The USSR has ceased to exist but its monuments still haunt the minds of millions. There are hundreds and thousands of artifacts reminding of the intense construction of the “bright future” which never arrived. So let’s take a closer look at the seven most interesting “wonders” of the USSR, all abandoned and left to the mercy of fate.
1. The infamous mining town of Promyshlenny (“Industrial”) located 26 km far from Vorkuta.
More than 10 thousand people once lived and worked here. In the early 90′s, when the era of socialism ended and the time of savage capitalism came, the mine suddenly became unprofitable, and the town turned out to be 100% subsidized. When the water, electricity and gas supply was cut off, its residents were forced to abandon their homes and start new life in neighboring towns from scratch.
2. Abandoned Soviet construction areas are a separate and very broad topic for research. To be short, no any other country in the world has such a huge amount of money and man-hours wasted. Thousands of unfinished buildings, almost ready for use, rise above the huge territory of the former Soviet Union, serving as a silent reproach to people who were able to destroy and unable to finish building.
3. Abandoned bunkers along the coastline of the Pacific Ocean.
A complex of abandoned fortifications designed to protect against possible attacks of Japan is located not far from Vladivostok. A strong reinforced concrete fort made of thick slabs and underground tunnels which stretch for miles along the coast, once made Vladivostok an impregnable from the sea fortress. Today, it’s just an interesting place for tourists.
4. Only in the former Soviet Union this could be allowed – the incredibly expensive equipment of industrial and defense areas were left to the mercy of fate. In Russia, it’s quite common thing. One can still find abandoned giant radar antennas costing millions of dollars and other unique pieces of bygone technological power.
5. An abandoned missile complex in Latvia also turned out to be useless after the breakup of the USSR. The nuclear disarmament race did its job. Four abandoned bunkers, a central control room and a technical support bunker – all this is now abandoned and partially occupied by tourists. But maybe it’s for the better…
6. Legendary Balaclava is once a secret but now abandoned submarine base on the Crimean coast near Sevastopol. Even relatives who worked on this secret facility were forbidden to visit their families without a special permission from the government. Currently, all submarines are cut up for scrap, but the base has remained remarkably intact and is very popular among foreign tourists.
7. An abandoned Gulag camp in Siberia.
There was a time when political prisoners were kept in these wooden barracks but now they all are rotting and only wild animals drop in there sometimes. So let them rot on. We hope they will never be needed again.
via felbert
The bright future that was never achieved is perhaps the best description I have seen here in awhile. Of course when you add in the millions of lives lost or destroyed, i’d say it was a bright future turned nightmare.
I am constantly amazed at the infrastructure that was created on the backs of the people. Now just rusting away, what a waste.
Once great, then deteriorated, a metaphor for life?
One of those photos, in photo 51, is a Titan II ICBM. An American missile, in America.
Just amazing. I think Russia is the “abandoned places” capital of the world.
The way I read it, all these wonders were abandoned after capitalism arrived. Why were the first six wasted efforts? The U.S. spends billions for defense projects that are wasteful. The U.S. has abandoned bunkers and factories. And the last pic of the gulags is misleading. The gulags were closed in 1953-55. The U.S. has plenty of misery in it’s penal systems, too (California, for example). My point is, any and every country’s governments are wasteful, short-sighted, bungling. It’s called politics.
It’s also economic development. The US practically dug itself out of every economic hardship by operating huge construction projects. Hoover Dam, the national highway system and later freeway systems, bridges and rail, etc. Now nobody here wants to spend one penny on advancing the US, and are willing to let the rest of the country rot because they think everything Obama does is socialist or communist in nature.
Agreed.
Yeah hitler did the same thing and eventually you run out of money!
hitler didn’t run out of money, he ran out of war time success.
Also out of money. Germany was in desperate need of foreign sources of money because they didnt trade during the war, all the money they got was from taxes and from ransacking all the places they took over.
Damn… having such small photos in such an article is a crime!
does anyone know whereabouts in latvia this bunker would be?
It’s in Lithuania, Plateliai.
Yep. The lat and long is right there at the top of the photo. Clearly visible on Google earth.
do you really expect anything else from what is essentially a country of peasants ?
no sadly we dont expect anything more from a country of peasants…
OH…
you were speaking of the former USSR??
