Vladimir Putin trying to turn gulag camps into Russian holiday hotspots
In a bid to bolster his ruinous economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin is opening the home of his gulag camps into tourist package holidays.
Since the brute invaded Ukraine in 2022, visa restrictions and closed European airspace have slimmed down the chance for Russians to travel abroad for holidays. Now the government has decided to invest in making the Far East, known for its Stalin-era Gulag prison camps, a new holiday hotspot.
The Times reports that a 2,000-room resort dubbed the Three Volcanoes will be built and 170 newly safety-certified hiking routes have been mapped out. Those wishing to visit from the capital Moscow can now board one of the new routes with Aeroflot. A flight of eight and a half hours to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is just 15,000 roubles (£130).
Authorities are trying to promote the region as the perfect place for those seeking "active, adventure-filled tourism amidst wild nature." But it was just in October that Russians were told they would be sent to the region as a punishment if they said they backed Ukraine in the war. Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Duma, said: "Those who left the country and committed despicable acts, wishing victory to the bloody Nazi Kyiv regime, should realise that no one is waiting for them here - but if they do come back, then Magadan will be provided for them."
Magadan is a city in the far north, synonymous with the Gulag. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the author of "The Gulag Archipelago", described this area as "the pole of cold and cruelty." The Times notes that previous attempts to develop the Far East by Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin and Dmitry Medvedev all failed. Dr Natasha Kuhrt, senior lecturer in international peace and security at King’s College London, told the paper that "little has been achieved."
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Airport terminal at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City (Getty Images)An article last month in the state-run news agency TASS declared the 2023-24 ski season in Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Region open. An official told the publication: "This year, outdoor enthusiasts will be able to enjoy seven ski slopes and Kamchatka’s only chairlift." The article boasted about nine ski centres in the region, with 27 ski trails totalling about 380 kilometres.
In another sign of promoting the area, a recent state-run competition asked young Russians to document their travels in the Far East on film for a chance to win a whopping prize of three million roubles (£26,000). The winner, from the North Korean border region of Primorsky Krai, completed a 17-day solo kayak in the bay around Vladivostok, facing two storms and constant winds. The area’s first five-star hotel is due to open this year in Petropavlovsk, the capital city of the remote Kamchatka region.
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