories, and no famous legends. What they have is something quieter and heavier — empty houses that the forest is slowly pulling back into the ground. Klyvyny is exactly that kind of village.

There are no crowds here, no recognisable shots from postcards. There's only Polissia, which over nearly four decades has reclaimed almost everything people once took from it.

Quick facts

What it is and why visit

Klyvyny is one of the small villages resettled after the 1986 Chornobyl disaster. It's not a "headline" site like Pripyat or the Duga radar — it's a quiet hollow where what's left of village life are houses, homesteads, and the remains of vegetable gardens long since merged with the forest.

People come here for the real, unpolished face of the zone. If Pripyat is about an urban catastrophe, Klyvyny is about rural Polissia, which vanished along with dozens of similar villages. It's a place for those who want to feel the scale of the tragedy not through high-rises, but through the empty houses of ordinary people.

History

Before 1986, Klyvyny lived an ordinary Polissia life: a small community, homesteads, vegetable gardens, forests and rivers all around. Polissia had always been a region where people and nature lived side by side — but the Chornobyl disaster broke that balance for good.

After the accident, the village fell within the radioactively contaminated zone, residents were resettled, and Klyvyny — like hundreds of other settlements — was officially abandoned. Ukraine's Chornobyl Exclusion Zone covers roughly 2,598 km² (1,003 sq mi), and dozens of small villages like Klyvyny are scattered across it, dissolved into the landscape.

Klyvyny is one of those villages whose history fits into a single paragraph of a textbook — but for its residents, it was an entire world that vanished within days.

After decades without people, the village has gone almost completely feral: roofs are caving in, walls are sinking, and trees and shrubs are growing through what used to be yards. Today, Klyvyny is more of a trace of a village than a village itself.

Local lore and atmosphere

The zone has wrapped Polissia's villages in a shared mystique — and Klyvyny is no exception.

1. The samosely no one has seen

Many small villages in the zone have stories about "samosely" — self-settlers who illegally returned to live out their lives in their own homes. In some cases they're real, in others it's just rumour, but either way, they give villages like this the feeling that the forest isn't entirely empty.

2. Orchards that outlived their owners

In abandoned Polissia villages, old apple and cherry trees planted by people long gone still bear fruit. In spring, these feral orchards bloom as if someone were still tending them — the quietest and saddest "legend" of the zone.

What to see on site

Remains of homesteads. Abandoned houses with the typical Polissia layout, gradually disappearing under the trees.

Feral orchards and gardens. Old fruit trees and bushes — almost the only thing here still doing what it was planted for.

Nature reclaiming the village. The strongest impression Klyvyny leaves isn't any single building, but the process itself — the forest winning back the traces people left behind.

How to get there

Important. Klyvyny lies within the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Independent entry is prohibited, and since 2022 access to the zone has been restricted for safety reasons (military activity, mine risk). Check the current visiting status before planning a trip.

On an organised tour. The route runs from Kyiv through the Dytyatky checkpoint with a licensed guide. Small villages like Klyvyny are included in specialised "deep zone" itineraries rather than standard one-day tours.

Guide required. The roads to such villages are overgrown and hard to find, so without a guide who knows the safe routes and radiation levels, getting here simply isn't possible.

Traveller's checklist

• Zone access permit — without it, entry isn't possible.
• Dosimeter — pockets of higher radiation can occur in soil and old timber.
• Insect repellent — in this damp Polissia forest, mosquitoes and ticks are far more real than "mutants".
• Sturdy footwear and long sleeves — thickets, nettles, debris.
• What NOT to do: enter unstable buildings, pick berries or mushrooms, or take anything from the site.

Frequently asked questions

What's interesting about Klyvyny?

It's an authentic resettled Polissia village without any tourist polish: empty houses, feral orchards, and nature absorbing the traces of people. A place for those who want to experience the "quiet" zone, not just its famous landmarks.

Is it safe to visit?

Only with an organised group, a permit, and a dosimeter. Since 2022, access to the zone has been restricted, so check the current visiting status before your trip.

Do any samosely live in the village?

Stories about samosely circulate around many small villages in the zone. In some cases they're real, in others just lore — don't count on meeting anyone.

Can you get there on your own?

No. Entering the zone without a permit is prohibited, and the roads to small villages are overgrown. The only way in is with a guide on a specialised route.

Klyvyny doesn't impress with scale, and it won't end up on a Chornobyl poster. But villages like this show the real cost of the disaster: not the wrecked reactor, but hundreds of quiet places where life simply stopped.

The forest has nearly taken them back already. And maybe there's a strange kind of justice in that — the land returning what was always its own.