Here is a little photo-session of an abandoned city. When the Soviet Union collapsed, government didn’t have much funds to support some small cities around strategically import objects. People of these cities were left all by themselves. Nobody could support them because any communication with this places terminated after the army decided that they now don’t have money to support those objects.

People had to leave their places and move. Some were lucky to find their place under a sun of the Army of new Russian Federation, some less fortunate had to leave such places without any hope to find a new home, just because the shops stopped working, water stopped coming out of the facet and nobody cared about them any more.

It has been said that even president Putin was thinking to retire from KGB in 1990 and go to work as a taxi driver. Many people are now probably express great sorrow that he changed his mind at that time.

Ok, so here are the photos:

Just imagine how magnificient those buildings were before abandoned.

There were wide streets,

big schools,

some buildings had pillars styled by the top Soviet architects.

Areas and yards around houses are now covered with grass wich found its way through an asfalt and concrete.

You can clearly see the grass here almost destroyed the paved roads during the last 20 years.

Big buildings but nobody cares. Nobody needs them.

Shops, schools, restaraunts.







And unknown structures whith domes covering them.







This is a cloths shop, there is still a sign “Cloths” on it.

And this was a school. Let’s come in and see what is inside…

Just a typical school.

Probably now the ghosts of the students still wander by nights, moving the chairs,

…playing some ball in this gym,

…walking around this stairways,

…and trying to sit at those desks.

“Bon apetit” say friendly animals looking at them from the walls…

…calling them to stand up and play some funny games…

…but the ghosts can’t play, they only pass thru them on their way to infinity….

They are no more interested in the books…

“Native Language”, who might be interested in Native language now, and what is native language for them?

Maths is off no interest also, no new mathematical genius, future solvers of Perelman conjecture, would study here… Only on twilight ghosts appear passing by the classrooms, just because school should not be empty.

Russian classics on the walls are the only company for the wandering ghosts. They have to mind the distance while their midnight talks or they easily come through the wall on which writers dwell.

And that’s another building that was visited by a photographer.

Here those students lived in happy families together with their parents.

In luxury appartments, spending their cold evenings in the reliable shelter of those houses.

Surrounded by green grass lawns.

Starring on the stars from their penthouses.

Going sometimes skatink for fun (“A Skating Rink” sign is written here),

…and making parties in magnificient halls,

…chatting with their guests,

…under those pillars.

Oh world where are all those people now?

photographer: Oleg Shvets

place: town Promyshlennyi, Vorkuta area