“Dunai-3U” is early warning radar station of Soviet missile defense system A-35M located in Moskovskaya oblast. The station was put in service in 1978. NATO’s code for radar station “Dunai-3U” is “Cathouse”.

Today the station operates partly; most of the equipment was dismantled. Once it was one of the most secret military facilities of the Soviet Union. Today the station is practically deserted. Photos by artuniar.

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Tags: Abandoned · Moskovskaya oblast · Soviet past

The sale of Alaska was a deal between the governments of the Russian Empire and the North American United States. In 1867, Russia for 7.2 million USD (about 108 million USD in 2009), sold its territories in North America (total area 1,518,800 square km or 586,412 square miles).

At the time of the sale the entire population in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands was about 2,500 Russian and approximately 60,000 American Indians and Eskimos. At the beginning of the 19th century Alaska brought income from the fur trade.

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Soviet propaganda is propaganda of communist ideas and the Soviet way of life. It was carried out deliberately and centrally under the direction of the Communist Party and was officially called the ideological work, educating the masses, etc.

The propaganda combined the universal values (freedom, social justice), and patriotism. Propaganda was conducted through the media, books, movies, theater, and visual art. Today it is the part of Soviet cultural heritage.

Let’s take a look at how it all began during the Civil War and establishing of Soviet power in 1917-1923.

Death to world imperialism!

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Tags: posters · propaganda · Soviet past

Abandoned Research Institute of Corrosion is located somewhere in the Moscow region. The institute was working on studying the effects of different environments and conditions on certain substances.

In the late 1980s due to lack of funding the institute was closed. Now this is the place where you can feel the atmosphere of the Soviet Union.

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Tags: Abandoned · Moskovskaya oblast

Bachatskiy coal open-cast mine, located in Belovo city (Kemerovo oblast) is one of the largest mines of the Kuzbass (total area is about 20 square kilometers, depth – 300 meters). Annual production amounts to more than 8 million 700 thousand tons.

The mine produces fuel for energy and metallurgical industries of Russia and other countries around the world.

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Tags: Kemerovo oblast

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union produced a huge amount of various military equipment. The country was preparing for the Third World War, but it did not happen. With each passing year more and more of the machinery and equipment became obsolete.

A lot of the machines were dismantled or conserved at special bases. Sometimes, for unknown reasons, large bases full of military equipment simply stopped functioning. The following photos were taken on one of these abandoned bases by saoirse-2010.

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Tags: Abandoned · Soviet past

Today, after the war, Grozny is once again the administrative center of the Chechnya Republic of Russia. The reconstruction works are in process. In 2004 the railway connection with other parts of Russia was restored and the Grozny city airport, Severny, began to offer flights to Moscow in 2007.

Also, after several years of reconstruction, the beautiful Grozny city mosque (the largest in Europe) was opened in 2008. The following beautiful high-res photos of night Grozny were taken by timag82.

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The museum can be found in the exhibition complex “Klinskoe podvorye” in a small town of Klin located near Moscow. The collection mainly includes glass toys produced by local factory “Yolochka”, although there are toys of other factories. I personally still have some toys you can see at the pictures below.

The museum runs a shop where all year round you can buy glass Christmas decorations produced by the same factory. Opening hours of the museum: from 9:30 to 17:00. The last tour begins at 16:00. Day off – Monday. Address: Russia, Moskovskaya oblast, Klin town, Staroyamskaya Str., 4. The site of the museum: http://www.klinvk.ru/. Photos by Yulia Makarkina.

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Tags: Moskovskaya oblast

Chirkeyskaya hydropower plant is located on the river Sulak in Dagestan Republic. It is the largest hydropower plant in the North Caucasus and the highest arch dam in Russia. It is built in a narrow Chirkeyskiy gorge.

The capacity of the station is 1000 MW; average annual output 2.47 billion kilowatt hours. Photos by Stepanov Slava.

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Tags: Dagestan Republic

December 28, 2011, just before the New Year celebrations, a new metro station “Admiralteyskaya” was opened in Saint Petersburg. The station is located on the 5th purple line between the stations “Sadovaya” and “Sportivnaya”.

For about 15 years it was in fact ghost-station, the trains passed it without stopping. Active work was resumed several years ago – escalators and platform were assembled. Today, after the opening, “Admiralteyskaya ” has become the deepest metro station in Russia – the length of the escalators is 120 meters. Photos by skydrinker.

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Tags: Saint Petersburg city