On the night of April 25–26, 1986, an orange glow tore through the darkness above the city of Pripyat.
From rooftops and windows, residents could see the Chernobyl power plant burning, with smoke and flames lighting up the horizon.
Many watched without truly knowing what was happening.
It was not just a fire, but the beginning of the worst nuclear disaster in human history.
This image captures the moment when an entire community — and the whole world — stepped into a new era, marked by the invisible fear of radiation.