Vostochny Uranium Camp

The Vostochny Camp Facility was constructed by prisoners of Chaunlag in the first half of the 1950s. The camp was located on the Chukotka highlands 60 km away from the city of Pevek, between the Shiroky Stream and the Utiny Stream. The camp facility was divided into a zone for men engaged in uranium ore mining and a zone for women probably engaged in less hard work.

The Vostochny Camp was made up of around 30 buildings that are currently ruined.

Among partially preserved buildings, one can distinguish the mineral-processing plant located in the northern part of the camp facility at the slope of the hill. All of the buildings are made of either cobblestones or logs. The administrative part of the camp is separated from the camp zone by a fence made of barbed wire and wooden poles.

Chaunlag of Chaunsky Corrective-Labor Camp (ITL) of Dalstroy existed from 1951 to 1953. Besides from uranium ore mining, prisoners were engaged in geological surveying and road building. The population of the camp by 1 September 1951 was 10,941 people and it was 7,274 people by 19 June 1952.

This video was filmed in August 2015 during the expedition of the GULAG History Museum to Chukotka guided by the head of Museum Roman Romanov. The expedition started in Pevek and led to the uranium camps of Chaunlag – Vostochny and Severny. During the expedition, a large number of exhibits have been collected. In addition, the staff of the expedition conducted aerial mapping, created a 3D panorama, took photos, and shot videos of preserved buildings and the adjacent territory.

Based on the results of the expedition, buildings and structures of the former camps of the Chaunlag of Dalstroy were granted the status of a historical monument. This gives the opportunity for monument conservation and protection of the territory as well as the access for researchers to work there.