Two biplanes of the Team Breitling cross during a training flight prior the AIR14 air show in Payerne, Switzerland, August 29, 2014. (Photo by Peter Schneider/EPA)

A competitor shows her tattoos at the MBK Tattoo Contest in a shopping mall in Bangkok October 23, 2014. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

An aerial view shows a sinkhole 3.5 km (2 miles) to the east of Solikamsk-2 mine in Perm region, November 20, 2014. Shares in Russia's Uralkali, the world's top potash producer, fell sharply for a second day on Wednesday after a mine accident that could reduce global supplies and push up prices of the crop nutrient worldwide. Uralkali shares have fallen 28 percent since Tuesday when it suspended work at its Solikamsk-2 mine, which accounts for a fifth of the company's output and 3.5 percent of global capacity, following an inflow of water. A sinkhole, stretching 30 by 40 metres (yards), found at an abandoned mine 3.5 km (2 miles) to the east, increased concern about the future of the mine because an inflow of water and the resulting sinkhole in 2006 forced another Uralkali operation to shut permanently. (Photo by Reuters/Press service of Uralkali company)

A woman is tattooed by an artist during Warsaw Tattoo Convention 2014 in Warsaw November 29, 2014. (Photo by Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

Kevin and Merith Starren have their picture taken by Merith's brother Mark Ernst (R) and nephew Logan Ernst (L) in front of a 50-foot snowman named “Granddaddy” in Gilman, Minnesota, March 6, 2014. (Photo by Eric Miller/Reuters)

In this image released on October 1, Russian model Irina Shayk is seen onstage during Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 presented by Amazon Prime Video at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California; and broadcast on October 2, 2020. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 Presented by Amazon Prime Video)

Mount Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy on February 21, 2021 sending plumes of ash and spewing lava into air. There was a major increase in volcanic activity that led to a paroxysmal event at the Southeast crater for the fourth time in the past six days. (Photo by Wead/Alamy Live News)

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.