Three heroic workers at the "Doomsday" site of the world's worst nuclear disaster risked their lives in a remarkable rescue mission - to save a stray dog.

A catastrophic malfunction at the power plant in Chernobyl, Russia in 1986, caused a mass evacuation of local towns around the plant, but some people are still on site, working on the clean-up operation.

More than 1,000 abandoned dogs have learned to survive in the woods around the exclusion zone, descendants of those left behind after the nuclear tragedy when residents were banned from taking their pets to safety.

Many have been befriended by workers who feed them.

However, last week, one of the adventurous animals managed to get up onto the snow -covered roof of the giant protective sarcophagus that covers Reactor 4.

Three Chernobyl workers risked their lives to rescue a stray dog from the roof of a reactor
The terrified dog was spotted on top of a nuclear reactor but the volunteers climbed up to save the canine
They used professional climbing gear to scale the roof
The workers risked high radiation levels and treacherous conditions on the reactor roof

Despite freezing temperatures, slippery conditions and high levels of radiation, three workers courageously risked their lives to save the animal.

They scaled the 328-foot-high building, before putting the terrified dog in a sling and lowering it safely to the ground as their colleagues cheered on.

The stray dog is believed to have reached the dizzying heights of the roof reactor by climbing a maintenance ladder. Days later, workers saw a second dog climbing the same ladder.

Approximately 1,000 feral dogs now live around the Chernobyl plant
They were abandoned after the plant and the surrounding towns were evacuated following the nuclear disaster
But workers who still attend the power plant to clean up after the disaster now feed the dogs

After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the town of Pripyat and other villages surrounding the Chernobyl plant were evacuated.

Residents were forbidden from taking their pets to safety.

Reports at the time described dogs howling and repeatedly trying to get on the buses as soldiers forcibly removed them.

Pets ran after the buses for miles, as their heartbroken families pinned notes to their doors begging the authorities not to kill them.

Some of the workers have built up special bonds with the dogs at Chernobyl
The workers rescued the stray dog from high up on top of the reactor

But despite their efforts, squads were sent in to shoot the animals. Incredibly, some of the animals escaped and their descendants now populate the zone.


They must also endure harsh Ukrainian winters with no proper shelter, and few live beyond the age of six.