Chernobyl Guards Bringing Medical Care To Abandoned Dogs

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It actually seems as though the dogs, through the companionship they offer, end up reassuring those who interact with them regularly, says Greger Larson, an archaeologist who studies animal domestication at the University of Oxford and who was not involved in Turnbull's research.

"They're kind of putting themselves in the shoes of the dogs," he suggests, referring to the guards. "If the dog is fine, that means you're fine."

But in truth, this may only be a false sense of security.

"It's an uncanny environment," notes Turnbull. "You can't see the danger. You're constantly aware that it might be there but everything looks normal."

Despite the fact that the dogs could pose a risk in terms of radioactivity, guards like Bogdan instead emphasise the benefits of having them around. For example, he claims to know dogs that bark in noticeably different ways depending on what they have spotted in the distance – a human stranger, a vehicle, a wild animal. Because of these helpful warning signals, Bogdan thinks of the dogs as "assistants".

Bogdan says he is often asked why the dogs ought to be allowed to stay in the Exclusion Zone. "They give us joy," he replies. "For me personally, this is a kind of symbol of the continuation of life in this radioactive, post-apocalyptic world."