Exploring Vorkuta - Russian Ghost Town in Arctic | The Most Depressing Town in Russia

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ย. 2021
  • Despite the richest coal deposits that gave boost to the development of the city, Vorkuta and the adjacent settlements are rapidly emptying today. The mega project of the Soviet machine was not in demand among the heirs of the empire. Today, some districts of Vorkuta and surrounding villages are abandoned or are about to be completely deserted. How is Vorkuta living today? What's going on around her? What are the prospects for the main coal mining region in the north of Russia? I personally went to the Arctic to answer these questions.
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ความคิดเห็น • 2.8K

  • @sergejkosychin1982
    @sergejkosychin1982 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5166

    I was born in the Vorkuta. In my teens, it was beautiful place, I really love the city. So painful to see how depressed the city is now.

    • @lucasc5622
      @lucasc5622 2 ปีที่แล้ว +170

      the decaying forgotten state it's in now is what makes me want to visit so strongly theres nothing like that here in england.

    • @panchoskywalker
      @panchoskywalker 2 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      @Sergej Kosychin When did move from Vorkuta and why?

    • @mariaq8087
      @mariaq8087 2 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      @Caleb OKAY a great one is Cairo, Ilinois

    • @oddadder5530
      @oddadder5530 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Better then ever ,now it is a quiet nice place.

    • @nerynoir8747
      @nerynoir8747 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      ¿And where are you living now?

  • @youreprettygood2603
    @youreprettygood2603 2 ปีที่แล้ว +140

    The only pro of Vorkuta is that you can buy a nice fully furnished apartment with year round central heating for around $500.

    • @anmetious4779
      @anmetious4779 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      You can buy an apartment for free

    • @vladimirrodionov5391
      @vladimirrodionov5391 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @@anmetious4779 In Russia an apartment pays you to live in it.

    • @Vaticanrome
      @Vaticanrome 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@vladimirrodionov5391in ohoi they pay yout to bebd over and use pro jelly lubricant only

    • @SubcribeMinecraftNOW
      @SubcribeMinecraftNOW 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@vladimirrodionov5391 Apartment lives in you

  • @az5745
    @az5745 2 ปีที่แล้ว +104

    Thanks, Man. As someone from tropical Malaysia, this video is infinitely fascinating!

    • @Babaroga777
      @Babaroga777 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I can imagine that very well, yes, definitely an amazing contrast! 😅

  • @LuckyOwI777
    @LuckyOwI777 ปีที่แล้ว +227

    I was born in Russia, but adopted when I was really young I supposedly spent my first 2 years as a baby growing up here, although I have no memory from such a young age. Very interesting to learn some of the history of the town, and it's current state. Really sucks to see how depressing it appears today.

    • @jamble7k
      @jamble7k ปีที่แล้ว +7

      you are lucky your parents had the sense to leave

    • @LuckyOwI777
      @LuckyOwI777 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      @@jamble7k I was adopted from Russia......like I said. My adoptive parents aren't from there, lol

    • @denj4s
      @denj4s ปีที่แล้ว +1

      hey, what was your home town after Vorkuta?

    • @LuckyOwI777
      @LuckyOwI777 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      @@denj4s I briefly lived right outside Moscow when I was put up for adoption. My adoptive parents are from the Northeast United States, so they flew over to adopt me. Once all the paperwork was finished, I obviously went with them back to the United States, and a grew up there most of my life.
      Since I was so young when I was adopted I barely remember anything from when I was in Russia. Just some vague images and memories here and there, although they might not even be real lol

    • @Timsturbs
      @Timsturbs ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@LuckyOwI777 was it in the 90s? adopting kids was quite popular around that time, there were stories about people that were collecting kids from all sorts of poor countries who were happy to get rid of them and then exploited them in different ways. glad you get a family.

  • @2dumb2die26
    @2dumb2die26 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1449

    "In my life... He and us are not so different. We are all soldiers without an army, betrayed, forgotten, abandoned in vorkuta, we are all brothers."
    -Viktor Reznov

    • @firefly9838
      @firefly9838 2 ปีที่แล้ว +54

      The man, the myth, the legend.
      I was waiting to see it here and you came in clutch.

    • @giannilyanicks1718
      @giannilyanicks1718 2 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      nostalgia hurts

    • @gyeok4475
      @gyeok4475 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Most Russians don't even have stable access to water and electricity. But they are brainwashed to think it's the best country in the world

    • @LightCrasher
      @LightCrasher 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      @@gyeok4475 Lol, you confused Russia whith USA.

    • @ChillGorillaM
      @ChillGorillaM 2 ปีที่แล้ว

  • @sergeyrakitin80
    @sergeyrakitin80 2 ปีที่แล้ว +335

    I was born in Vorkuta in 1981 and lived there 16 years. All my childhood and my teen age was there. Of course it was a great time. I leaved Vorkuta in 1997. Now when i see any video about my city i almost cry and be sad. Thank you

    • @hia5235
      @hia5235 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      go home.

    • @sergeyrakitin80
      @sergeyrakitin80 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      I am at home

    • @ythelldoineedahandle
      @ythelldoineedahandle ปีที่แล้ว

      @@hia5235 What a stupid comment. If you can not add anything constructive, keep your mouth shut.

