Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.

“Double head vulture”. On the day of windy days during raptors migration some people in my country start to catch these tired raptors, so in this day we go to photograph some raptors and we saw these tow tired vultures, so we start to drag them away from the hunters until they reach a good hidden place, to make them safe until they start a new journey. Photo location: Kuwait. (Photo and caption by Mohd Khorshed/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A group of San Bushmen from the Khomani San community practice their hunter-gatherer craft in the Southern Kalahari desert on October 15, 2009 in the Kalahari, South Africa. One of the largest studies of African genetics by an international team from the University of Pennsylvania, published in April 2009, revealed that the San of Southern Africa are the most genetically diverse on earth, and that the San homeland could be the spot where modern humanity began. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The abandoned 77-metre (250-feet) cargo ship MV Alta is pictured stuck on rocks near the village of Ballycotton south-east of Cork in Southern Ireland on February 18, 2020. A “ghost ship” drifting without a crew for more than a year washed ashore on Ireland's south coast in high seas caused by Storm Dennis, the Republic's coast guard said. (Photo by Cathal Noonan/AFP Photo)

A woman walks past murals adorning the walls of Garibaldi subway station, in Milan, Friday, February 28, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak in northern Italy, the bustling metropolis of Milan has resembled more of a ghost town lately, as workers stayed home and tourism has dwindled there, and other parts of Italy. (Photo by Luca Bruno/AP Photo)

Bella Hadid smiles as she picks up a camera battery which a photographer dropped on the red carpet, before giving it back as she attends the “Ismael's Ghosts (Les Fantomes d'Ismael)” screening and Opening Gala during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2017 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

The sun catches on the panels of a 1928 Rolls Royce Phantom at Northington Grange, the summer home of the Grange Park Opera, on April 16, 2011 near Winchester, England. The English Heritage Grade 1 listed Greek Revival style property was the setting for the inter-war Rolls Royce20-Ghost Club members which was founded in 1949 by a group of owners of vintage Rolls Royce cars. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)