The bleak grey of the outer wall gave away the socialist pedigree of the flats well before the camera rose further up to capture the hammer and sickle that once dominated more than just this forsaken building. There was nothing visible through the broken windows. The plaster on the walls inside was scaling, as untouched school books fluttered in the breeze.

A hesitant shadow walked through this urban desolation. The screen then showed the sad face of a 94-year-old David Attenborough bringing yet another riveting story to viewers, except this time he was on Netflix. It was yet another documentary, A Life on Our Planet (2020), a genre of reportage over which he has reigned across the world, in any language. But this location was different.

“Pripyat in the Ukraine is a place unlike anywhere else I have been. It is a place of utter despair. On the face of it, it seems a pleasant town… It has all the amenities we humans have brought into existence to give us a........

© Indian Express