    • @munkhbatganaa4453
      @munkhbatganaa4453 ปีที่แล้ว

      Where Are you living now??

    • @Chosen_Ash
      @Chosen_Ash ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Well if you left you are part of the problem.

  • @gerhardvonschiffe854
    @gerhardvonschiffe854 ปีที่แล้ว +425

    I've been living and teaching in Inta, a 33k inhabited town south of Vorkuta. The place is not as depressing as the one depicted in the video. People were friendly, eager to talk with you about the outside world, many are actually ecological conscious and they are proud of their region. Similar issues are shared by Vorkuta and Inta: the unemployment due to the closing of coal mines and the abandonment by the central state. The history of the place, intertwined with the Gulag prisoners coming from the four corners of USSR, is a difficult subject to address nowadays, the work being done by the Memorial organisation, now closed by the Kremlin for ideological reasons.

    • @user-ss3pq4wt7j
      @user-ss3pq4wt7j ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Memorial doesn't work on keeping memories. It is keen on twisting Russian history on behalf of its western sponsors. So I am only glad its activity has been stopped.

    • @gerhardvonschiffe854
      @gerhardvonschiffe854 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      @@user-ss3pq4wt7j Hello comrade Kremlebot. So, how does it work nowadays? Are you still payed 50 rubles a comment or is it a daily salary? In anycase, your decency comes very cheap.

    • @user-ss3pq4wt7j
      @user-ss3pq4wt7j ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@gerhardvonschiffe854 Looks like you are a Ukrainian or neoliberal with zero respect to anyone not supporting your ideas. As in an old joke, there are two opinions. One is mine, the other is false. I am afraid you belong to two percent minority imagining they know the truth and the rest of the people are stupid beasts. That's exactly the reason why you are not respected or supported in Russia. If you by any chance read the novel of Dostoevsky the Karamazov brothers, then you must know the character of Smerdyakov. That's what neoliberals in Russia are.

    • @gerhardvonschiffe854
      @gerhardvonschiffe854 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      @@user-ss3pq4wt7j Hey, you forgot the key words "children of Donbass", "gayropa" and "decadent Western civilization".

    • @user-ss3pq4wt7j
      @user-ss3pq4wt7j ปีที่แล้ว +26

      @@gerhardvonschiffe854 sorry not to meet your expectations. Unlike trolls of your sort I stick to one point and don't try to bombard the opponent with hundreds of doubtful statements at once

  • @cool677plusmaa
    @cool677plusmaa ปีที่แล้ว +10

    How nice the piano was working…. It’s was so haunting. Those keys hadn’t been touched in some odd 20-30 years and might never be played again. All those books that were collected by someone with certain ideas just to be abandoned. It’s just so many little things that make me go crazy seeing abandoned locations everytime because of all the stories never told and peoples hopes dashed in literal physical form. Just shows how quickly humans can lose it all too :”)

  • @pannonianbrute
    @pannonianbrute 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1498

    I loved the dog shelter, and the kind people who operate it, despite difficult living conditions of their own.
    It was cool that you shared this.

    • @billwilson3665
      @billwilson3665 2 ปีที่แล้ว +37

      donate i did

    • @nicslakis5043
      @nicslakis5043 2 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      I sent also , wish those dogs could find a good home with a family but I dont think they ever will

    • @ijapsdjhkahbefajldas
      @ijapsdjhkahbefajldas 2 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      I also donated 😌

    • @satusalmivirta9840
      @satusalmivirta9840 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      The shelter in Vorkuta writes that they do have only bank card no PayPal. I wonder to whom these payments go

    • @ijapsdjhkahbefajldas
      @ijapsdjhkahbefajldas 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@satusalmivirta9840 Майорова Ирина Сергеевна this is the name

  • @gregoryferraro7379
    @gregoryferraro7379 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1951

    Single industry cities like this one and the others across the former USSR were directly inspired by the "company towns" in the US like Gary, Indiana and even Detroit. And today, since the '90s, when the companies that sustained those towns began to collapse, those company towns have also faced depopulation and large scale abandonment. The US and USSR were never so different after all.

    • @pcarebear1
      @pcarebear1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +164

      Good commentary! These towns remind me of the abandoned coal-mining and industrial heavy towns in Pennsylvania, Virginia, W. VA, etc. that are literal ghost-towns and frozen in time. It blows my mind how much can change in a couple of generations.

    • @MarMar-nq9ii
      @MarMar-nq9ii 2 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      This is due to the general depopulation and degradation of Russia.

    • @mag-7924
      @mag-7924 2 ปีที่แล้ว +111

      Actually Vorkuta was initially set up as Vorkutlag, a GULAG labour camp. The city was only incorporated during the second world war after the camp and a settlement for staff and 'free laborers' was already established for 10 years. The main reason for incorporating the city was because the camp coal mines became the main source of the USSR's coal after the loss of the donbass reigon and so the government needed to create the facade that Vorkuta was a city not a sprawling camp complex The creation of the 'company town' was an attempt to make up for the loss of convict labour following the mass gulag amnesties in the 1950s, however a lot of former prisoners ended up staying on in Vorkuta because of the lucrative pay and the fact they had no where else to go. In fact before a housing program under Kruschchev most of the cities building were simply repurposed camp vehicles. 'd recommend 'Gulag Town, Company Town' by Alan Barenberg if Vorkuta interests you.

