Vorkuta: How the legendary Russian Arctic Circle city lives today

One of the buildings we approach is dubbed "the creepiest" in the city. It’s a paneled high-rise with boarded-up windows and a worn-out slogan on the roof saying: "Glory to the conquerors of the Polar Regions".  It's scary, but we venture inside. We are met by half-decayed flights of stairs and long dim corridors.

The silence is broken by someone's timid footsteps upstairs. On the second floor, a black kitty jumps out at us, chuckling wickedly. Our hearts stop and we run as fast as we can. But, as soon as we get out into the street, there is no trace of fear left. Vorkuta is completely different – lively, fun and cheerful!

The warmth of a northern city

We arrive in Vorkuta, the world's fourth largest city above the Arctic Circle, in the last days of November and immediately find ourselves at the ‘Festival of the North’. It was amazing to see reindeer running down the central street in minus 20-degree Celsius cold!

It turns out that, every year, northern peoples – Komi, Nenets, Khanty – visit from the tundra in order to introduce their traditions to the urban citizens.

This year’s sled races were held on the eve of Vorkuta’s 80th anniversary celebrations and attracted thousands of spectators.

We had the opportunity to talk not only to local residents, but also to those who had left the city long ago. And do you know what phrase they told us most often? “There are no people like those in Vorkuta anywhere else.”

The city of youth

“We built this city for 250,000-300,000 residents. We had a premonition that young people would grow up here, who would play sports, who would prepare themselves for any challenges. A city of romantics, a city of dreamers, that’s why there are so many buildings and structures dedicated to youth,” says Mikhail Peimer, a man who has been building Vorkuta almost from its very foundation.

In February 2023, Mikhail Nikolayevich celebrated his 100th birthday. A young officer, a graduate of the Moscow Military School of Rocket Artillerymen, he went through the entire Great Patriotic War. Twenty days before the Victory, when he was stationed at Konigsberg (Kaliningrad), he was accused of anti-Soviet agitation and sentenced to 10 years in camps. That's how he ended up in Vorkuta.

He was rehabilitated and got his awards back after Stalin's death. Nevertheless, he stayed and worked in Vorkuta until 1984, when he retired. Now, he lives in Yaroslavl, the city of his childhood. He talks to young people, writes books and runs social media pages.

He came to Vorkuta with his friend, also a retired engineer from Vorkuta.

Russia’s deepest coal mine

The work of many residents of the city is connected with the Vorkutaugol Combine, the largest in our country.

It includes four mines (Vorgashorskaya, Vorkutinskaya, Zapolyarnaya, Komsomolskaya), Yunyaginsky coal mine, coal preparation plant, Vorkuta Mechanical Plant, where all mining and tunneling equipment is repaired.

“The first time I went down into the mine was in 2005 and I liked it," Oleg Garanin, director of the Komsomolskaya mine, told us. “I went through all professions from underground electrician to director!”

Komsomolskaya is the deepest coal mine in Russia, with a depth of over 1,100 meters. It takes about 10 minutes to descend by elevator – and that’s only to the first depth.

About 1,000 people work there and almost all of them are permanent residents of Vorkuta, not contract workers. Medical check-ups, meanwhile, are mandatory. Daily entry and exit is strictly monitored and a breathalyzer is even used. Everyone must abide by the "Zero alcohol law", including management, as he and his deputies also often have to go down the mine.

A pearl of the Arctic Circle

Back in the 1930s, geologists discovered high quality coal with low sulfur content in the Northern Urals.

This is the kind of coking coal needed for metallurgy. It is used to heat up blast furnaces where pig iron is made. And, even today, these are the largest coal reserves in Europe with more than 4 billion tons!

The construction of Vorkuta began with prisoners. The number of ‘Vorkutlag’ (‘Vorkuta Corrective Labor Camp’, a major Gulag labor camp) prisoners reached up to 70,000 people. Among them were representatives of many nations, for which Vorkuta was often notoriously dubbed “the capital of the world”.

In 1943, the settlement received the status of a town and a big construction project began. And, after Stalin's death, when the camps were disbanded (more on that here), young Komsomol members from all over the country began to flock there. And so, a “ring” of coal mines and working settlements was built around Vorkuta.

The general building plan was approved in 1956. Like Norilsk, Vorkuta was built according to the designs of Leningrad school architects. 

It is worth walking along Lenin Street to see the magnificent columns of the Miners' Palace of Culture and the Mining Technical School, the monumental Palace of Pioneers, as well as many good brick houses with stores and restaurants on the first floors.

The houses often have Soviet signboards, which add to the atmosphere.

“Controlled compression”

At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the better part of 250,000 people lived in Vorkuta and its vicinity (now only about 60,000 remain). That number was proof that labor in the Far North was highly valued.

But, by 1989, both wages and benefits were cut and a wave of strikes among miners began. And, after the collapse of the USSR, people did not see any money for months. In search of a better life, people began to gradually leave for other cities.

In recent years, the situation has improved somewhat: Specialists who work underground receive 80,000-150,000 rubles (approx. $900-1,600), as well as the right to early retirement and an extended vacation.

Vorkuta has had a "controlled compression" program in place for several years. People from closing settlements are relocated to the city in order to reduce infrastructure maintenance costs.

Russia also has a state program to help residents of the Far North: they can get subsidies to buy housing in other regions, but the waiting line moves for years and life passes.

“The people nicknamed Vorkuta the ‘pearl of the Polar Region',” Mikhail Peimer says. “Although, now it seems that Vorkuta is in some [sort of] oblivion, it is not so. Nobody is forgotten and nothing is forgotten. Vorkuta will get a second life!”

In 2023, the Russian government included Vorkuta in the list of Arctic strongholds. Long-term economic development plans are being developed for them, which should significantly improve the lives of northerners.

There is a huge amount of Soviet industrial and architectural heritage left in Vorkuta. Many tourists visit to see the abandoned ghost settlements on the so-called ‘Vorkuta Ring’. We’ll tell you all about it in the next part! Stay tuned!