Even looking down from a rooftop onto the overgrown ruins of Lenin Square, it’s difficult to comprehend the scale of loss in Prypiat, Ukraine. Perhaps, like me, you’ve been fascinated by the tragedy of Chornobyl, as it is known in Ukrainian, for decades.* Perhaps you know that Prypiat was an entire city of nearly 50,000 people, replete with all of the modern (at the time) amenities that a newly built Soviet mecca of science and research could provide. Prypiat had cultural centers, hotels, grocery stores, schools, cafes, and furniture stores…