    • @garypayne423
      @garypayne423 2 ปีที่แล้ว +44

      Easy to say sitting in your 1500 sq ft home eating steak.... unfortunately we Americans have been pampered so much we are out of touch with just how rough life can be, time to face some bigger issues

    • @blackriflex39
      @blackriflex39 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      in the Southern usa its the same cotton mills gave birth to many cities and towns once they left the prosperity of these once bustling towns was greatly reduced ....

  • @bitmasala
    @bitmasala 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    God bless this young woman who cares for these beautiful animals. I hardly saw a handful of people.

  • @auroranamex5886
    @auroranamex5886 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +42

    I was born there. I was there like 2 years ago, stayed for 3 months. Its very sad to see my hometown in such a state, though its not dangerous or something. Just a quite, forsaken place people leave. Love the weather and the nature.

    • @OisinMcGrath1916
      @OisinMcGrath1916 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Why do you love the weather my friend?

  • @prashanthbk3760
    @prashanthbk3760 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1221

    Nature is merciless in this part of world yet Russians have lived and worked here, hats off to them.

    • @Mostopinionatedmanofalltime
      @Mostopinionatedmanofalltime 2 ปีที่แล้ว +105

      Can't take your hat off there. Your head will freeze!🤣

    • @stefans3191
      @stefans3191 2 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      @James Kirk and still even in democracy exist. It's just called lobbying or sponsoring 😂

    • @methamphetamememcmeth3422
      @methamphetamememcmeth3422 2 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      @James Kirk Communism is an optimistic ideology but it bows down to human nature.

    • @AloutkaKazawa
      @AloutkaKazawa 2 ปีที่แล้ว +53

      It was a heavy duty labour prison, mostly for political dissidents, people were forced to live there.

    • @maxprivate3805
      @maxprivate3805 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Vodka gets honorable mention.

  • @maniacbanana9431
    @maniacbanana9431 2 ปีที่แล้ว +114

    That Die Hard poster is so surreal. Really connects the abandoned building to reality. People lived there relatively recently.

  • @richardkmoch2208
    @richardkmoch2208 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    bro lives in Metro Exodus fr fr

  • @coffeepot3123
    @coffeepot3123 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    The snow filled/covered buildings, actual art!, so beautiful.

  • @eily_b
    @eily_b 2 ปีที่แล้ว +753

    My grandmother was abducted to the Vorkuta gulag at the end of the war and got 20 years camp imprisonment but was released after 8 years in 1955. She has been there from age 27 to 35. Very hard work in a brick factory. Other prisoners were forced to lay the train tracks into the permafrost soil etc.

    • @uschilou
      @uschilou 2 ปีที่แล้ว +52

      Wow. I cannot imagine the hardships she and others faced there. Being so cold and laying tracks amongst other things! I would love more detail whenever you feel like giving them. Thank you.

    • @jusplay7309
      @jusplay7309 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      So interesting would love to hear her story

    • @hansmeiser8133
      @hansmeiser8133 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Stalin was a crazy m... f...

    • @33moneyball
      @33moneyball 2 ปีที่แล้ว +172

      The Soviet nostalgia posts get thousands of likes while this, an example of what the monstrosity truly was, gets ignored.

    • @MilPupsin
      @MilPupsin 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      ​@Anonymer Nutzer Guys, please tell me why the power of such a bloody leader was held until his death? Why wasn't he deposed by a popular uprising?

  • @tdb7992
    @tdb7992 2 ปีที่แล้ว +651

    Honestly, this is one of the most fascinating videos I have ever seen on TH-cam. I'm in a big city in Australia, so this is the exact opposite of what I see daily. I would love to visit. I hope the people who left have happy memories of Vorkuta.

    • @AM-sm9kg
      @AM-sm9kg 2 ปีที่แล้ว +47

      @ TD B A lot of people certainly didn't have happy memories of this place in the past. Camp Vorkuta was one of the biggest and most cruel camps of the Soviet GULAG system. Over a million people were incarcerated there and were forced to do labor in coal mines. Lots of people died.

    • @cianakril
      @cianakril 2 ปีที่แล้ว +59

      @@AM-sm9kg he's Australian. The whole purpose of his country was gulag for the British convicts.

    • @keravavantaa2886
      @keravavantaa2886 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      an easier place u can go to is finland. moldy 60’s and 70’s apartments

    • @pw4g492
      @pw4g492 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      So tell him what does your “black cube” represents. Research your monument. There are more satanic statues called “modern art” that is satanic worship than anyone realizes. And that is why the world is heading in the direction it is going. The demons have been loosed. Call me crazy, fine but when they start to manifest contact me. I’ll tell you what you must do.

