The story of Kadykchan: The abandoned town in Russia’s Far East
Kadykchan was a thriving Soviet coal mining town deep in Russia's Far East, once home to over 10,000 residents living in Soviet-era apartment blocks. Today it stands completely empty, a stark example of how economic collapse and geographic isolation can render entire communities uninhabitable. The town's story reflects the rapid unravelling of Soviet infrastructure when economic logic no longer supported remote operations.
Built during World War II by gulag prisoners working on the infamous "Road of Bones" (the R504 Kolyma Highway), Kadykchan's population peaked at around 15,000 in the early 1990s. Following the USSR's collapse, the town's economic viability crumbled; after one mine closed in 1992 and an explosion killed six workers and forced the closure of the second mine in 1996, the government subsidised residents to leave. Only 200 people remained by the early 2000s, and by the 2010 census, Kadykchan's population had reached zero.
- Remote Soviet coal mining town Kadykchan was completely abandoned by 2010 after economic collapse.
- Population fell from 15,000 to zero as mines closed and USSR's economy collapsed.
- Built by gulag prisoners on the Road of Bones, where thousands died constructing Soviet infrastructure.