Chechnya 2008
Abkhazia 2008
Oil Spill at Tuzla
THE VANISHING RUSSIA
Anna Politkovskaya
BELARUS
BOLSHOI RENOVATION
Unburied WWII Bones
Lake Disappears
Jews in Moscow
Iceland

  THE VANISHING RUSSIA
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An unused well in front of an abandoned house in the village of Kstinovo 210km north of Moscow. There remains only one inhabited structure among two lanes of gray lopsided houses which once were a village. On the recent map of the Tver region more than 1,400 villages are marked as uninhabited. The number of people in the region shrank by about 250,000 since 1989, with the death rate twice exceeding the birthrate.
Antonina Makarova, 78, is the last and only resident of the village of Kstinovo, 210 km north of Moscow in the Tver region. Makarova says all the other residents have died or moved away. On the recent map of the Tver region more than 1,400 villages are marked as uninhabited. The number of people in the region shrank by about 250,000 since 1989, with the death rate twice exceeding the birthrate.
Signs of abandon, neglect and decay: mushrooms growing inside a water well in the village of Kstinovo 210 km north of Moscow. There remains only one inhabited structure among two lanes of gray lopsided houses which once were a village. On the recent map of the Tver region more than 1,400 villages are marked as uninhabited. The number of people in the region shrank by about 250,000 since 1989, with the death rate twice exceeding the birthrate.
A lonely hunter seen through the ruins of a house in an abandoned village of Kstinovo, 210 km north of Moscow. On the current map of the Tver region more than 1,400 villages are marked as uninhabited.
A lonely hunter skis through the abandoned village of Kstinovo, 210 km north of Moscow. Andrei Dvoychenkov, 40, hunter from the village of Syrkino, 4 miles away from Kstinovo, comes here to hunt foxes and hares.
A lonely hunter skiing through the deserted village of Kstinovo, 210 km north of Moscow, as seen through a window of an abandoned house. On the current map of the Tver region more than 1,400 villages are marked as uninhabited.
A photo of a former resident or a friend of a resident of the village of Kstinovo found in an abandoned house in the village. The hand-written note on the back of the photograph reads:
Signs of abandon, neglect and decay: on awooden stool in front there lies a broken-glass frame with old photographs of the people who used to live in this now abandoned house in the village of Kstinovo 210 km north of Moscow. There remains only one inhabited structure among two lanes of gray lopsided houses which once were a village. On the recent map of the Tver region more than 1,400 villages are marked as uninhabited. The number of people in the region shrank by about 250,000 since 1989, with the death rate twice exceeding the birthrate.
A photo of former residents of the village of Kstinovo found in an abandoned house in the village.
   
  All photographs on this site were shot by Sergei L. Loiko. designed by : Impress Vision