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.

Palestinian members of Gaza's Bar Woolf sports team perform with fire above the ruins of a building destroyed in recent Israeli air strikes, in Beit Lahia, on May 26, 2021. A ceasefire was reached late last week after 11 days of deadly violence between Israel and the Hamas movement which runs Gaza, stopping Israel's devastating bombardment on the overcrowded Palestinian coastal enclave which, according to the Gaza health ministry, killed 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, and wounded more than 1,900 people. Meanwhile, rockets from Gaza claimed 12 lives in Israel, including one child and an Israeli soldier. (Photo by Mahmud Hams/AFP Photo)

A Palestinian man rides his horse on the beach at sunset in the northern Gaza City, 18 Novemebr 2021. (Photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA/EFE)

A woman dressed up for Halloween travels on a Metro train in São Paulo, Brazil on October 30, 2017. (Photo by Cris Faga/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Sunset on Brighton beach on February 24, 2019 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Andrew Hasson/Getty Images)

Businesswoman with skirt caught in underwear. Image shot 2008, exact date unknown. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

A woman runs across the street next to an anti-tank constructions in central Kyiv, Ukraine on March 10, 2022. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

A man rides his motorcycle as the sun sets in Basra, Iraq, Monday, May 9, 2022. (Photo by Nabil al-Jurani/AP Photo)