A disinfection worker wearing protective gear sprays disinfectant to a medical worker after they perform swab tests for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during mass test at Islamic boarding school of Sunan Pandanaran on July 29, 2020 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia is struggling to contain hundreds of new daily cases of coronavirus amid easing of rules to allow economic activity to resume, has reported more than 100,000 coronavirus cases and with at least more 4,900 recorded fatalities. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

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.

An illustration showing scarecrows pulling a firewood cart beside a road is on display at Kakashi no Sato, or the Scarecrow's Hometown on September 10, 2014 in Himeji, Japan. In this district of Yasutomi in Himeji city, over 100 of scarecrows stand in farmlands and abandoned houses to illustrate the good old Japanese countryside and attract visitors. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)

“The Lun-class ekranoplan (NATO reporting name Duck) was a ground effect vehicle (GEV) designed by Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeev and used by the Soviet and Russian navies from 1987 until sometime in the late 1990s. It “flew” using the lift generated by the ground effect of its large wings when close to the surface of the water – about four metres or less. Although they might look similar and/or have related technical characteristics, ekranoplans like the Lun are not aircraft, seaplanes, hovercraft, or hydrofoils – ground effect is a separate technology altogether. The International Maritime Organization classifies these vehicles as maritime ships. The name Lun comes from the Russian for harrier”. – Wikipedia (Photo by Igor113)

Arnaq Egede walks to the potato field on her family's farm on July 31, 2013 in Qaqortoq, Greenland. The farm, the largest in Greenland, has seen an extended crop growing season due to climate change. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

First time gun owner, Jessie Palmieri holds a target she shot with a H&K VP9 9mm gun at the Ringmasters of Utah gun range, in Springville, Utah on December 18, 2015. (Photo by George Frey/Reuters)

In this January 24, 2017 photo, boxer Idamerys Moreno wraps a bandage on her hand before a training session at a sports center in Havana, Cuba. Boxing has long been an athletic engine for Cuba, which has won 72 Olympic medals in that category but women are not allowed to box. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

Indian students play with coloured powders as they celebrate “holi” or the “festival of colours” during a special function in Kolkata on March 12, 2017. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours, is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month, and will be celebrated on March 13 this year. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)