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

Let’s go into a little trip to the mountains of the Itum-Kalinsky district of Chechnya. The southernmost district of the republic, it is rich in historical and natural monuments.

The district occupies an area of 2000 square kilometers, the population is about 6,000 people. The distance to Grozny, the capital city of Chechnya, is about 78 km. In the south, this district is bordered by Georgia. Photos by: Timur Agirov.

To the mountains!

Tags: Chechnya Republic

Tsarskoye Selo is a museum-reserve located in Pushkin town, part of St. Petersburg. It includes a palace and park ensemble of the 18th-19th centuries, the former imperial country residence.

In the center of the Catherine’s Park, which is part of the museum-reserve, you can see the beautiful body of water called the Bolshoy (Great) Pond. Photos by: Yuri Yuhanson.

the sights of the Great Pond

Tags: Saint Petersburg city

Let’s continue our flight over the sights of St. Petersburg, the second major city in Russia.

The second part of photos taken from a helicopter during the flight over the city. The first part. Photos by: Stepanov Slava.

The intersection of Bolshoy Prospekt and Andreevsky Boulevard.

fly over St. Petersburg

Tags: Saint Petersburg city

Mutnovsky volcano is an active volcano (2322 meters) located in the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, 80 km south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

The area around the volcano is one of the toughest in Kamchatka. Most of the year powerful cyclones are raging here, bringing huge amounts of snow. Snow depth sometimes reaches 15 meters, and summer lasts for less than 2 months.

take a walk on the volcano

Tags: Kamchatka krai · landscapes

The Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas is the last and largest naval cathedral of the Russian Empire built in Kronstadt (a small town which is part of St. Petersburg) in 1903-1913. It is the tallest building in Kronstadt (70.5 meters).

This majestic cathedral is a monument to all sailors of the Russian Navy. Kronstadt, founded by order of Peter I, was the main naval base of the Baltic Fleet since 1720s. Since 2013, the cathedral is considered the main church of the Russian Navy. Photos by: Yuri Yuhanson.

wonderful cathedral

Tags: churches · Saint Petersburg city

Ukok is a plateau located in the south of Altai Republic, on the border of Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and Russia.

Numerous rivers, lakes, and marshes make this area fantastically beautiful. There are a lot of ancient legends about Ukok, more than 150 Scythian burial mounds were found here.

beautiful landscapes

Tags: Altay Republic · landscapes

Divers found the historical Russian mini-submarine “Som” (“Catfish”) that disappeared during the First World War near the coast of Sweden.

May 10, 1916, while carrying out patrols in the area of Aland Islands, the submarine collided with the Swedish steamer “Ingermanland” and sank. None of the crew of the submarine (18 people) survived.

One hundred years later…

Tags: Russian Empire

St. Petersburg, the former capital of the Russian Empire, is a unique city with its own rules of conduct. To preserve historic buildings, the legacy of the era of the Russian Empire, the construction of high-rise buildings is not permitted in the city center.

The general plan of Saint Petersburg of the 19th century has remained practically unchanged since that time. Straight streets, strict compliance with the architectural styles, all of this can be seen particularly well from above, when flying over the city in a helicopter. Photos by: Stepanov Slava.

let’s fly over amazing Saint Petersburg

Tags: Saint Petersburg city