October 5 Grozny (capital city of Chechen Republic) with characteristic to local authorities fanfare celebrated the Day of the city. Noncircular date (193 years) has not prevented wide celebrations: such stars as Jean-Claude Van Dam, Kevin Costner and Vanessa Mae were invited to take part in the concert.

The concert was organized to celebrate the opening of Chechen financial center “Grozny-City,” but everyone knew perfectly well that in fact it was the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov. The concert was broadcasted on second federal TV channel.

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Tags: Chechnya Republic · Grozny city

“Nalychevo” is a nature park on the Kamchatka Peninsula (Kamchatka krai) created in 1995. The total area of the park is about 287 thousand hectares.

The park is located in the valley of Nalycheva River and is bounded by the chain of volcanoes. On the territory of the park there are a lot of hot and cold mineral springs with medicinal properties. Photos by Ilya Stepanov.

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Tags: Kamchatka krai · Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky city

Stavropol region is a land of natural contrasts. The vast plains and semi deserts lie in the eastern and north-eastern areas. Famous Stavropol fertile steppes are located in the west and north-west.

Stavropol krai has highly developed agriculture. High-quality wheat, grapes, fruits, vegetables and melons are grown there. Also the region produces meat, milk and wool.

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Tags: landscapes · Stavropol krai

The Valley of Geysers is one of the largest geyser fields in the world and the only one in Eurasia. It is located in Kamchatka on the territory of Kronotsky State Biosphere Reserve. The Valley of Geysers is one of the seven wonders of Russia.

Kronotsky State Biosphere Reserve is one of the oldest reserves in Russia established in 1934. The reserve covers an area of 1,142,134 hectares (11,421 sq. km.) including 135,000 hectares (1,350 sq. km.) of sea area of the eastern coast of Kamchatka.

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Tags: Kamchatka krai

There are about 400,000 various historical and cultural monuments in Smolensk oblast of Russia. The territories of the region also played an important role in Russian military history. Unfortunately a lot of the architectural monuments are abandoned and if nothing changes they will be lost forever in near future. Photos by Denis Frantsouzov.

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Tags: Abandoned · churches · landscapes · smolensk oblast

Welcome to Batkovsko-Olkhovsky peat extraction site located in Yaroslavl oblast of Russia. In 2010 the significant part of the area was flooded. Today it is the cemetery of abandoned peat extraction machinery.

The place has become popular among local fishermen. They are calmly catching the fish living among the drowned tractors and harvesters. It could be a great place to shoot some kind of post apocalyptic movie. Photos by borh_84.

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Tags: Abandoned · Yaroslavl oblast

Transpolar railway (Gulag construction sites #501 and #503) is a railroad running on the way Chum – Salekhard – Igarka.

The construction of the railway began in 1947. Among the most likely reasons of the construction were the developing of infrastructure of Russian North, the simplification of supply of Norilsk, as well as improving the supply of the Northern Fleet.

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Tags: Abandoned · Salekhard city · Yamalo-Nenets okrug

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

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.

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Tags: Abandoned · Krasnoyarsk krai · Norilsk city

Vozdvizhenka is an airbase located in Primorsky krai. A 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 were transferred to other airbases. The airframes of others are waiting to be cut for metal. The airfield is abandoned. Photos by KFSS.ru.

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Tags: Abandoned · Primorye krai