At the Museum of Slavutych and the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, history literally came to life: visitors pointed their smartphones at posters, opened 3D models, 360° panoramas and video testimonies — and in a few seconds were transported to the real places and events of the beginning of the full-scale invasion. This is the XR exhibition “Chornobyl at War: Lessons in Nuclear Safety,” a project that combines facts, human voices, and augmented reality technology to show history not as a page from the past, but as an experience that continues today.
Read also:
The attack on the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. What happened and what are the consequences
What is “Chornobyl in War: Lessons in Nuclear Safety”?
For the first time in Ukraine, museum curators, scientists, and educators launched an exhibition not only in museums but also in 100 schools across the country during Nuclear Science Week. The format turned out to be as simple and accessible as possible: the institution prints a set of posters, places them in the space, and then the CHRNBL mobile application does the rest — the exhibition “comes to life” on the phone screen, without any special equipment. Submit your application to receive the posters, and you will be able to host the XR exhibition “Chornobyl at War” until 26 April 2026.
“Chornobyl at War” is an XR documentary exhibition created to discuss nuclear safety through facts, emotions, and technology. A team of historians, museum curators, and media documentarians — the Museum of Slavutych and the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, researcher at the National Museum “Chornobyl” Oleksiy Kurmaz, the European Institute of Chornobyl NGO, and the TV MediaDim media studio — have combined archives, eyewitness accounts, 3D models, 360° panoramas, and video interviews to show the events of the Chornobyl zone occupation not as a “page from the past” but as an experience that shapes our safety today. The project was implemented with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.
In Slavutych, the first visitors — including energy industry workers, teachers, and high school students — intently viewed digital reconstructions and listened to excerpts from interviews recorded during the first weeks of the occupation.
“This exhibition is a way to speak honestly, simply and accessibly. So that our children have knowledge rather than fear; experience rather than myths; action rather than powerlessness. It is also a unique opportunity to organise an interesting and informative event dedicated to the topic of nuclear safety in any convenient and safe space,” emphasises project curator Marina Stepanska.
Read also:
Blue-coated dogs spotted in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone
Why is this important right now?
Chornobyl-40 will arrive on 26 April 2026, and by that date, the exhibition should have been shown in schools, libraries, museums, and dormitories across the country. The exhibition is available in Ukrainian and English, is easily scalable, and does not require complex technology: all you need are printed posters and a smartphone to “stitch” history with STEM and media literacy — and turn memory into a tool for safety. According to teachers, it is the simplicity of the tools (posters + app) and the “presence effect” in XR that make the complex topic of safety understandable and emotionally honest.
In schools, the format works as a modular tool: a classroom can be quickly transformed into an “XR room,” an integrated physics/history/media literacy lesson can be conducted, and then cause-and-effect relationships can be discussed — from dosimetry and safety protocols to the importance of trust in scientific data. Teachers note that “radiation” ceases to be an abstraction: in augmented reality, you can see how the Exclusion Zone is organised, why checkpoints are important, and what the militarisation of critical infrastructure means.
The topic of nuclear safety has long gone beyond purely scientific discussions — it is a matter of civic awareness and sustainability. “Chornobyl at War” offers schools and communities a simple but powerful mechanism: in any city, library, or cultural centre, you can quickly set up an exhibition and give children (and adults) the experience of responsible presence — not intimidation, but understanding.
Read also:
Why You Should Visit UBiennale 2025 at the Museum of Kyiv History
