Kiev, capital of Ukraine- Kiev (pronounced "keev") is a very pretty, very cosmopolitan city. As in many big cities, you cannot simply cross the street at a major intersection. You must use the tunnel/walkways underneath. There a many shops in these undergrounds, and even enormous, lavish shopping malls. All the best stores are underground in Kiev. The Volga River runs through the city. The water is said to not be radioactive, but the mud is. The 60 kilometer "exclusion zone" surrounding Chernobyl is about 100 kilometers north of the city. Fortunately for the Ukrainians, the vast majority of the radioactive fallout spread north. Not so fortunate for Belaruse, where 90% of the land was contaminated. As everywhere in the former Soviet Union, there are elaborate WWII memorials.