Leningradsky () is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Iultinsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, about west of Mys Shmidta. Population:
History The settlement was founded in order to provide accommodation for the workers and administrators of the nearby gold mines. When it was decided that the mines were no longer economically viable, the settlement was slated to be officially liquidated in 1998,Leningradsky – www.dead-cities.ru a few years after it was decided to liquidate the neighbouring settlement of Polyarny,Постановление Правительства РФ от 24 мая 1995 г. N 518 О мерах социальной защиты населения поселка Полярный Шмидтовского района Чукотского автономного округа, связанной с ликвидацией поселка и переходом Полярнинского горно-обогатительного комбината на новую технологию добычи золота. (On measures for the social protection of the population of Polyarny, Shmidtovsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, associated with the elimination of the village, the Polyarninskogo ore-dressing and processing enterprise and on new technology of extracting gold). another settlement established purely to exploit the mineral wealth of the area.
Once the mines were declared unprofitable and that there was no possibility of developing any other form of economy in 1999 and the settlement was closed along with a number of others in Chukotka.Постановление Правительства РФ от 2 февраля 1998 г. N 128 О мерах социальной защиты населения ликвидируемых поселков золотодобытчиков в Чукотском автономном округe (Russian Federation Government resolution dated February 2, 1998 No. 128 on measures of social protection of the population of liquidating estates gold miners in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug "Russian Federation Government resolution dated February 2, 1998 No. 128 on measures of social protection of the population of liquidating estates gold miners in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug). The Russian government guaranteed funds to transport non-working pensioners and the unemployed in liquidated settlements including Leningradsky from Chukotka to other parts of Russia. The Ministry of railways was obliged to lease containers for the transportation of the migrants' goods to the Chukotkan administration and ensure that they were delivered to the various settlements. The population table below shows the impact on the settlement as a result of the closure of the mines.
Demographic Evolution 1979 1989 2002 2665Перепись населения СССР 1979 года 1979 census of the Soviet Union 3606 Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность городского населения РСФСР, ее территориальных единиц, городских поселений и городских районов по полу All-Union census, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, in the federal districts, towns, rural settlements and regional centres with a population of more than 3,000. 764Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек 2002 Russian Census
The population was moved to other regions within the country however, due to a lack of suitable housing in many of these regions there was still a small population living in the settlement in 2000, hoping to become eligible for housing subsidy.
In 2005, there was a rebellion by a group of soldiers in the region. Drunk and bored with their duties in the far north, they took weapons and vodka and went to Leningradsky, seized the local store there and began to have a party, drinking and firing shots into the air. The police and FSB were notified and a seven-hour battle took place with fatalities on both sides before the rebellion was quashed.Newspaper report on soldiers' rebellion
Economy The population's occupations are primarily fishing in the nearby Chukchi Sea and gold mining, with the region's three main prospecting teams – Polyarnaya, Arktika and Shakhtar, being based in Leningradsky.Strogoff, p.34 Mys Shmidta Airport is located to the east of the town on the outskirts of Mys Shmidta and along with the port is the prime means of supply for the settlement. Leningradsky is currently in the process of being liquidated.Law #33, Article 14.2 The prospecting team Shakhtar has been employing about 50 men for the last two decades,Dmitry Likhanov, Russia's Gold Coast Photo-journalism article from Russia: Beyond the Headlines, Rossiyskaya Gazeta mostly from Ukraine who spend six months a year working in Chukotka and then six back at home on the "mainland". The gold is mined alluvially, with a ton of rock having to be washed to produce a gram of gold.
Transport Leningradsky is not connected by road to anywhere else but there is a small road system within the settlement, including:Leningradsky, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Pochtovik Mail Delivery Service
улица Ладного (Ulitsa Ladnogo) улица Молодежная (Ulitsa Molodezhnaya, lit. Youth Street) улица Октябрьская (Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya, lit October Street) улица Первооткрывателей (Ulitsa Pervoyotkrivateley, lit. Explorers Street) улица Прибрежная (Ulitsa Pribrezhnaya, lit. Coastal Street) улица Транспортная (Ulitsa Transportnaya, lit. Transport Street) улица Шахтерская (Ulitsa Shakhtyorskaya, lit. Miners Street)
Climate Leningradsky has a tundra climate (ET) with short, chilly summers and long, bitterly cold winters that last most of the year.
See also List of inhabited localities in Iultinsky District
References
Notes
Sources
M. Strogoff, P-C Brochet, and D. Auzias Petit Futé: Chukotka (2006). "Avant-Garde" Publishing House.
External links Adventures in the Leningradsky area Gold deposits Leningradsky photo gallery Film about life in Leningradsky and Polyarny: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 More photos of Leningradsky