Life in Russia's city that is falling underground… Perm krai, Berezniki]-[

Hey, this is me. No, not the bird. It's been quite a while since I haven't been in Russia Now I came back and I found myself in the city, which is literally falling underground more about it later Recently, I returned from Australia and my other travels to spend some time with my family and to explore the region where I was born And grew up the Urals or the Ural Mountains region. I will start my journey in my hometown I Brought some presents from Australia, of course my niece and nephew asked to bring them And also this book about Animals of Australia. Got it for free in the streets of Sydney And of course this I think this is enough You guys know that I love Vegemite I just realized that I'm that aunt who is always away somewhere No one knows where she is at the moment And then she always comes back with interesting stories to tell like skiing on watermelons in Australia We decided to take a walk by the river and also to take a boat on Kama what perm is known for well Here are some facts about it Russian money is printed here in Gosnak company and not only Russian money But also money for more than 30 countries on all the continents except Australia Also, it's famous for per motors aircraft and machine engines production ballet Academy and a theater Oh and the geological period in the history of the earth is also named perm The name was given due to the fact that the first time geological traces of this era were discovered in the perm province one of the main landmarks of perm city is this inscription which says Happiness isn't beyond the mountains Happiness is close by Kama is one of the biggest rivers in the European parts of Russia It flows through five regions perm cry Kirov cry would Murtia Bashkortostan and Tatarstan I Decided to explore more of perm cry and I took three hours bus to the second biggest city in the region Berezhniki from first glance. I don't see anything special about the city Buildings shopping mall Pharmacies a little nuance about Berezhniki city is that it's going underground dragging plants roads vehicles and buildings down Yeah, this part of the city is completely Abandoned only Empty buildings garages. No people at all. But I think that there should be Guardians because they have checkpoints near every hole. There is a huge fence and Barbed wire here. I feel like I'm the only person left in the whole city and it's a very weird feeling I don't feel comfortable here I feel like any moment this ground is gonna fall or how does it work? Is it that dangerous? Can it happen any moment behind this fence? I see plans Residential buildings, but all this area is fenced So I think those buildings weren't destroyed But anyways, this area is considered very dangerous so you can't go anywhere Beyond this fence one guardian just came up to me couldn't film of course, and I had to delete some videos So yeah guys You cannot film here. Absolutely forbidden not only beyond the fence But also nearby area a thing that I cannot understand is Why you can't film that hole? I understand why it's forbidden to go there. It's dangerous But why is it so so protected there are so many guardians who say do not film and Also many people in the city were scared of talking about these holes There's something going on here No Berezniki city is divided into districts according to the degree of Danger of being there because of the vicinity to some hole and there is one maybe just 50 meters away from here It's named hole number three I think they're named according to the order when they appeared or Because of the probability of a potential hole and houses which are too close to these holes Started to have cracks in them. So all the people were Relocated to another area specially built because of this situation so there are lots of Abandoned houses here really not pleasant to be here So what is happening in this city in 1986 during the years of the Soviet time 11 kilometers from the center of the city water began to seep Into one of the potash mines they closed the mine But nothing was done about the flooding and this caused a huge Hole the ground just went down and then for the next 20 years Nothing else happened and the mines worked as usual however two decades later in 2006 the situation repeated itself water began to seep into another mine and a new hole with initial depth of 15 meters Appeared but the next day there was a powerful release of hydrogen sulfide which scattered pieces of earth for tens of meters around This release provoked a further increase in the hole and gradually nearby buildings also started to fall underground This is the former railway station of Berezhniki former because in 2010 when a train was moving in the area near the station the ground just Collapsed and one of the railway carriages went underground and there were no victims Only because this was a freight train. Otherwise, this would be a huge tragedy and since then Nothing was done and the railway was just closed and now Berezhniki is basically cut off from other cities of Russia by railway 11 holes in and around the city overall appeared by now There are no victims except one man who worked on a bulldozer when they wanted to fill up one of the holes But the bulldozer was gone in the hole despite