Chernobyl captures imaginations, brings underground tourism 35 years after nuclear disaster

For the guide who sneaks people into the Chernobyl "Exclusion Zone," the crucial moment is when you cross over the barbed wire fencing that marks its edge.

KYIV -- For the guide who sneaks people into the Chernobyl "Exclusion Zone," the crucial moment is when you cross over the barbed wire fencing that marks its edge. “You don’t know what might happen after. The police may arrest you, so you need to be fast,” said the guide who asked to be referred to only as "John" to avoid trouble with authorities. “The adrenaline is at a maximum level. In one step you’re in a forbidden zone, where humans don't rule anymore.” John is one of many so-called "Stalkers," the name -- taken from the 1979 Andrey Tarkovsky film -- for illegal explorers of the 30 kilometer abandoned zone around the Chernobyl former nuclear power station. His group, Chornobylexplorer, is one of the agencies offering unauthorized tours of the zone that in 1986 was the scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. At one time, the "Stalkers’' attitude to Chernobyl were seen as unusual, but 35 years after the catastrophe, the site of it is increasingly holding a different place in Ukrainians’ imaginations. While still a wound, Chernobyl is one that doesn’t hurt so much. Instead, for many it is becoming a place of inspiration and rebirth, and that now -- in a strange irony -- needs to be protected.