Indonesian Presidential Security Forces (Paspampres) personnel show their skills during an anti terror exercise in Jakarta, Indonesia on 09 April 2015. The drill is in preparation for the 60th Asian-African Conference planned to be held in Jakarta from 21 to 23 April 2015. (Photo by Bagus Indahono/EPA)

Vian Salman, center, smiles with fellow contestants after she was crowned the new Miss Iraq during the Miss Iraq contest in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, May 25, 2017. (Photo by Karim Kadim/AP Photo)

Fighters from the Democratic Forces of Syria prepare their weapons in the southwestern countryside of Hasaka, Syria February 17, 2016. Picture taken February 17, 2016. (Photo by Rodi Said/Reuters)

Japanese football fan during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group E match between Japan and Costa Rica at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on November 27, 2022 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

Students walk to school on the first day of their new school year in Giza, south of Cairo, Egypt September 25, 2016. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

Medical staff administering the dose of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine at the M A G Osmani Medical College & Hospital vaccination center in Sylhet, Bangladesh on July 26, 2021. (Photo by Md Rafayat Haque Khan/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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.

A burning tank is in Daraa, on March 9, 2013. (Photo by Ali Abu-Salah/Reuters/Shaam News Network via The Atlantic)