Russia holds the largest concentration of abandoned Soviet military infrastructure on earth — bunkers buried under cities, torpedo testing platforms in the middle of seas, Gulag camps in the Ural forests, and radar stations in the Arctic tundra. Here are the 5 best abandoned Soviet military places in Russia, selected from our Urbex Russia Map — 500+ GPS locations across Russia.

Why Soviet Military Sites Are Russia's Most Extraordinary Urbex Category

No other country built military infrastructure at the scale and secrecy of the Soviet Union — and no other country left so much of it behind so suddenly. When the USSR collapsed in 1991, bases were locked overnight, equipment left in place, and entire classified installations simply forgotten. Thirty years later, torpedo platforms still stand in the Caspian Sea, Gulag camps survive intact in the Ural forests, and Cold War bunkers sit unlocked beneath Russian cities. No other category of abandoned place in Russia offers this combination of scale, secrecy, and historical weight.

📍 All locations below are referenced on our Urbex Russia Map — GPS coordinates, access notes, condition ratings, and explorer reports included.

1. Dagdizel Platform – The Abandoned Torpedo Factory in the Caspian Sea (Known Location)

A Soviet military testing platform standing in the middle of the Caspian Sea — completely surrounded by water, accessible only by swimming or boat. Rusting multi-storey production halls, torpedo testing equipment still in place, and catwalks over open water make this one of the most surreal abandoned military sites in Russia. It constantly attracts photographers, parkour enthusiasts and adventure seekers — a floating industrial ruin with no land in sight.

👉 Story: Built 1934–1939 to test Soviet torpedoes in open water conditions. Operated until 1966 when new-generation torpedo requirements made the platform obsolete — too expensive to dismantle, too remote to repurpose. Abandoned in place in the Caspian Sea off Kaspiysk, Dagestan.

🔗 More on Dagdizel: Wikipedia – Dagdizel Plant

2. Perm-36 – The Last Soviet Gulag Camp, Ural Region (Known Location)

The only Gulag camp in Russia where the full infrastructure still stands — prisoner barracks, a reinforced isolation unit, watchtowers, barbed wire perimeters, and the workshop where political dissidents performed forced labour until 1988. Walking through it, the scale of the system becomes physical: these buildings were designed not just to imprison but to make the outside world completely unreachable.

👉 Story: Established 1943, closed 1988 — one of the last Soviet political camps to shut. The only Gulag camp in Russia not demolished after 1991. Taken over by Russian state authorities in 2014 and ideologically repurposed — the original memorial mission replaced by a pro-Soviet narrative.

🔗 Also read: Top 5 Abandoned Places in Russia →

3. The Abandoned Cold War Radar Station – Siberia (Exclusive on our Map)

Antenna arrays still pointed at the sky, control rooms with original Soviet radar equipment on the consoles, and a military settlement whose last technicians departed decades ago — one of hundreds of early-warning stations built across Siberia to monitor for American missiles and aircraft.

👉 Story: Built during the height of the Cold War as part of the Soviet early-warning radar network spanning 11 time zones. When funding collapsed after 1991, stations were decommissioned simultaneously — their equipment left intact, their locations still partially classified. Exact location available on our Urbex Russia Map.

4. The Abandoned Soviet Airfield – Ural Region (Exclusive on our Map)

MiG fighter jets still parked in crumbling hangars, a control tower with original Soviet avionics, and a 3 km runway reclaimed by grass and wildflowers — a Soviet military airfield frozen the day its last aircraft took off and never returned.

👉 Story: Soviet military airfields were decommissioned across the Urals in the 1990s as the Russian Air Force consolidated. Aircraft that could fly were transferred; those that couldn't were simply left. Several fields still have original Soviet jet aircraft standing in their hangars. Exact location available on our Urbex Russia Map.

5. The Abandoned Nuclear Bunker – Moscow Region (Exclusive on our Map)

60 metres underground, blast doors still on their original hinges, and a communication centre where Soviet generals would have directed nuclear retaliation — one of dozens of classified command facilities built beneath the Moscow region during the Cold War.

👉 Story: Built during the 1950s-70s as part of Moscow's classified nuclear war survival infrastructure. When the Cold War ended, dozens of facilities were decommissioned and forgotten — their entrances hidden in forest clearings, their contents left exactly as Soviet engineers abandoned them. Exact location available on our Urbex Russia Map.

Urbex Russia – Safety & Legal Reminder

Soviet military sites in Russia carry higher legal and physical risks than standard urbex. Always:

• Never enter active or recently decommissioned military zones
• Research each site for radioactive or chemical contamination warnings
• Explore with at least one other person
• Wear protective gear — mask, gloves, sturdy boots
• Never touch or move unidentified military equipment or munitions
• Respect the spaces and leave no trace

The urbex code applies everywhere: "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."

❓ FAQ – Soviet Military Urbex Russia

What is the most famous Soviet military abandoned site in Russia?
The Dagdizel torpedo testing platform in the Caspian Sea is the most visually extraordinary — a Soviet military factory standing in open water, accessible only by swimming or boat. Perm-36 near Perm is the most historically significant — the only intact Gulag camp in Russia.

Is it safe to explore abandoned Soviet military sites in Russia?
Physical risks include structural instability, unexploded ordnance, and — in nuclear-adjacent sites — potential radioactive contamination. Always research the specific history of a site before visiting. Carry a dosimeter for any former nuclear installation. Legal risk is significantly higher at former military sites than at civilian abandoned places.

What makes Soviet military urbex unique compared to other countries?
The scale. The Soviet military built at a size and secrecy no other country matched — and abandoned it all simultaneously in 1991. Nowhere else on earth can you find a torpedo platform in the middle of a sea, an intact Gulag camp, and a nuclear command bunker all within the same country.

🎯 Conclusion

Russia's abandoned Soviet military sites are the most historically charged urbex Russia destinations — places where the Cold War is not history but physical reality, where blast doors still seal underground command centres and Gulag watchtowers still look out over empty Ural forests. Every site here is a remnant of a military machine that no longer exists, left exactly as it was when the world it was built for collapsed overnight.

Thanks to our Urbex Russia Map, you get access to over 500 unique locations across Russia — GPS coordinates, access ratings, photos, and explorer reports for every spot.

🗺️ Explore the full Urbex Russia Map →