Unknown Russia / Current Time

Produced by Unknown Russia / Current Time

• 25 January 2022

  No Nickel In Nikel? A Russian Mining Town Faces Steep Decline

  For decades, nickel mining and smelting in the northern Russian town of Nikel provided a living for its residents and vast wealth for the company's owners. But since the town's large smelting plant was shut down over environmental concerns, residents have been wondering what the future holds.

• 20 August 2021

  The Antlers Of Altai: Siberia's Controversial Harvest

  Russians living in Siberia’s Altai mountains make a living by cutting the antlers off Maral deers. The dried antlers are sold for more than $300 per kilogram to China and South Korea where people believe they help boost libido and longevity. But animal rights groups call the practice cruel.

• 26 July 2021

  The Russian Village Of 'Muddy Continent' Sinks In A Quagmire Of Problems

  In Russia's Komi region, the village of Mutny Materik -- or Muddy Continent -- stands in the swamps along the Pechora River, without paved roads or a sewer system. The town's name was recently recognized as the funniest in Russia, but locals find the conditions of life here are no laughing matter.

• 15 July 2021

  Kamchatka: Mysterious Land Of Volcanoes, Bears, And Secret Military Bases

  The Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East is one of the world's wildest places, where researchers keep watch over active volcanoes and hunters come in search of big game. It's also home to a secretive military facility where ballistic missile tests disturb the pristine environment.

• 31 May 2021

  Dyatlov Pass Mystery: 1959 Deaths In Russia Still Spark Speculation And Tourism

  The mysterious deaths of nine Soviet hikers in the Ural Mountains in 1959 has inspired many movies and documentaries. To this day, journalists and tourists come to Russia's Sverdlovsk region to follow the expedition's route and reach the infamous Dyatlov Pass.

• 22 April 2021

  Neutrino Hunters Use Lake Baikal's Depths In Search For Mysterious Particles

  Far below the ice of Lake Baikal in Siberia lies a telescope used to search for neutrinos. These cosmic particles can pass through the Earth undetected, but in rare cases they emit radiation that can be measured in large bodies of water.

• 19 March 2021

  Dangerous Wealth: Russians Fear Contamination From Uranium Fields

  Russia's remote Kurgan region, near Kazakhstan, is the location of about one-sixth of the country's uranium reserves. A subsidiary of the state nuclear agency is expanding its operations there. But for many local residents, the growth of the mines means not greater wealth, but greater dangers.

• 12 February 2021

  The Tiny Russian Village That Lives In A Five-Story Building

  Almost the entire population of the tiny village of Karmadon has lived for decades in a five-story building. After the Georgian-Ossetian conflict in the early 1990s, many of the villagers lost their jobs in the nearby sanatorium.

• 01 February 2021

  Abandoned Homes, Crumbling Infrastructure In A Dying Russian Town

  Syava was once a thriving town of 10,000 people some 730 kilometers east of Moscow. But it's dying. After the main factory went bankrupt, rail service stopped, the main hospital closed, and the streets are lined with abandoned houses.

• 14 January 2021

  In Russia's Urals, Abandoned Industrial Towns Are Reclaimed By Forest

  In Russia's Urals region, towns that once churned out industrial chemicals and coal are now largely abandoned. Verkhnyaya Gubakha was once a thriving city of more than 30,000, but the population has dwindled, and the landscape is returning to forested taiga.

• 25 December 2020

  The Circum-Baikal Railway: A 'Golden' Treasure Of Russian Transport

  The Circum-Baikal Railway was a feat of engineering when it was built during the reign of Russia's Tsar Nicholas II. Today, the route beside the world's deepest lake is used more for tourism than for transportation, but it still inspires visitors with its stunning views.

• 17 December 2020

  Mysteries Of The Tunguska Meteorite In Siberia's Thinning Forests

  Siberia's Evenk region is larger than any European country but it is home to only around 17,000 people. It's so vast and remote that scientists have spent decades searching and failing to find one of the largest meteorites ever to fall to Earth -- the Tunguska meteorite.

• 01 December 2020

  Soil To Sand: The Desertification Of Russia's Nogai Steppe

  Desertification and overgrazing are threatening the Nogai steppe in the Russia's Republic of Daghestan. The way of life for the ethnic Nogai people is at risk as shifting sand dunes swallow up pastures, farmland, and even homes.

• 14 August 2020

  'An Ecological Bomb': Russians Living With The Legacy Of A Dangerous Dump

  Residents of the city of Aleksandrov, north of Moscow, say they want a giant landfill site closed permanently, claiming it's a health hazard.

• 05 August 2020

  Scallops And Solitude: Life In Russia's Remote Far East

  The Gamov Peninsula is an isolated region in Russia's Far East , with influences from neighboring Japan, China, and North and South Korea. But the hardy few who live there cherish their solitude and are glad to be off the authorities' radar.