Sorry- I thought you were talking about the USA..
my bad…
So move to the former USSR !!
What a glorious past. These were constructed in times when it was not possible for other super powers to do so.
Cry harder “vengence”. The US is responsible for more death and misery worldwide than 10 Soviet Unions. Try using your brain and read something besides US propaganda.
Cry harder “vengence”. The US is responsible for more death and misery worldwide than 10 Soviet Unions. Try using your brain and read something besides US propaganda.”
Right. Ask the Poles, Ukranians, Hungarians, Roumanians, Germans, Bulgarians, Georgians…on and on and on. remember the Show Trials, the Purges, the KGB…the Berlin Wall…Stalin was a butcher and the Soviet Union was marinated in the blood of millions. What a complete fool you are.
Remeber…abu-gharaib,guantanamo,vitenam,south korea massacares during korean war now under investigation in S.KOREAargentine military dictatorship ,brazil dict. u help bring to power. ur gulags in phillipines.remmeber u were there in phillipines before the Japs came u ruled over them sent many to gulags many died due to disease starvation.go ask unkraninas.there are those who hate soviets now russians then also those who like them.so wat u know of is US propaganda,not history.sure there is some history in it everyone knows it.the west owns most of the TV corps around the world have presence in most nations.US history is blood soaked from the time u came to the american continent killed native people to establish ur white race.fought against the south!blacks suffered until the 1970′s inspite of USA being democracy since late 1700′s.a country which dropped two atom bombs on cites already shud just shut the hell up let the world decide it fate.no excuses cuz japs bombed pearl harbor naval base.civil popl of hawai.let china deal with japs of genocide issues.dont help start conflict between them.everyting from terrorism to disease it has US imprints on it!.ul see wat i mean in yrs to come.no capitalist country can preach peace!
Sam…YOU LIE !
he didn’t lie, just brought up a list of historical facts that i would imagine the avarage american isint particularly proud of … but his so called lies are actually very well documented, just not in american middle school text books like they should be,….wow i just realized how oxy-moronic it really was for the USA to join in world war II wonder how the 1940′s afro-americans felt about their country fighting for the rights of the jews when they still shit in the same toilet as a white guy
To all the stupids bashing about USofA or capitalism embedded democracy:
Its a system open to all kind of leaders as long as they are elected. Some do good and some do bad. But its not the mistake of the system. Its easy to point out, blow the whistle, and bring the culprits to justice in this civilized system. You can fight to make it right and work (it evolves) with out having to wait for the whole system to fail like USSR.
Try blowing your pathetic communism defending, USA bashing whistle against culprits in those system you defend. You will be burned.
Yes, yes, open to ALL kinds of leaders…so long as they have the money to get elected. There is no ‘free market’ in America, just like there are no ‘free’ elections. It’s the Golden Rule: They who have the gold, make the rules. That’s NOT Democracy, of any sort.
Its easy to pount out, blow the whistle? tell that to Julian Assange and Bradley Manning mate.
Of,of,of…
Unbeliveable.
Play nice, kids, or I’ll take away the Playstation!!
What do you mean by “We hope they will never be needed again.” The Gulags in all they represent – the imprisonment of political prisoners, and the suspension of civil liberties and rights – were never a necessity, nor will it ever be. To say we hope it will never be NEEDED again justifies it all. So, I’d suggest you phrase your thoughts more carefully.
can we say `Guantanamo Bay’ anyone??
`do as I say, not as I do..’
this is really very amazing blog i like it so very much
These are all amazing. Hope I can visit them all one day
krill oil
Yankees, Britons and Israelis are the same thing ” a band of materialists killers, they have not brain and nobody in the world like them…a big empire in decadence.
I did not know these places , thanks for sharing
farming the land and peoples using goods instead of money..exchanger and marquets would be better than goverment wasting all that money..all the steel could have been recycled.and the land use to plant trees
I live in Canada. Our school texts were printed in the States. Talk about biased. The battles we had where we kicked their butts were hardly mentioned. The battles where we saved their butts are totally downplayed to save their face.
