Berezniki is the second largest city in the Perm region with a population of about 145,000 people, a large industrial center located 191 km north of Perm.

The city stands on a large deposit of potassium and magnesium salts that have been mine-produced for decades. Berezniki on Google Maps. Photos by: Lana Sator.

Administrative and household building in the zone of one of the sinkholes.

sinkholes of Berezniki from above

Tags: Abandoned · Perm krai

Karabash is a small town with a population of about 11,000 people located in the Chelyabinsk region, 112 km north-west of Chelyabinsk.

Today, it is one of the most polluted places in the world due to the fact that copper has been continuously produced here for more than 100 years, and the toxic chemicals resulting from it have often been discharged into the environment. Karabash on Google Maps. Photos by: Andrey Grachev.

multicolored Karabash

Tags: Chelyabinsk oblast

November 18, 2014, one of the mines of “Uralkali” company, located near the town of Solikamsk in the Perm region, was flooded, all workers were evacuated. A little bit later, a huge sinkhole was found on the territory, occupied by garden plots of local residents. At that time, the hole in the ground had a diameter of 30 meters.

Over the past nine months, the sinkhole greatly expanded and its current size is 120×125 meters. The following photos were taken in August 2015. Solikamsk sinkhole from space.

the sinkhole becomes bigger and bigger

Tags: Perm krai

Karabash is a small town with a population of about 12 thousand people located in the southern Urals, in the Chelyabinsk region, about 90 km from Chelyabinsk. This town is one of the largest copper smelting centers in Russia, known for its severe environmental situation.

Large quantities of pollutants, mainly gases, are generated during the production of copper from copper ore. All these gases were being released into the atmosphere without cleaning for decades.

the place of ecological disaster

Tags: Chelyabinsk oblast

Brief background. Last November, one of the mines owned by “Uralkali” company was partially flooded. The mine is located near Solikamsk town (Perm region).

Later, about 3.5 km from the mine, on the territory occupied by garden plots of Solikamsk residents, a giant sinkhole (30×40 meters) was found (the first post about this event).

the situation a few months later

Tags: Perm krai

November 18, 2014, the mine Solikamsk-2, owned by a Russian company “Uralkali”, was partially flooded. All the miners were safely evacuated, and the work was suspended. The mine is located near the town of Solikamsk in Perm region.

After some time, 3.5 km from the mine, on the territory occupied by garden plots of Solikamsk residents, a giant sinkhole (30×40 meters) was found. Risks of expansion of the sinkhole and its danger to the city are still not fully understood.

the gate to the underworld

Tags: Perm krai

Nowadays, in Russia, bears are not only roaming the streets, but also float on the rivers. And this is not just brown bears, but polar ones! Here’s a picture of today that can be seen in Moscow.

A lone polar bear on a small block of ice was floating on the Moscow River in the morning. Rescue officers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations responded on his desperate plea for help.

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Tags: Moscow city

In the past it was a swamped karst chasm, and today it is one of the most polluted bodies of water on the planet known as the “Black Hole.”

The lake is located between Nizhny Novgorod and Dzerzhinsk, on the outskirts of Dzerzhinsk eastern industrial zone (coordinates 56.2635788 43.6624149, Google Maps location). The lake is surrounded by barbed wire with banning-warning labels. Photos by Lana Sator

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Tags: Dzerzhinsk city · Nizhegorodskaya oblast

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