Uploaded November 2021 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
The construction of the Salekhard-Igarka railway, now also referred to as the railway of death, was part of the Soviet Gulag system. Building a railway that would span across northern Siberia, connecting the most remote areas of the USSR, was one of Stalin’s most ambitious projects.
❗❗❗ I recently opened a Patreon at patreon.com/davelegenda ❗❗❗
On Patreon, you will be able to enjoy extra content in the form of:
- exclusive full-length videos from Russia and the Former Soviet Union
- blooper scenes and funny moments
- deleted scenes
Going back to the Arctic railway in this video - around 100,000 gulag prisoners worked on the project, before it was eventually abandoned after Stalin’s death.
The only section of the railway that was completed and is still in operation nowadays is the one that connects Vorkuta to Labytnangi, on the shore of the river Ob.
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
📷 INSTA: instagram.com/davelegenda
🟦 FB: facebook.com/LEGENDTRAV/
🎵 Tik Tok: tiktok.com/@davelegenda
This railway line lies entirely within the Arctic Circle and has a really fascinating, albeit sad, history - that is why I decided, as a lone foreigner, to buy a ticket for the 300-kilometre journey from Vorkuta to Labytnangi.
In my quest to set foot in every single federal subject in Russia, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug was definitely one of them! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram for live updates @davelegenda 📷
Also if you can subscribe and please like this video that would help very much CHEERS THANK YOU :D
Here's where I stand as of now:
Moscow ✔️
Moscow Oblast' ✔️
Saint Petersburg ✔️
Leningradskaya Oblast' ✔️
Vladimirskaya Oblast' ✔️
Yaroslavskaya Oblast' ✔️
Ivanovskaya Oblast' ✔️
Krasnodarskij Kraj ✔️
Tulskaya Oblast' ✔️
Tatarstan Republic ✔️
Tverskaya Oblast' ✔️
Nizhegorodskaya Oblast' ✔️
Kaluzhskaya Oblast' ✔️
Murmanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Smolenskaya Oblast' ✔️
Ryazanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Astrakhanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Kalmykia Republic ✔️
Volgogradskaya Oblast' ✔️
Bryanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Udmurtia Rebublic ✔️
Yekaterinburgskaya Oblast' ✔️
Tyumenskaya Oblast' ✔️
Karelia Republic ✔️
North Ossetia-Alania Republic ✔️
Rostov Oblast' ✔️
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug ✔️
Republic of Crimea ✔️
Sevastopol ✔️
Permskij Kraj ✔️
Chelyabinsk Oblast' ✔️
Kirov Oblast' ✔️
Komi Republic ✔️
Udmurtian Rebublic ✔️
Ulyanovsk Oblast' ✔️
Which means I'm at 35/85. Still 50 to go! Hopefully a lifetime will be enough ⚠️
Labytnangi, the final destination of the train, is located on the opposite side of the river Ob to Salekhard, the capital of the Yamalo-Nenets territory.
As there is no overnight accommodation in Labytnangi, I had to make my way to Salekhard before dark. At those latitudes, there are no bridges on the river Ob: in winter, locals cross the river between Labytnangi and Salekhard by driving on the frozen river surface, whereas in summer there are regular ferries.
In the in-between seasons, when the river is not fully frozen, Salekhard is often isolated from the rest of the world.
The construction of the Salekhard-Igarka railway, now also referred to as the railway of death, was part of the Soviet Gulag system. Building a railway that would span across northern Siberia, connecting the most remote areas of the USSR, was one of Stalin’s most ambitious projects.
❗❗❗ I recently opened a Patreon at patreon.com/davelegenda ❗❗❗
On Patreon, you will be able to enjoy extra content in the form of:
- exclusive full-length videos from Russia and the Former Soviet Union
- blooper scenes and funny moments
- deleted scenes
Going back to the Arctic railway in this video - around 100,000 gulag prisoners worked on the project, before it was eventually abandoned after Stalin’s death.
The only section of the railway that was completed and is still in operation nowadays is the one that connects Vorkuta to Labytnangi, on the shore of the river Ob.
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
📷 INSTA: instagram.com/davelegenda
🟦 FB: facebook.com/LEGENDTRAV/
🎵 Tik Tok: tiktok.com/@davelegenda
This railway line lies entirely within the Arctic Circle and has a really fascinating, albeit sad, history - that is why I decided, as a lone foreigner, to buy a ticket for the 300-kilometre journey from Vorkuta to Labytnangi.
In my quest to set foot in every single federal subject in Russia, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug was definitely one of them! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram for live updates @davelegenda 📷
Also if you can subscribe and please like this video that would help very much CHEERS THANK YOU :D
Here's where I stand as of now:
Moscow ✔️
Moscow Oblast' ✔️
Saint Petersburg ✔️
Leningradskaya Oblast' ✔️
Vladimirskaya Oblast' ✔️
Yaroslavskaya Oblast' ✔️
Ivanovskaya Oblast' ✔️
Krasnodarskij Kraj ✔️
Tulskaya Oblast' ✔️
Tatarstan Republic ✔️
Tverskaya Oblast' ✔️
Nizhegorodskaya Oblast' ✔️
Kaluzhskaya Oblast' ✔️
Murmanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Smolenskaya Oblast' ✔️
Ryazanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Astrakhanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Kalmykia Republic ✔️
Volgogradskaya Oblast' ✔️
Bryanskaya Oblast' ✔️
Udmurtia Rebublic ✔️
Yekaterinburgskaya Oblast' ✔️
Tyumenskaya Oblast' ✔️
Karelia Republic ✔️
North Ossetia-Alania Republic ✔️
Rostov Oblast' ✔️
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug ✔️
Republic of Crimea ✔️
Sevastopol ✔️
Permskij Kraj ✔️
Chelyabinsk Oblast' ✔️
Kirov Oblast' ✔️
Komi Republic ✔️
Udmurtian Rebublic ✔️
Ulyanovsk Oblast' ✔️
Which means I'm at 35/85. Still 50 to go! Hopefully a lifetime will be enough ⚠️
Labytnangi, the final destination of the train, is located on the opposite side of the river Ob to Salekhard, the capital of the Yamalo-Nenets territory.
As there is no overnight accommodation in Labytnangi, I had to make my way to Salekhard before dark. At those latitudes, there are no bridges on the river Ob: in winter, locals cross the river between Labytnangi and Salekhard by driving on the frozen river surface, whereas in summer there are regular ferries.
In the in-between seasons, when the river is not fully frozen, Salekhard is often isolated from the rest of the world.