    • @zerodai6653
      @zerodai6653 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I doubt it , if they had alot of good memories so many people wouldnt have left

  • @garrick3727
    @garrick3727 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Random Die Hard poster in abandoned ice covered apartment. This is amazing. There are very few abandoned buildings where I live because they get torn down, or they are so boarded up for safety reasons that you can't get in. Even when you can get in, there's nothing there. Everything has been taken. I think it's amazing that you can find furniture, books, household objects and movie posters relatively well preserved (probably due to the cold). You are also very brave to dare that foot bridge and enter some of these buildings. The bridge is in a deplorable state and unsafe to walk on [proceeds to cross it.] Best wishes to the people of Vorkuta.

  • @calitaliarepublic6753
    @calitaliarepublic6753 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    My favorite part of your videos is the conversations you have with people you meet on the way.

  • @2face869
    @2face869 2 ปีที่แล้ว +293

    This reminds me of a nightmare i once had. I ran around a town which was completely covered in ice and snow, no people and not a sound, it was pretty terrifying

    • @deborahchesser7375
      @deborahchesser7375 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      That would be weird as F , looking around, quiet and not seeing anybody,

    • @user-kb3ji1ss1r
      @user-kb3ji1ss1r ปีที่แล้ว +22

      Silent Hill Shattered Memories moment

    • @XGY179
      @XGY179 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      something tells me this place still has a future ahead in the end ... if you catch my meaning

    • @2face869
      @2face869 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@XGY179 great thanks for that ;_;

    • @XGY179
      @XGY179 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@2face869 your welcome , you know like a far cry game like end of the times and this is the only place left and it’s got soldiers people trying to live and probably some bad guys and someone trying to stop them in the frozen hell in Russia

  • @mattsavigny6084
    @mattsavigny6084 2 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    If you can survive in that town, you have defeated depression in this life and many lives to come.

    • @user-jp3wl4fg2h
      @user-jp3wl4fg2h 29 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      people live in Central Australia and Arizona - c`mon, weather conditions there are no better.

  • @diane9247
    @diane9247 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    A very fascinating tour, thank you! I've been curious about Vorkuta and other former gulag towns for a long time. The dogs touched my heart and I will send a few dollars for them.

    • @Nobody-nc5ij
      @Nobody-nc5ij 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Gulag,ah remember me to escape vorkuta

  • @TrephineArtist
    @TrephineArtist ปีที่แล้ว +28

    Great video, spasiba! One thing that I find interesting is people mocking Russia when we in 'the west' have endured masses of factory and mine closures. Also lots of abandoned shopping malls in the USA, even some in Europe (with more to follow soon), a few months ago I visited one not far from London, England, with around 70 or 75% of stores now closed, quite depressing as I knew it when it was very different. As for Vorkuta and surroundings, It's incredible that anyone lives there at all with such a harsh climate, tough people, very impressive!

  • @norbitcleaverhook5040
    @norbitcleaverhook5040 2 ปีที่แล้ว +60

    Most depressing? This is a winter wonderland compared to Bald and Bankrupts Russian adventures... Great video. Subscribed

  • @ellaeadig263
    @ellaeadig263 2 ปีที่แล้ว +90

    Definitely one of the most jarring abandoned town videos I've seen! The way everything is just buried in snow. The snow and ice in the stairways really got me, as well as the ice all over the chandelier. Just imagine, there were once families living in those buildings, staying warm away from the ice and snow but now the snow is reclaiming the location.
    I love that someone is running a dog shelter there, without it those dogs would die.

    • @jamesmitchell5126
      @jamesmitchell5126 ปีที่แล้ว

      8 dogs a day is the average amount that die in Vorkuta

  • @raadsiddique2090
    @raadsiddique2090 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Every journey begins with a single step.
    This is step one: Secure the keys!
    Now we take Vorkuta. Uraaaaa!

  • @wardzrunes
    @wardzrunes ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Very well put-together video. Thank you for showing us this seemingly forgotten town. Pozdrav iz 🇷🇸

  • @raziel0729
    @raziel0729 2 ปีที่แล้ว +100

    Dude I discovered your channel 3 days ago. Since then I'm watching 2-3 videos per night, love your stuff :D

    • @rolfrevman
      @rolfrevman 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      His videos deserve millions of views.

    • @teodor1403
      @teodor1403 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@rolfrevman i totaly agree without you!

    • @explorewithanshuman107
      @explorewithanshuman107 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Welcome to the group

  • @ashleybrooke2087
    @ashleybrooke2087 2 ปีที่แล้ว +196

    A lot of mining communities in the United States are suffering the same kind of gradual decline though not quite so frozen as this place. It really is sad to see the promises of the past fade into an uncertain future.
    Thank you for sharing this even if it is a bit bleak.
    Also, your English is better than some native speakers I know but then I do live in Texas.

    • @terrymcginnis4633
      @terrymcginnis4633 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      agreed were i am there were alot of factorys been they all started closing down alot of people have left myself included

    • @tomrotelli1355
      @tomrotelli1355 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Mining communities always eventually become a ghost town, since mankind has been digging. It's just inevitable.

    • @Fido-vm9zi
      @Fido-vm9zi 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Need to clean it up before just building new cities.

  • @aleksandarpavkov
    @aleksandarpavkov ปีที่แล้ว +1

    What a great video! Thanks for sharing! Hope your channel grows to a million subs as this content deserves!

