Astrakhan oblast is situated in Caspian lowland where Volga River flows into Caspian Sea. The largest part of Astrakhan oblast is occupied by semideserts. But some parts of the region are looking like the real desert and here is an example.

It is “Big Brother” – one of the largest and highest barkhans in Astrakhan oblast. The height of this sand dune is about 20 meters. Photos by Maxim Korotchenko.

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Tags: Astrakhan oblast · desert · sand

Moscow Palace of Soviets is one of the most famous unfinished architectural projects in history. The huge (the biggest and tallest in the world) building would have become the symbol of the victory of socialism, the symbol of a new country and new Moscow. This project is still amazing in our day.

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Tags: Moscow city · Palace of Soviets

Karabash is a town in Chelyabinsk oblast, Russia located about 90 kilometers from Chelyabinsk. It is one of the largest copper smelting centers of the country. For a time, according to UNESCO, Karabash was considered the most polluted city in the world.

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Tags: Chelyabinsk oblast · Karabash · pollution

Not long ago, there were explosions in the arsenals of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan.
Currently, the storage and transportation of ammunition in Russian army often violate all sorts of safety rules.
Here is just one example of open storage of shells. There are about 90 railroad cars of 125 mm high-explosive shells in this dump. Not surprising that something always explodes in such storages. Photos from Yaplakal.com

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Tags: ammunition · shells · storage · transportation

Norilsk is a city located in northern part of Krasnoyarsk krai, about 90 km east of the Yenisei River. It is one of the most polluted cities in the world.
Environmental hazard for the population of the city and its surrounding areas is caused by the work of one of the world’s largest mining and, simultaneously, metal making plants.
On the territory of the Norilsk industrial area there are a lot of abandoned mines, settlements of the workers, railroads, etc. Here are some of the sceneries taken by NordRoden.

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Tags: Abandoned · Krasnoyarsk krai · Norilsk city · pollution

Vozdvizhenka is an airbase located in Primorsky krai. Heavy bomber aviation regiment was deployed at the airbase armed with supersonic long-range strategic bombers Tupolev Tu-22M3.

In 2010 the regiment was disbanded, some aircraft was transferred to other airbases. The airframes of others are waiting to be cut for metal. The airfield is abandoned. The photos by KFSS.ru

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Tags: Abandoned · airbase · bombers · Primorye krai

Kurba is an old Russian village of Yaroslavl oblast situated 20 km southwest of Yaroslavl on the open high place on the right bank of the river Kurbitsy. The main attraction of the village is the Church of Kazan Mother of God Icon.

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Tags: Abandoned · church · Yaroslavl oblast

Summer weather in Vladivostok is characterized by high repeatability of fog. In addition to the deterioration in sea navigation the fog in the city hinders the work of road and rail transport, aviation, and slows the rate of construction and other work in the open air, accelerates corrosion of metals, increases energy consumption by reducing lighting and air temperature.

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Tags: fog · mist · Vladivostok city

Karst lake Marine Eye situated near the village Shariboksad, Volga district of Mari El Republic stands out as a form of volcanic crater. The depth of the lake is 37 meters, 45 to 50 m in diameter. Water transparency is significant, up to 5.5 m. The water of the lake is known for its unique characteristic emerald green color.

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Tags: lake · Mari El Republic · Marine Eye

Tutaev is one of the towns of famous “Golden Ring” of Russia located in Yaroslavl oblast. The churches of Tutaev are picturesquely scattered on the hilly banks of the Volga and attract numerous tourists and architecture lovers from all over the world. The following nice winter views of Tutaev churches were taken by Petr Ushanov.

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Tags: churches · Tutaev town · Yaroslavl oblast