On a frozen island about 1,000 km south of the North Pole stands the world’s northernmost Lenin statue. Vladimir Ilych’s likeness overlooks the Nordenskiold glacier, the frigid Billefjord, and the empty Russian town of Pyramiden.The town, which was once the largest settlement on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, was abruptly abandoned in 1998.
The Arctic Institute’s article will examine how the Russian settlements came to be in the Norwegian Far North and why they are still maintained despite operating at a deficit.
Read it in full at The Arctic Institute.