Solo in Norilsk - Russia’s Most Polluted Closed City

In summer 2022 I went to one of my most desirable travel destinations - Norilsk. Norilsk is a closed city in Russian arctic which is famous for being one of the most polluted cities in the world. Norilsk is one of the most remote towns on the planet, located deep in the northernmost parts of Siberia, within the Arctic Circle. Accessible only by air, there are no roads to connect it to wider Russia, making it highly closed-off from the outside world. The town was built during the 1930s, as the site of a Gulag labour camp. Most of the housing blocks and main buildings were built by prisoners, who were forced to work all hours of the day in gruelling sub-zero temperatures. According to archives, it is estimated that 16,806 prisoners died under these cruel conditions, between the years of 1935-1956. The Norilsk Nickel corporation is in many ways a de facto governing body over the local population, employing a large percentage of residents and exercising tight control over the rights and rule