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 man sits on a park bench in a flooded park as the Cape Fear River rises above its usual height in Wilmington, North Carolina, September 14, 2018. (Photo by Jonathan Drake/Reuters)

Model Cara Delevingne walks the runway during the Balmain show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2019 on September 28, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Fisher/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

French actress Marie Cornillon wearing body paint and a headgear with bull horns, poses in front of the Nimes arena with a sign inscribed “Abolissons la corrida” (Abolish corrida bullfighting) as part of a protest by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) animal rights group to ban bullfighting in France, on November 16, 2022. (Photo by Pascal Guyot/AFP Photo)

Miranda state beauty pageant contestant Luiseth Materan, wearing a protective face mask issued by the Miss Venezuela beauty pageant, arrives to the Venevision television station to prepare for a meeting with judges, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, September 18, 2020. Quarantine rules and social distancing has forced the contestants to train at home and online with limited access to the venue itself where strict measures are in place. The pageant is due to take place on Sept. 24. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)

People smear black ash with hands onto each other to wish for good luck and fortune during a traditional festival of the Yi ethnic minority in Qiubei County, Yunnan province, China July 18, 2017. (Photo by Ren Dong/Reuters/CNS)

Firefighters take part in the bodybuilding event during a firefighting skills contest at the National Fire Service Academy in Gongju, South Korea on June 3, 2024. (Photo by Shin Hyeon-jong)

Philippine actor Soliman Cruz wearing a business suit stands inside an 8-foot transparent bubble while other activists wearing masks touch the bubble during an anti-pollution protest near a park in Manila on April 25, 2025. The protest is part of a climate advocates 350 campaign on Manila's air pollution crisis, due to traffic emissions, fossil fuel and unchecked industrial activity. (Photo by Ted Aljibe/AFP Photo)