ATH 2 (ATX 2) garage and vehicles repair facility in Pripyat

The ATH 2 (ATX 2 in Russian), also known as The Mobile Mechanized Autocade №35, was a vehicles repair facility and a garage on the outskirts of Pripyat. It had been in use and guarded until only few months ago, when all staff disappeared from the site. Consisting of several repair workshops and a large parking ground, the main attraction is hiding in the woods behind a concrete wall, where dozens of vehicles used in the Chernobyl cleanup operation enjoy their retirement, slowly rusting and falling apart.

Even though most of the valuable parts, such as engines were stripped, the ATH 2 site remains an extremely interesting place to visit, considering the history of the vehicles. The most notable exhibits are two mid-engined, 8-wheel drive MAZ-537 military trucks (with the engine compartment removed) and the IMR engineer vehicle.

The IMR was an armored engineer vehicle based on the Soviet T-55 tank chassis. It was developed in 1969 and and looks like it can plow through any terrain and obstacle without breaking a sweat. Equipped with a bulldozer blade and a rear-mounted claw, it surely contributed to the disappearance of the entire villages in the Chernobyl Zone.

The claw and tracks of the IMR remain highly radioactive even today, 33 years after the Chernobyl Disaster.

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