Russia's ghost towns are among the most extraordinary abandoned places on earth — entire cities emptied in a matter of years, their streets, apartment blocks, cinemas, and schools left standing exactly as the last residents departed. Toys on floors. Calendars on walls. Curtains in windows. Here are the 5 best abandoned ghost towns in Russia, selected from our Urbex Russia Map — 500+ GPS locations across Russia.

Why Russia Has More Ghost Towns Than Any Other Country

No country produced ghost towns at Russia's scale or speed. The Soviet Union built entire cities for single industries — coal, uranium, gold, copper — in places no rational economy would have chosen. When those industries became unviable after 1991, cities of tens of thousands became economically worthless overnight. The government subsidised residents to leave. The buildings stayed. Russia now has hundreds of officially depopulated urban areas — from Arctic mining towns to Siberian coal cities — most of which have never been documented.

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

1. Kadykchan – The Gulag Ghost Town of the Road of Bones, Magadan Oblast (Known Location)

The most internationally documented ghost town in Russia. Kadykchan was a coal mining city of 10,000 built by Gulag prisoners in the 1940s on the Road of Bones in Far East Siberia. The personal belongings its residents left behind are what make it extraordinary — toys still on the floors of children's rooms, books still on shelves, a Lenin monument standing alone in the abandoned town square, and a cinema whose last screening was never finished. The city was officially depopulated by 2010. No one has lived here since.

👉 Story: Built by Gulag prisoners in the 1940s on coal deposits along the Kolyma Highway. Mine explosion in 1996 killed six workers. Second mine closed as unviable. Government subsidised entire population to relocate. Officially depopulated 2010.

🔗 More on Kadykchan: Wikipedia – Kadykchan

2. Mologa – Russia's Atlantis, Yaroslavl Oblast (Known Location)

The most haunting ghost town in Russia — because it no longer exists above water. Mologa was a prosperous Volga trading town founded in the 12th century with 7,000 residents, 900 buildings, and 11 factories. In 1940, Stalin ordered it flooded to create the Rybinsk Reservoir. 294 residents refused evacuation orders and drowned with their city. When water levels drop in dry summers, the tops of church towers and rooftops emerge from the surface of the reservoir — streets, foundations, and debris visible to divers below.

👉 Story: Founded 12th century. Deliberately flooded 1940–1946 for the Rybinsk hydroelectric dam. 130,000 people displaced. 294 refused evacuation and drowned. When the reservoir level drops, the ruins surface. Accessible by boat excursion from Rybinsk, 270 km north of Moscow.

🔗 Also read: Top 5 Abandoned Places in Russia →

3. The Abandoned Kamchatka Submarine Base Town – Bechevinka (Exclusive on our Map)

A complete military town in Bechevinskaya Bay on Kamchatka — apartment blocks, a cultural centre, a school, and a naval base — emptied in 1996 when the military unit was disbanded and the town declared unnecessary. Accessible only by sea or helicopter, it stands in a spectacular volcanic bay with no roads connecting it to the outside world.

👉 Story: Built in the 1960s to house the families of Soviet naval personnel stationed at the Bechevinka submarine base. When the Soviet Union collapsed and the base was disbanded in 1996, the entire town was simply abandoned — no road to drive away on, no buyer for the buildings. Exact location available on our Urbex Russia Map.

4. The Abandoned Arctic Mining Town – Iultin, Chukotka (Exclusive on our Map)

A former tungsten and tin mining town above the Arctic Circle in Chukotka — apartment blocks, a cultural house, a school, and a mining administration building standing empty on the tundra since the early 1990s, when the mines were closed and the population of several thousand was relocated south.

👉 Story: Built to exploit Chukotka's tungsten deposits during the Soviet mineral extraction drive. When mines became unviable after 1991, the entire population was evacuated and the town declared "without a future." One of the most remote ghost towns in Russia — reachable only by helicopter or in winter by tracked vehicle. Exact location available on our Urbex Russia Map.

5. The Abandoned Vorkuta Satellite District – Komi Republic (Exclusive on our Map)

One of the "necklace" of satellite districts surrounding Vorkuta — completely sealed and abandoned as the city's population fell from 220,000 to under 50,000. Streets of Soviet apartment blocks with curtains still in the windows, a school with textbooks still on the desks, and a district heating plant that kept everything warm until the day it was switched off.

👉 Story: The Vorkuta satellite districts — Severny, Vorgashor, Komsomolsky and others — were sealed progressively as the city's population collapsed after 1991. Each district was closed when it became too costly to maintain heating for the remaining residents. Furniture, personal belongings, and Soviet-era fittings remain inside. Exact location available on our Urbex Russia Map.

Urbex Russia – Safety & Legal Reminder

Ghost towns in Russia carry specific risks beyond standard urbex. Always:

• Research structural conditions before entering any Soviet apartment block — heating system failure accelerates decay significantly
• In Arctic and Siberian ghost towns: prepare for extreme cold and rapid weather changes
• Share your planned location before visiting remote ghost towns — emergency services are non-existent in most of these areas
• Explore with at least one other person
• Respect the spaces and leave no trace

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

❓ FAQ – Ghost Towns Russia

What is the most famous ghost town in Russia?
Kadykchan in Magadan Oblast is the most internationally recognised — a coal mining city of 10,000 built by Gulag prisoners and emptied by 2010, with personal belongings still inside the apartments. Accessible via the Kolyma Highway (Road of Bones) from Magadan, allowing 3 days minimum.

Can you visit Mologa underwater?
Yes — diving excursions to Mologa operate from Rybinsk in summer, when visibility is best. Boat excursions that pass over the submerged site are available year-round from Rybinsk. When the water level drops in dry summers, foundations and rooftops become partially visible from the surface.

What makes Russia's ghost towns different from those in other countries?
Scale and completeness. Russian ghost towns were not farms or small settlements — they were full Soviet cities with hospitals, cinemas, cultural centres, and schools, built for tens of thousands of people. When they were abandoned, they were left intact — not stripped or demolished — because there was no economic incentive to do anything with them.

🎯 Conclusion

Russia's abandoned ghost towns are the most complete urban time capsules on earth — Soviet cities frozen in the moment of departure, their interiors preserved by the Arctic cold and the absence of anyone who cared to clear them. From a coal town on the Road of Bones to a medieval city under a reservoir, every ghost town in Russia is a different kind of disappearance.

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 →