Apocalyptic landscape, pollution, darkness and stagnation: a glimpse into the most oppressive city in the world - where many die at a young age

Norilsk was built on a former Soviet POW camp, where 18,000 prisoners died in appalling working conditions.

It is one of the most polluted towns in the world, with a red river flowing in its center and life expectancy in it a decade lower than the national average.

If so, what still attracts people to live in it?

Here's the reason

Not to be missed

23/06/2022

Thursday, June 23, 2022, 11:50 p.m.

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The most oppressive city in the world - Norilsk in Russia (tiktok)

The Russian city of Norilsk has won the insulting title of "the most oppressive city in the world", but it really does not meet any standard of residence.

Even housing prices in the country are better than it.

The remote Russian mining town of Norilsk, the northernmost city in the world, dark for two months a year, is one of the most polluted towns in the world, with winter temperatures dropping to minus 30 degrees Celsius and its life expectancy lower by a decade than the national average.

It also has a chilling past, with 18,000 prisoners dying in building its infrastructure due to harsh living and working conditions.

Well, did we convince you that in relation to them we have honey?

The remote Russian city built on a former Soviet POW camp is located in the Arctic Freeze, in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia, eastern Russia.

Its inhabitants survive 45 continuous days of darkness a year, suffer from high levels of pollution that reduce the life expectancy of its inhabitants to 59 years and for some reason live alongside a blood-red river, which they see as an apocalyptic sign of a close world war.

More in the area

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To the full article

The excessive pollution has led to a low life expectancy in the national average (Photo: GettyImages, Oleg Nikishin)

Red river in the Russian city of Norilsk.

A sign of world war? (Photo: Screenshot, ZUMAPRESS.com)

The population of the city is 170,000 people, until 2017 they did not have a proper network connection (it would have already broken us) and there is no road leading to it.

In fact, there is only one freight rail coming in and out of it.

The nearest port city, Dudinka, is located 65 kilometers away and provides access to it by sea - but frozen in winter.

The city is so cut off from the world that when the locals leave it they joke that they are "traveling to another continent".

The only access route all year round is a 5-hour flight there from Moscow, which is a little less than 3,000 miles away.

After a long flight, visitors are greeted with a view of a truly apocalyptic hell.

For about two-thirds of the year, the city and its surroundings are covered in snow with temperatures previously peaking at minus 53.1 degrees Celsius.

In summer, however, the sun does not set there for 65 days.

Doesn't look particularly inviting (Photo: GettyImages, Oleg Nikishin)

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Norilsk's story began in the early 20th century when a geologist discovered rich deposits of nickel, copper and cobalt at the foot of the Futorna Mountains.

The city sits on the largest nickel-copper-palladium deposits on Earth, and since 1936 the Soviet Union has spent 20 years building a huge rescue complex in the mountains using about 500,000 forced laborers from the nearby Gulag. From the prisoners.

Today, almost everyone in the city has a connection to the factory, whether they are employed directly by Norilsk Nickel or employed by one of the many companies that rely on it.

The plant produces a fifth of the world's nickel, more than half of the global palladium (metal used for car exhausts and jewelry) and is responsible for about 2% of Russia's total annual GDP.

Today, almost everyone in the city has a connection to the factory (Photo: GettyImages, Oleg Nikishin)

One of the 10 most polluted cities on earth

However, the existence of the huge plant in the city comes at a high price, as it has been declared as the most polluted city in Russia and one of the 10 most polluted cities on the planet.

Every year the nickel plant emits over two million tons of toxic gas, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon, phenols and more.

About 1% of the total global sulfur dioxide emissions come from this city.

It not only causes acid rain to kill many of the surrounding trees, but it also carries a devastating price from Norilsk residents.

The rate of cancer patients in the city is double that of the rest of Russia.

A health study found that the rate of blood diseases in children is 44% higher in Norilsk compared to the average child in Siberia, while the rate of diseases in the nervous system is 38% higher and the rate of bone and muscle diseases is 28% higher.

"Polar T3 syndrome" is very common in the city - a syndrome caused by lack of sun and can cause forgetfulness, mood swings and cognitive impairment.

The plague of Egypt

In September 2016, the nearby Daldikan River turned blood red, with the plausible reason being the drainage of the nearby smelting plant.

Some locals claim it is "a warning from God of an impending world war."

Former factory worker Yevgeny Blickoff was quoted by ABC News as announcing that a water reservoir near the factory was of a similar color and has since been referred to by the Red Sea staff. He said: "In winter, the snow is also painted red.

On the one hand, it looks beautiful, but on the other hand it is chemical and dangerous. "A company spokesman said at the time:" Norilsk Nickel's polar division does not approve a leak of industrial waste into the Daldikan River, one that could have affected its condition.

However, we will carry out environmental monitoring around the river and the company's nearby production facilities. "

On June 3, 2020, a river outside Norilsk turned red again following a massive diesel leak caused by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel.

A leak of more than 20,000 tons of diesel to Ambernia following the collapse of a fuel depot at a power plant led Russian President Vladimir Putin to declare a state of emergency and pass criticism on the subsidiary.

Members of the Marine Rescue Unit in the work of clearing a fuel leak into the river near Norilsk, Russia, June 8, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

"On the one hand, it looks beautiful, but on the other hand it is chemical and dangerous" (Photo: screenshot, ZUMAPRESS.com)

The positive side

With all this, why is it even worth living in this city?

So it is, that the workers at Norilsk Nickel can earn more than 52,000 rubles a month (close to 3,400 shekels), which may not sound like an amount worth living in the most depressing city in the world for him - but compared to the national average in Russia which is about 32,000 rubles a month ( About 2,000 shekels), it is definitely not a bad salary.

The company also claims it is trying to reduce pollution, and in 2017 announced an investment of $ 14 billion in a major development program.

This ambitious plan is designed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions in and around Norilsk by 75% by 2023. However, disruptions created by the Corona plague and the Russian war in Ukraine have left question marks as to whether these aspirations are still achievable.

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