this whole tragic Situation of the city people give these holes funny names dining rostrinik Bolshoi brat malysh croco And then you see something that you didn't expect at all This is perm cries Domestic blue lagoon or the locals call it the white sea Wait, but something is wrong here again. Those aren't palm trees but plants I shouldn't be here. So I will try to explain fast This is the waste reservoir of Berezhniki soda plant The first soda plant was launched in Russia by merchant Lyubimov in the end of 19th century and in 1923, it was named Abrazovi Zavod, which means exemplary plant named after the comrade Lenin and then this soda plant gave life to the city Berezhniki when many people came to work here a very modern Village for those times was built here and to neutralize the waste of such gigantic chemical industries a sludge storage was built into which the sludge was poured both by the soda plant and by other nearby enterprises mixing and neutralizing they precipitated forming such an unusual color and of course, of course You cannot swim there. So it's Really a contrast because right there I see the Kama River where people swim go fishing and here is a Natural disaster created by people. So I still have a question How come locals aren't scared to live in this human-made disaster? It was not like that in our city. Can't it be that someone's house or building will collapse? It was not like that. And I hope it won't be like that because Ural Cali records all this and I think that this will never happen to us. They say that there are cracks in the houses. Well, how strong are the cracks in the houses? They are demolished and resettled. How many years have you lived in Berezhniki? 27 years. Before that I lived in the city of Kizilya. And why did you move here? Because there was no work, the mines were closed. And what was here? And here are also mines. It turns out that it is very dangerous to work there? Mines are dangerous everywhere. Isn't it dangerous to live here at all? Yes, no, of course. Everywhere it is tracked where the buildings are laid. Therefore, where the landslides began, first of all, these places people were removed from there. Resettled, resettled. All this is monitored. How many houses have already been resettled here in Berezhniki. All the landslides that happened happened in those places where there were initial works. That is, in the 50s. That is, which were closest to the level of the earth. And is everything good with your house? With our house, well, it seems like nothing yet. That is, there is no such thing that it is scary to live here? No, it's just some kind of fake. It can't be that we are talking to you now, and suddenly you are gone. Monitoring is being carried out for everyone. I hiked to Everest Base Camp. I am so grateful and I appreciate that I have this blessing and opportunity to accomplish my dreams. But at the same time, I feel lost. Like, I don't have goals anymore. So, I came home now to spend time with my family, to reflect. But I don't know what to do next with my life. Anyone else doesn't know what to do with their lives? Or is it just me? By the way, it is beautiful here. Also, if you read the news about Russia, it is so scary! It's really scary! But when I come here, the life is just as normal. So, it's very, very confusing. I feel weird. I really don't know what to do next with my life, where to go. That's what I have to figure out in the next few months. So, I was finishing to edit this video and when I watched it, I thought that it was so depressing! At first place, I was very gloomy and sad about something while filming it. And to add up, I found the most depressing place in Russia probably. The city is literally falling underground. I found some beautiful places there as well. The nature was super pretty, with the river. And I also went to the mansion of the richest family of Russia of the 17th-18th century, the Stroganovs. But the mansion turned out to be not very interesting. And the whole video turned out to be about holes. I still haven't figured out plans for my life. But I did plan it out for this summer. And I decided to travel in the Urals region of Russia. And I already visited the region Udmurtia, where one of the most interesting and unique ethnic groups of Russia lives, the Udmurts. So, in the next videos, I will share their life and customs. And I will explore more regions in the Urals. And I also, hopefully, will join two expeditions with the Russian Geographical Society soon and go to some really remote places of Russia, where tourists can't actually visit. So, it's gonna be some very unique content. Stay tuned. Yes, and in conclusion, I want to add maybe also for people who feel lost, just like me, that sometimes you don't know what to do next exactly, or maybe you feel like your dreams and plans are all falling in some hole, just like Berezniki city. But the most important thing is not to be stuck in your past or in one place, but to always move. Because any step forward is the step in the right direction. Well, thank you for watching. Let me know if you've ever visited the city of Perm, or if you would like to visit it. I don't think that you would like to visit Berezniki. And also tell me what would you like to see more of from the Urals region of Russia in my upcoming videos.