  • @elenayantsen1076
    @elenayantsen1076 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Немного напоминает Норильск, в котором с прожила 36 лет, уехала год назад, возраст! Норильску повезло больше, производство не закрывают, да и в последние годы он стал значительно чище, лучше и ярче. Эти дома старой постройки, снег, как это мне знакомо!

  • @MiSt3300
    @MiSt3300 2 ปีที่แล้ว +374

    Omg I need to visit this place. It gives me such stalker and metro vibes! I also love the snow.
    When I was a kid in the early 2000s there still was snow in my hometown of Kraków, southern Poland. That is no longer the case unfortunately.
    Seeing Vorkuta covered in snow is such a nice reminder, though there are no abandoned soviet blocks in Kraków, and everything is renovated

    • @nikolasmaracterzaa9520
      @nikolasmaracterzaa9520 2 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      It gives me COD Black Ops vibes

    • @Daniel-wz4th
      @Daniel-wz4th 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I’m from England and visited Krakow and Katowice it was very nice and clean

    • @elijahhunger3116
      @elijahhunger3116 2 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      It's sad to hear about snow, many in Europe say that the snow is getting less and less.I live in Siberia and a few years ago we didn't have snow until the very new year, everyone was in shock, and the children usually were used to playing snowballs, making snowmen, etc. by this time. Now it was raining recently, although at this time the thermometer should already show - 20 degrees Celsius

    • @sadcookie7401
      @sadcookie7401 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      What there is never snow in Krakow? I live in Czech republic and there was snow everywhere just 3 days ago.

    • @sirrathersplendid4825
      @sirrathersplendid4825 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@sadcookie7401 - He’s exaggerating. There was little snow in the 2010s, but it came back on a big scale in 2020, and 2021/22 promises to be another heavy snow year.

  • @tenofivelips
    @tenofivelips 2 ปีที่แล้ว +68

    What a well presented video. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explore these places with you. As a US citizen who was 20 when the USSR began it's transformation, it's fascinating and tragic to see what has happened. I'm glad you popped up on my algorithm. I look forward to more vids. Cheers.

  • @TheSilmarillian
    @TheSilmarillian 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    How amazing is it that you took me on a tour of a place I could never hope to visit in person ,hello from Australia and thank you.

  • @jpmtlhead39
    @jpmtlhead39 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Depressing is an understatement. Who in is perfect mind wants to live in a place like that...🤔

  • @garrymalone5060
    @garrymalone5060 2 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    Thank you for the video!!! It brought back many memories of my four visits to Vorkuta. The last time I was there in 2014 the oil business was booming. Several places along the railway near Vorkuta you could see the pipeline being constructed. At that time, comments were made about the government subsidizing relocation away from Vorkuta. Several friends have since moved to other locations in Russia. Also, there are the reindeer herders who lived there before the gulags were built. When one of them was asked if they would move further south, he responded that he didn't think the reindeer would like to live in a warmer climate.

  • @emilv.3693
    @emilv.3693 2 ปีที่แล้ว +74

    Just makes you awe in amazement and horror at what must've brought half a city into complete abandonment and desolation. I cannot imagine what the collapse of USSR must've been like for the people living in these isolated single-purpose cities.

    • @tetraxis3011
      @tetraxis3011 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Probably took a few days to even get the news of the collapse.

    • @zachphelps3427
      @zachphelps3427 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Central planning was the only thing keeping these places functional

    • @TomorrowWeLive
      @TomorrowWeLive ปีที่แล้ว

      that's what happens when you imprison your own population in artificially-created frozen hells. When people are given the choice, they live. The collapse of communism meant liberation after 70 years of slavery.

    • @Mizz.Person
      @Mizz.Person ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Bald and bankrupt did a video in Russia. He actually spoke with an old lady living in a massive , crumbling building. She said that they thought things would be different and better when it changed, but it just got worse and worse. :( His channel is also a great one to check out! :)

    • @charshill2978
      @charshill2978 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Coal mining towns in northern England were left destitute and communities destroyed in the 80s under Thatcher. Brutal.

  • @jonsymmonds1120
    @jonsymmonds1120 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    You got a new sub out of this! I love history and you made me feel like I was there. Great video, very well documented. I thank you!

  • @waylonk2453
    @waylonk2453 ปีที่แล้ว

    I appreciate how you use the tune from the piano you found as background music for the next few shots. Brilliant!

  • @kirkmooneyham
    @kirkmooneyham 2 ปีที่แล้ว +47

    I find it very sad that so many of the people who moved on left so many of their personal belongings behind. I imagine that having to leave on the train would limit how much one family could take with them, though.

    • @ostap_musk
      @ostap_musk ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Привет. Я из Воркуты. Компания "Воркута Уголь" оплачивала переезжающим железнодорожный контейнер для перевозки личных вещей. Многие люди из Воркуты не покупали новую мебель и другие вещи, потому что у них есть квартиры в других теплых городах.

  • @TEXININDUSTRIES
    @TEXININDUSTRIES 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    The icicles formed inside the building are amazing. Looks like something out of a movie or storybook.

