The documentary "Polar Stories" explores the history of the settlement "ZERO" located in the Polar Urals, which was once a thriving community built around the Kharbey tungsten-molybdenum deposit discovered by prisoners during the 1940s. The settlement saw significant growth with the influx of geologists and other professionals from across the Soviet Union, leading to the construction of new infrastructure and housing. However, with the onset of Perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union, economic hardships led to the closure of enterprises, unpaid wages, and eventually, the resettlement of residents in 2004. Despite being abandoned, the settlement holds valuable geological data and memories for former inhabitants who still visit. The documentary also touches on secret military operations conducted nearby during the Cold War. Directed by Olga Selnitskaya, "Polar Stories" captures the rise and fall of a remote yet significant Soviet-era settlement.
Here are the key facts from the text, each numbered and in a short sentence:
1. The settlement Polyarniy was located in the Polar Urals, near the 110th km of the railroad line Choum – Labytnangi.
2. The settlement was built in the 1940s for the construction of the railroad line.
3. Convicts of GULAG worked on the road building, including geologists who discovered the Kharbey tungsten-molybdenum deposit.
4. The Kharbey mine was the first industrial facility in the Polar Urals.
5. Convicts had to carry the ore extracted in Kharbey on themselves in backpacks to Vorkuta, a distance of 110 km.
6. The railroad line appeared only in 1947.
7. The settlement Polyarniy was built for the families of geologists and other workers.
8. BAM houses were built on the project of engineers of the Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM) for rapid construction of inexpensive housing.
9. The settlement had a school, a kindergarten, a shop, and a medical center.
10. Families of geologists lived relatively wealthily in the North, with salaries above average.
11. Specialists of related professions also received good salaries.
12. The Soviet Union was lagging behind in the arms race in the 1960s, with American nuclear forces exceeding theirs by at least five times.
13. The USSR launched medium-range missiles with nuclear warheads from the Polar Urals in 1961.
14. The target field was located on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, 800 km from the launch site.
15. The power of one of the warheads was 42 times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
16. The settlement Polyarniy was abandoned in 2004 due to economic reforms.
17. The former residents of the settlement visit occasionally, and some have turned the old diesel electric power station into a repair shop for heavy machinery.
18. Igor Perminov plans to turn the old power station into a mini-hotel for tourists.
19. Tourism is seen as a way to keep the memory of the settlement alive.
20. Excursions are conducted in the area, including extreme ones by all-terrain vehicles.
21. The settlement Polyarniy had previously been deserted from 1956 to 1964, before being inhabited again.