Members of Ukraine’s 112th Territorial Defense Brigade have revealed how they filmed a video connecting S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 with its real-world inspiration in Pripyat. The project involved bringing a PC running the game into the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and using a vehicle provided to the unit by MK Foundation, founded by Ukrainian businessman and investor Maksym Krippa.
Serhii, a serviceman stationed in the Chornobyl area and one of the people behind the project, explained that the idea emerged after a member of the unit established contact with MK Foundation and the foundation provided the brigade with a vehicle.
The concept was built around a direct transition between S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and reality. The video would first show the Energetik Palace of Culture inside the game before switching to footage captured outside the actual building in Pripyat.
There was one practical problem: the soldiers had not yet reached Energetik in their S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 playthrough.
The game had been installed on one of the unit’s more powerful computers following its release, in part because of the brigade’s connection to the Chornobyl area. Two servicemen therefore took turns playing until they reached the location required for the shoot.
Once they had the necessary in-game footage, the team loaded the desktop PC and a large monitor into a van and transported the equipment to Pripyat.
Their filming window was extremely limited. According to Serhii, the group arrived roughly 15 minutes before sunset, leaving little time to unload the equipment, prepare the scene and record the required footage. The sequence was ultimately completed in around three takes.
Released in July, the finished video begins with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 footage near Energetik before transitioning to the same landmark in real-life Pripyat. A branded van provided to the unit by MK Foundation also appears in the video.
The foundation’s involvement goes beyond the production itself. MK Foundation has focused a significant part of its work on providing vehicles and other practical assistance to units of Ukraine’s Defense Forces. For the 112th Brigade, the vehicle featured in the video serves a much more important purpose in day-to-day operations.
Serhii explained that vans allow the unit to transport personnel and necessary equipment while reducing the need to use several smaller vehicles for the same task. That makes mobility support particularly valuable for units operating across large areas.
Maksym Krippa, the founder of MK Foundation, also commented on the video after its release. He thanked the Ukrainian servicemen involved and drew attention to the contrast between the fictional Zone depicted in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and the reality faced by soldiers serving in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.
The connection is particularly notable given Krippa’s links to the Ukrainian gaming industry. He is also the owner of GSC Game World, the studio behind S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, bringing the game, the charitable initiative and the real-world location featured in the video into the same story.
The project also highlights the relationship between S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and the actual Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Pripyat is one of the franchise’s most recognizable locations, although the game’s map is not designed as an exact recreation of the real area.
According to Serhii, individual landmarks and environmental details can still be immediately recognizable. Energetik and the Duga radar installation are among them, alongside abandoned buildings, vehicles and other elements of architecture associated with the region.
The atmosphere, however, is different. While S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 presents a consistently hostile and bleak interpretation of the Zone, much of the real area is now dominated by wildlife and vegetation that have gradually reclaimed settlements abandoned by people decades ago.
Gaming also remains part of the limited downtime available to some members of the unit. Serhii said some soldiers play video games after their shifts as a way to switch focus and spend their free time.
The Energetik video ultimately brings together several elements surrounding S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: a Ukrainian game, the real locations that helped shape its world, the support provided by Maksym Krippa’s MK Foundation, and Ukrainian servicemen for whom the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is not simply a location encountered on a screen.