  • @utvpoop
    @utvpoop 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Shoutout from Sosnogorsk! (The town at 6:32 where the cars are being loaded into trains to be sent to Vorkuta)

  • @IzzyOnTheMove
    @IzzyOnTheMove 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    That was so interesting!! Very nice videos my friend. Will check out more of your channel. Hi from Canada 🇨🇦

  • @planescaped
    @planescaped 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    It's crazy thinking of all the lives that lived in these places.
    It almost feels like looking back into the middle ages, yet it wasn't that long ago.

  • @yvettemoore1228
    @yvettemoore1228 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Mining communities all over the world have suffered the same fate. When a town grows due to one main work opportunity, once that’s exhausted, if no one invests in new industry, the town will die. It’s sad, but natural 😢

  • @Ragman205
    @Ragman205 ปีที่แล้ว

    Very cool vid, man. Thanks!

  • @lucionemesis
    @lucionemesis ปีที่แล้ว

    So amazing place! Thank you for show it!

  • @artistjoh
    @artistjoh 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    I don’t find it depressing. Of course I love snow and long winters. That helps in such a cold place. I also love the poetic feeling of being lost in time, and walking abandoned streets and feeling the ghostly memories of long lost dreams. The passions of lovers running to see the one they love. The fatigue of weary workers. Mothers rushing to buy food. Children going to school. The beating hearts may have gone to other places, but their stories remain. As a writer and artist I would love to make films in a place like this, films that bring past lives to life again and tells their stories.
    I love this documentary you made. Thank you.

  • @jstarASMR3103
    @jstarASMR3103 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Seeing all the soviet architecture, slogans, and remnants in Vorkuta is truly fascinating!

  • @tov.serpin
    @tov.serpin ปีที่แล้ว +18

    Знаете, у населения бывшего СССР, нет денег на туризм и видеографию, и большинство наших зрителей изучают нашу же страну, из ваших видео. Спасибо Вам, за правду в видео).

  • @snicket87
    @snicket87 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    The quality of your work is superb.

  • @OndrejEF
    @OndrejEF 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    good job vagabond, loved watching the episode. Surreal world out there!

  • @MrTesmen
    @MrTesmen 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    My home town... Haven''t visited it for almost 17 years... Amazing

  • @jamiejohnson706
    @jamiejohnson706 ปีที่แล้ว

    ThESE VIDEOS ARE THE BEST
    GREAT WORK MAN
    THANK YOU FOR SHARING

  • @dumitrucristinelstefan7939
    @dumitrucristinelstefan7939 ปีที่แล้ว

    Congrats for the video 💪❤️

  • @bonefex3000
    @bonefex3000 2 ปีที่แล้ว +113

    I don't really understand why you added creepy music as this is quite the nice location.
    It is interesting to see abandoned towns because they show life was possible at some point.

    • @THICCTHICCTHICC
      @THICCTHICCTHICC 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      People still live there :/

    • @bonefex3000
      @bonefex3000 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@THICCTHICCTHICC Most homes are abandoned.
      I highly doubt there is anything scary in those houses.

    • @VasterLordUlquiorra
      @VasterLordUlquiorra 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Потому что это пост апокалипсис. Эт орпоисходит в 50% россии. только мегаполисы живут. всё остальное разлагаться. предстаете что от ньюёрка до вашихтона всё находиться в таком состояние и та живут люди.

  • @ramonakent356
    @ramonakent356 2 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    Wow, I certainly enjoyed the beautiful ghostly forgotten buildings along with the haunting ice formations. Just knowing because of the desolation that so much of that beauty goes unseen. However, I am so glad that you gave me the opportunity to go on this little journey with you. Bravo!! PS, my son-in-law is married to my American daughter and he is from Moscow Russia. His name is Slava.

  • @beautifulflorida
    @beautifulflorida ปีที่แล้ว

    Stunning video, very interesting! Thank you very much for sharing!

  • @RaminRnn
    @RaminRnn 2 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    This is such a sad thing to watch. For me, the books and the children's homework was the saddest part. Now those homework doesn't seem so important after all.
    It must be devastating for owners of those houses and stuff to see their belonging so cold and lifeless.
    Human beings are such a fragile existence.

    • @Dzanarika1
      @Dzanarika1 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Beautiful comment.

    • @OCTAGRAM
      @OCTAGRAM ปีที่แล้ว +1

      When I first got to Vorkuta I was freezing in -20 C due to wind, but as soon as I've got windproof clothes, gloves and ski mask, it's quite comfortable in -20 and -30. Only in -35 it starts to get cold.
      The only notable difference is that it takes much time to get out, but as soon as I am out, I move free enough. Also if I hold mobile phone to e.g. make a photo, hands start freezing in -20. My gloves are heated by electricty, so I can quickly heat hands and hold mobile phone again, but it is annoying

    • @MightNight892
      @MightNight892 ปีที่แล้ว

      They probably moved to better places

  • @Dawn5048Batchelor
    @Dawn5048Batchelor 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    That was one of your best videos, very interesting and informative. 👍👍👍👍

  • @LandonStrauss-hc1sc
    @LandonStrauss-hc1sc 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    These people deserve better.

