Igor Yostin Profile

Igor Kostin was a significant member in the disaster of Chernobyl.  As one of the five known photographers in the world to capture pictures of the tragedy, Igor now stands out as a Ukrainian national hero and quite simply a legend throughout the world. Born a Bessarabian (Moldovan), Igor Kostin had quite an extraordinary life. In 1954 he began military service, then started his career in sport. He became a great sportsman, playing for the Moldavian national volleyball team.  However, his early life is far from as famous as his later life was. As a photographer, he started to report news in the Vietnam war and the wars in Afghanistan. Once he had arrived from the latter country, Kostin was alerted by his friend helicopter pilot that there had been a fire at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. The fire had already been extinguished via helicopter by the time they had arrived.  He experienced an odd feeling combined with high temperature and toxic smog, that was unusual for an accident scene .The motor of his cameras began to exhibit symptoms of radioactive-caused degradation after around 20 shots. They returned to Kiev after that where Kostin stayed for the rest of his life. He unfortunately died four days ago in a car crash in Kiev on Tuesday 9th June 2015. His legacy will forever influence future photographers.

Stat Attack:

Name: Igor Kostin

Birth: 27th December 1936

Death: 9th June 2015

Home: Eastern Europe

Occupation: Sportsman and photographer

Age of death: 78