911. don’t get me wrong, I feel for the families losses. How many people died in those minutes? How many did the the States kill or inflict misery upon because of war? even in the last couple decades? Someone brought it back to them and they have a meltdown that affects trade, travel and economies all around the world. The warmongers and security geeks are in total control. Read up on your rights if you visit. None-you and your family can disappear on their whim. No lawyers. Have always wanted to go to Disneyland with the family, visit some relatives. Euro Disney on Japan’s looks safer. The terrorists won that round. They have people scared of their shadows.
Wow Northreco, Don’t you have printing presses in Canada or maybe it’s just another thing you have to import due to lack of technical expertise? It seems though you prefer comic books to historical books? You battled the States? You save the “butts” of the States. When did these “battles” take place? What does the Canadian air force have, like 20 or 30 ultra light planes? Yeah you will be more liked in Japan- if you try and talk politics in the “states”. You probably don’t believe that Japan attacked the U.S. in Hawaii first. But I understand how jealous you must feel, living right next to the greatest country on the planet, but always in the shadow my dear… always in the shadow. Hey… maybe they have a disney land in France and you could go there! Oh sorry… I forgot they are broke too! I have been to Disney many times and it’s so much fun. Maybe we could send some engineers up there and teach you how to build one?
There really is no need for all of this bashing. To the Canadians ripping on the US–I don’t understand it. Our two nations have been some of the friendliest neighbors for many, many years now. We are SO close, in fact, that NORAD is run JOINTLY by the US and Canada. Our DEW system (Distant Early Warning radar sites, etc.) provide warning of attack NOT just on US, but Canada, too. There is no need for this attack on each other. So you don’t like something OUR GOVERNMENT does. I don’t like some of the things YOUR government does. That doesn’t mean we should hate each other or bash each others’ countries. You’re proud of Canada and I’m proud of the USA. I’ve been to Canada MANY times and I have always, ALWAYS been treated very kindly. Many millions of Canadians have come to the US and have been treated the same way. This GARBAGE about you and your family not having any rights if they come here is so beyond ridiculous it’s almost not even worth mentioning. I can tell you as a veteran of the USAF AND a veteran police officer that you have FAR more rights here than you would ever believe. I actually had to carry forms written in EVERY LANGUAGE that informed people of their rights under Miranda (the “You have the right to remain silent, etc., ones) as well as a form explaining their CONSULAR rights. Do YOUR cops carry those forms? Don’t go spreading crap you know absolutely nothing about and put fear into people unnecessarily. I LOVE Canada and her citizens. I LOVE the relationship our two nations enjoys as well as the common “friendly border”. We are an EXAMPLE to the world and this type of bashing only makes you look like a fool. I, for one, know that Canada doesn’t only have a few light planes. I can honestly say that *I* wouldn’t want to go up against a Canadian fighter pilot. I know what they are flying–F-18 Hornets. Well CF-18 Hornets. They are a match for anybody. So Canada doesn’t spend the money on national defense that America does. That doesn’t make Canada worthy of being bashed. They enjoy the inherent protection provided by the US because of the fact that we spend so much on it; and because of the fact that it’s in our interests (selfish as it may sound) to have that buffer between us and the enemy. BOTH of our countries have MANY things to be both PROUD OF and ASHAMED OF. Just leave it at that and remember that we are ALL HUMAN and we ALL have our emotions, feelings, and things we take pride in. Hitting somebody in what they are proud of is wrong. As for the person posting this set of photos from Russia, thank you. I also want to visit Russia in the worst way. There is so much beautiful architecture and scenery, as well as the sights and things from the Soviet era that have an incredible value for tourism. As a former USAF member and a lover of ALL THINGS AVIATION I can say that I would love nothing more than to see a Russian air show to witness their incredible machines doing what they do so well. Why do we have to hate each other? Remember, US and USSR did *NOT* ever enter a hot war. It was a COLD war and it is OVER. Those days are gone and it’s now time to look on each other as FRIENDS. Only then will our world be a better place to live. One other thing I can say is that while the USA may have some of the best military hardware and weapons systems on the planet, there is only ONE REASON WE DO: It’s because OTHER countries have such incredible weapons systems and hardware. If they didn’t there would be no reason for us to! So, while we may have the best bomber or fighter in the world, another country may have the best missile or laser in the world. Remember that. Just as every human has a unique and important contribution so does every country and people/society. Thank you for letting me rant.
What is the strange crane-like thing ?
Ussr may have fallen but u live in the hearts of india