    • @francis_siddhartha
      @francis_siddhartha 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      The people who support a lunatic dictator and invading other countries? Nah, they don't.

  • @realdeal139
    @realdeal139 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Respect to the Russians. They are a tough/resilient people

  • @dannydoc9464
    @dannydoc9464 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Wow I accidentally discover your channel while scrutinizing "Bald & Bankrupt" films around Russia and the defunct USSR!
    Nice one informative too👍👍

  • @yoRockstardude134
    @yoRockstardude134 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    This guys channel gives off Bald and Bankrupt vibes. Love it.

    • @sotirzvanidjubre4109
      @sotirzvanidjubre4109 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      After hair follicles replacement he is now Hairy and Loaded.

    • @amir_hetsroni_fan_club3798
      @amir_hetsroni_fan_club3798 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Your not aware of his Vorkuta posts from RVF? It's just a weird coincide,

  • @JackiMareena
    @JackiMareena 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Fun fact of the day: those pipes that went over the road like a street light are residential water pipes. Since the temp is below freezing more than above freezing, the ground is too hard for excavation, so pipes have to be heavily insulated in order to be ran above ground...
    I married a plumber lol

  • @f2p57dfbb
    @f2p57dfbb 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Only viktor reznov knows this place well

  • @amandataebby
    @amandataebby 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    This is quite fascinating, thank you for making this and sharing it. Those ice corridors from broken pipes are incredible!

  • @joemacinnis1972
    @joemacinnis1972 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Absolutely fascinating! Thank you my friend for all this information!

  • @53NT1N3L__M
    @53NT1N3L__M 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I love these uploads, interesting, ty👍

  • @shapiroshekelberg604
    @shapiroshekelberg604 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    It looks like a nice place. I’d like to buy a flat/house there.

  • @nancyjones6780
    @nancyjones6780 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    I loved that bit at the end about the dog shelter. Would've liked to have seen more of that! 💙

  • @Confederate_WON
    @Confederate_WON 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I live in Vorkuta and watch this video😏

    • @billwilson3665
      @billwilson3665 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      What is the most popular activity in the summer time? How is the fishing on the river?

    • @Confederate_WON
      @Confederate_WON 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@billwilson3665 Vorkuta is a dying city, and there is only one occupation here all year round survival, and this is not an exaggeration, the river next to the city is so dirty that you can't swim in it drains and mines and the city itself are dumped into it, i don't think fishing, which is still left in the river, is a good occupation, yes visitors are interested here, but only while it's tourism, as soon as you stay here at least for a couple of weeks, you want to leave faster☝️😏

    • @Victoria-rl4cu
      @Victoria-rl4cu 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Александр Курбатов are you thinking of moving from there?

    • @Victoria-rl4cu
      @Victoria-rl4cu 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Александр Курбатов what is the economical activity for folks like you that live there? Please

  • @littlesirenboy
    @littlesirenboy ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That was a nice idea there with that bus stop but my immediate first thought was "who the hell is saying, yeah I want some ice cream" after coming in from that mess haha!

  • @harbselectronicslab3551
    @harbselectronicslab3551 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Fascinating Video, thank you very much for making it......

  • @pytheus
    @pytheus 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Thank you!! The starkness of the ruins, especially in winter, hold some aesthetic merit! Excellent!! I want to go visit now!

  • @lightgolden5337
    @lightgolden5337 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    My neighbours would like to live in Vorkuta! They dream about moving there every day! Please send them the tickets!

  • @entropia77
    @entropia77 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    13:40 - Imagine You're the wanderer of Vorkuta interiors and suddenly this Piano plays...

  • @arlenenolte8475
    @arlenenolte8475 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    This is so interesting! Thank you!

  • @noaccess37
    @noaccess37 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    wow looks so nice how the snow takes over the staircases inside the building, keep on the great work

  • @svitlanaostapchenko5642
    @svitlanaostapchenko5642 2 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    If I win the lottery … I would spend my life travelling around “crazy “ Russia…such a interesting country

    • @Victoria-rl4cu
      @Victoria-rl4cu 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      And why do you say 'crazy'. Just out of curiosity. I am Southern European

    • @Victoria-rl4cu
      @Victoria-rl4cu 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Please

    • @awsomemodels
      @awsomemodels 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@Victoria-rl4cu He means "crazy" as interesting and wild .

    • @alannarutter5033
      @alannarutter5033 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Really, why? 😱

    • @warrax111
      @warrax111 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Then I hope, you will not win anything. So you rather do something fruitful for society, not traveling your ass, and polute nature by it.

  • @nzmarty
    @nzmarty 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Amazing walk thru and discussion Ivan Thankyou for shedding some light onto a place that most of us will never see in person.

  • @carolitoffana
    @carolitoffana 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I've been watching videos of Russian cities for a while and to be honest, it's pretty similar to the cities I've lived here in Brasil, specially the rural part (the weather though is very very different 😂), there's a Russian girl that used to live here and now she went back and she always shows her life in vlogs, and still amazes me how we are so far away but have so many similarities, I've never seen snow so to me doesn't look depressing but kinda cool, and it gives a vibe to the city that makes it interesting, it really is a place that I would like to visit, seems to have so much history, I love seeing old buildings from the Soviet Union and the signs, I remember studying in art college a lot about Soviet Architecture and Design, it's so interesting to see all this for real, in person must be way cooler though.

