Deserted streets, broken windows, broken wires, asphalt overgrown with grass - each of these numerous settlements in Russia has stuck with the nickname "ghost town". Dead villages, towns and cities sometimes left overnight, leaving behind personal belongings, furniture, clothing and cars. Residents cherished the hope of returning someday, but fate decreed otherwise, and today ghost towns attract only numerous lovers of dark romance and industrial tourism.
Kadykchan
Kadykchan, Magadan Region - literally means "Valley of Death". It was a small, densely populated town, near which rich coal deposits were found. In the 80s of the last century, more than ten thousand people lived on the territory of Kadykchan. However, after an explosion in one of the mines and the defrosting of the city boiler room, it was quickly abandoned by the inhabitants and eventually turned into a ghost town.
Halmer-Yu
Khalmer-Yu ("Dead River") is an urban-type settlement in the Komi Republic. Became a ghost town in 1993 after the decision of the Russian government to liquidate the village, many people were then forcibly evicted. Today it has turned into a military training ground where exercises are regularly held.
Alykel is an unfinished city of military pilots. While the military unit was alive, several apartment buildings were built here, ready to host many families, but after the squadron was disbanded, the village was abandoned.
Neftegorsk
Neftegorsk, Sakhalin Oblast is a dead city, from which today only ruins remain. At the beginning of May 1995, over 3000 people lived in the city. On the night of May 28, 1995, a powerful earthquake of magnitude 9 occurred, which destroyed Neftegorsk to the ground and claimed the lives of most of its population. According to official figures, more than two thousand people died on that terrible night under the concrete rubble in their own beds. After the tragedy, it was decided not to restore the city. The only new building is a memorial and a chapel near the cemetery where the victims of the earthquake are buried.
Bechevinka-Finval
Bechevinka-Finval is an abandoned military town on Sakhalin intended for families of military sailors. In the early 90s, this small town, like many others, turned out to be unnecessary for the new authorities and the military unit was disbanded. The houses in Bechevinsky Bay are empty, but they continue to stand, making a frightening impression on rare visitors to this place.
In the 90s, dozens of cities, urban-type settlements and hundreds of villages disappeared from the map of Russia. They were no longer needed by their homeland and became ghost towns: Iultin, Korzunovo, Promyshlenniy, Kolendo, Amderma.
Mologa
Mologa is a city with one of the most mysterious stories of the Soviet period. The history of this city at the time of its death numbered eight centuries; it was a fairly large trade center with a developed infrastructure. In 1939, for the sake of the construction of the Rybinsk reservoir, it was decided to flood this city and the adjacent 700 villages. It was rumored that not all residents agreed to move, more than two hundred people, contrary to the order of the authorities, decided to stay and the city was flooded with them, and those who survived committed suicide. After the liquidation, it was forbidden even to mention its existence on pain of criminal punishment, although this is more like a terrible tale about the horrors of Stalinism.
