Semipalatinsk on Vice

  • Siberia's Most Depressing Town Is Actually Quite Nice

    Semipalatinsk, or “Semey,” as it was recently renamed, is a town in Kazakh Siberia so desolate that being sentenced to exile there was thought to be one of the cruelest penalties the Soviet Union could dole out. It was considered such a shitty place, in fact, that in 1949 the town became the main testing site for the regime's nuclear weapons. Times have changed though, and now it's actually a pretty great place. Full story

    2012 Dec 6 Christian Belgaux Photo
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