Polar bears take over abandoned research station in Russian Arctic
By ReutersSeptember 29, 2025
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Polar bears take over the abandoned Soviet-era research station on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea, in Russia’s far northeast, September 14, 2025, in this still image taken from a drone video. Instagram @makhorov/Handout via REUTERS
Polar bears have taken over an abandoned Soviet polar research station on small island off Russia’s far northeastern cost.
Vadim Makhorov, a travel blogger, used a drone to film the bears roaming in and out of the facility’s scattered buildings in the late summer Arctic sun this month on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea.
One snapped at the drone as it approached. Others playfully poked their heads out of the buildings as they were filmed.
A polar bear reacts at the abandoned Soviet-era research station on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea, in Russia’s far northeast, September 14, 2025, in this still image taken from a drone video. Instagram @makhorov/Handout via REUTERS
“I think they see these houses as shelter from the wind, rain and other things,” Makhorov told Reuters. “In general, they get along fine there.”
Scientists left the research station, which is in an abandoned village, soon after the Soviet Union’s collapse over three decades ago.
A polar bear walks out of a building at the abandoned Soviet-era research station on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea, in Russia’s far northeast, September 14, 2025, in this still image taken from a drone video. Instagram @makhorov/Handout via REUTERSPolar bears take over the abandoned Soviet-era research station on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea, in Russia’s far northeast, September 14, 2025, in this still image taken from a drone video. Instagram @makhorov/Handout via REUTERS
(Writing by Lucy Papachristou, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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