Valery Zufarov (1944–1996) was a Russian photojournalist who worked for Pravda and later ITAR-TASS. Though known for his sports photography, his career took a dramatic turn in 1986 when he was among the first to fly over the destroyed reactor at Chernobyl.
That assignment exposed him to dangerous levels of radiation and left him hospitalized. His photographs, showing the wrecked Unit 4 and the early cleanup efforts, became some of the most striking early records of the disaster. For this work, he won First Prize in the Science & Technology category at the 1987 World Press Photo contest.
Zufarov’s health never fully recovered after Chernobyl, and he died in 1996, likely from complications linked to his exposure. His images remain a lasting testament to the risks journalists took to document the catastrophe.
A helicopter sprays a decontaminate over the region surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power stationChernobyl. Ukrainian SSR. USSR. Construction of a large concrete sarcophagus over the Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo ITAR-TASS/ Valery Zufarov and Vladimir Repik)
Киевская область. Чернобыльская АЭС. Сооружение "саркофага" над 4-м энергоблоком. Фото Валерия Зуфарова /Фотохроника ТАСС/A general view of the sarcophagus over the 4th power unit under construction
February 1988
A worker checks the surface of a nuclear reactor for radiation levels, 1986
Liquidators recovering the Reactor hall No. 3 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station
Sanitizing cars at leaving the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, 1987
Worker of a Radiation Control Post monitors radiation level of a bus, leaving the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, 1987
Chernobyl liquidators.
Valery Zufarov (1944–1996) was a Russian photojournalist who worked for Pravda and later ITAR-TASS. Though known for his sports photography, his career took a dramatic turn in 1986 when he was among the first to fly over the destroyed reactor at Chernobyl.