  • @Unknown_Ooh
    @Unknown_Ooh 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Bald and Bankrupt needs to visit here

    • @Server-ks4lh
      @Server-ks4lh 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      100%

    • @person.X.
      @person.X. 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      He has but the video seems to have been deleted for some reason.

  • @kellywilson8440
    @kellywilson8440 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Thats a great video ive always been intrigued by this town , That old piano still has a good tone as well !

  • @sebastianzretthogf3516
    @sebastianzretthogf3516 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Thank you for the very interesting video and sharing!

  • @sando.m
    @sando.m 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great video and great story of Vorkuta and a coal mine Vorkuta district . 👍

  • @kathyh4804
    @kathyh4804 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Thank you! Great video ! We all need to be grateful for the warm places we enjoy! Heat, electricity, food etc.

  • @petergraham130
    @petergraham130 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Tremendous piece of Russian social history. Well done

  • @tijuanaiguana190
    @tijuanaiguana190 ปีที่แล้ว

    Incredible footage. Thank you for showing me a place in the world I wouldn’t necessarily spend that much effort to visit but am still interested in. Cheers!

  • @margyyn3479
    @margyyn3479 2 ปีที่แล้ว +51

    Отличное видео, смотрелось на одном дыхании, очень интересное место. Рад что ты снял его на английском чтобы поделиться со всем миром, такие истории действительно стоят того, чтоб о них знали

    • @ericrivera8410
      @ericrivera8410 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yes olive in new York my neighbors are Russian this gives me insight into their world

  • @worldview2888
    @worldview2888 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    To this channel i really want to THANK you for making such a beautiful video. Unfortunately 2021 has really NOT been wonderful or kind to me and this video really helped me take my mind off things. I am truly looking forward to new post and knowing more about how life is in your part of the world. Best regards and cheers from Singapore.

    • @helengrunow5094
      @helengrunow5094 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      When things are so bad,you know its going to get better,that is my wish for you.Sending warm greetings from Sydney, Australia & Cheers!

  • @rociopch4982
    @rociopch4982 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Call me sentimental, but it breaks my heart when toys and photos are left behind. I would travel to Vorkuta just to retrieve these things. Amazing vid!

  • @douwe4549
    @douwe4549 ปีที่แล้ว

    Impressive reportage, well done!

  • @chrispenn715
    @chrispenn715 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Very interesting video - thanks for posting.

  • @Quicksilver_Cookie
    @Quicksilver_Cookie 2 ปีที่แล้ว +100

    In places like this, and similar abandoned/semi-abandoned(like Pripyat) it always fascinates me how little time it takes for almost complete decay to take place. It's like a reminder of how merciless and powerful nature is, and how futile it is to fight it. Only takes a little for us to stop maintaining our creations and they fall apart and succumb to ruin almost instantly.

    • @PvtAnonymous
      @PvtAnonymous ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@AlphaCarinae some of these were only left in 2019, at least that was the case for the apartment he found the diploma in. That's around 2 years only.

    • @johnnydynamite6460
      @johnnydynamite6460 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@AlphaCarinae 30 years is one generation, still the blink of an eye on the grand scheme. A town could exist for centuries, and disappear under overgrowth/decay within a human lifetime, which indeed is revealing about fragile and temporary our towns are

    • @tetraxis3011
      @tetraxis3011 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@johnnydynamite6460Thats because modern stuff just isn’t built the same as older stuff. Look at colonial era buildings and old haciendas and churches. These buildings have braved 300 years. And in Mexicos case, earthquakes aswell.
      Look at Egyptian, Mayan, Teotihuacán, and the various ruins in the Amazon rainforest. These buildings have braved thousands of years of decay, and in man cases, you can still see the simbology and writing of these civilizations on the outside walls.

    • @johnnydynamite6460
      @johnnydynamite6460 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@tetraxis3011 Vegaetation doesn't grow slower over old stuff. Every old structure that reached us has been maintained and mayans ruins were overun by vegetations within less than a century, and the only reason they're visible now is because they were hacked out of overgrowth and are maintained now

    • @OCTAGRAM
      @OCTAGRAM ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It is not about nature. It is primarily about wild Russian capitalism and weird money distribution. Why do Moscow teachers have salaries so much higher than in other regions? Are we a single country or what? Moscow gathers taxes and do not let money go outside, so many cities are more or less loosing people

  • @joosepkunder
    @joosepkunder 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Thank you so much, this was really interesting. You have done great job. Greetings from Estonia!

    • @ihatelols
      @ihatelols 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      oli küll

  • @frenchkaky
    @frenchkaky ปีที่แล้ว

    Amazing video!

  • @brunodavidferreira5781
    @brunodavidferreira5781 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    How better constructed cities from Soviet times até!!...
    The buildings are so strong building that even abandoned they still entairely 👏🏼👏🏼🇻🇳🇻🇳

  • @rolfrevman
    @rolfrevman 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Great video.