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.

Students of the "Escola de Papai Noel do Brasil" (Brazil's school of Santa Claus) travel on a ferry through Guanabara bay, during their graduation ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 10, 2015. The school holds 4 days' lessons in Santa-training, teaching Christmas carols, how to interact with children, and also how to wear the heavy red suit in Rio's typical 104-degree (40 degrees celsius) summer weather that is common around the holidays. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

A reveller covered in paint takes part during the annual Cascamorras festival in Guadix, southern Spain September 9, 2015. The festival was inspired by a dispute between the town of Baza and Guadix over the possession of an icon of the Virgin of Piedad. The Cascamorras refers to representatives from Guadix, who were sent to Baza to recover the statue. As the Cascamorras had to stay perfectly clean to gain possession of the statue, Baza residents attempt to make them as “dirty” as possible. (Photo by Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters)

Migrants storm into a train at the Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary, September 3, 2015 as Hungarian police withdrew from the gates after two days of blocking their entry. (Photo by Laszlo Balogh/Reuters)

In this January 23, 2021, file photo, a police officer detains a young woman during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Pushkin square in Moscow, Russia. Allies of Navalny are calling for new protests next weekend to demand his release, following a wave of demonstrations across the country that brought out tens of thousands in a defiant challenge to President Vladimir Putin. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo/File)

US singer Willow Smith attends the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 94th Oscars at the The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California on March 27, 2022. (Photo by willowsmith/Instagram)

Women wearing historical costumes walk past a tank before a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Saint Petersburg, Russia on April 28, 2022. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

American actress and singer Victoria Justice thanks Alabama for “the good times” early May 2022. (Photo by victoriajustice/Instagram)