On April 26, 1986, Reactor No. 4 exploded — and within minutes, machines were moving toward the disaster. Fire trucks, helicopters, armored carriers, and robots were thrown at an invisible enemy measured in roentgens, not meters. From ZIL-131 crews who received lethal doses before dawn, to Mi-8 pilots flying hundreds of sorties over the open reactor core — the vehicles of Chernobyl tell a story history has largely overlooked. Explore the machines behind the 1986 response.
