Titans of war left to rust: Eerie pictures show abandoned tanks, fighter jets and warships rotting away in military bases around the world
- Photographer Dmitry Osadchy has spent five years photographing decaying military equipment worldwide
- The history fanatic from Russia uses a drone to take the aerial photos, which he shares on Instagram
- Travelling to more than 50 countries, he’s snapped planes in the UAE desert and boats trapped in Russian ice
Rows upon rows of tanks, the last Soviet-made locomotive and a one-of-a-kind invention are among the rusting objects captured in eerie images of abandoned military equipment from around the world.
At first glance, these boats, tanks and aeroplanes appear to be lined up and ready for action, but in reality they have been left to rot.
Photographer and history fanatic, Dmitry Osadchy, from St Petersburg, has trekked through swamps, forests and deserts in more than 50 countries to reach closely guarded facilities the public never usually sees.
The 38-year-old uses a drone to capture his aerial images and has travelled the world tracking down abandoned military aircraft and vehicles from his native Russia to the UAE since buying his first drone five years ago.
RUSSIA: A lun-class ekranoplan, which was designed to transport troops and equipment quickly over bodies of water
RUSSIA: Rows upon rows of tanks
UAE: The Lockheed Tristar L-1011, wide-body passenger trijet airliner Osadchy describes as ‘possibly the coolest abandoned aircraft I have ever seen’
‘I started to shoot mostly ships, then sunken ships. Then I realised that I was interested in shooting abandoned equipment,’ he said.
‘Almost all of the equipment is not very accessible. You have to go to distant lands and then often walk through forests, swamps or deserts – even then it’s still pretty far for the drone to fly,’ Osadchy explained, adding that the facilities ‘are also usually closed or closely guarded’.
Among rows and rows of tanks and abandoned planes, Osadchy has photographed what he called ‘the last and most beautiful Soviet locomotive’ – the P36, which was nicknamed ‘General’.
Photographer and history fanatic, Dmitry Osadchy, from St Petersburg, has trekked through swamps, forests and deserts in more than 50 countries to reach closely guarded facilities the public never usually sees. Pictured: An abandoned plane in Russia
RUSSIA: Helicopters and planes going rusty at a disused runway
Another interesting find was a lun-class ekranoplan, which was designed to transport troops and equipment quickly over bodies of water. Only one was ever built.
Pondering what it is that appeals to him about the rusting machinery, he said: ‘I like to look at them. It’s hard to explain but in this decay there is some kind of indescribable beauty that cannot be found anywhere else.
‘That is why I am attracted to abandoned places. It’s the spirit of history and the unknown.’
RUSSIA: Rows of disintegrating helicopters
RUSSIA: A flooded rusty torpedo retriever has been in the waters near Kronstadt for years, Osadchy said. The same boat is pictured frozen into the ice in winter
RUSSIA: ‘Dozen of helicopters and two wingless An-2 carcasses are going rusty in the dense forest of the Leningrad Region,’ Osadchy wrote on Instagram
This is the only lun-class ekranoplan ever completed
The 38-year-old uses a drone to capture his aerial images like the above, taken in Russia
UAE: The airliner is part of the collection belonging to Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, Osadchy wrote on Instagram
RUSSIA: Sovremenny Class Destroyer waits to be scrapped near St Petersburg
RUSSIA: The Sovremenny Class Destroyer warship’s stern and bow guns have been dismantled, and the gun shafts are covered with boards as it waits to be scrapped
RUSSIA: More helicopters rest easy in the forest
RUSSIA: On his Instagram, the photographer often bemoans the amount of money spent on military machinery that is now being left to rust. ‘Gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia,’ he captioned this image
RUSSIA: A fighter plane lies in the bushes of a semi-abandoned military base not far from St Petersburg
RUSSIA: Rows and rows of tanks in the Russian snow
RUSSIA: An AH-8 military transport aircraft, the site of which ‘has become a place of pilgrimage for all drone pilots in [the] St Petersburg and Leningrad Region,’ Osadchy wrote
Rows of tanks are seen awaiting repair at what Osadchy describes as ‘the largest tank cemetery in the European part of Russia’
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