RUSSIAN women in Covid lockdown are stripping off in their very own ‘Bali in the Urals’ – a toxic quarry near a nuclear wasteland.
With travel hard to get over the line during the pandemic, residents of the Russian Urals are now claiming they have their own version of the popular tourist island on their doorstep.
The region was notorious for gulags and salt mines in the Soviet era, but now this beauty spot boasts stunning azure water and gleaming white shores.
However, all is not as it seems here in the Ural Mountains.
Close by sits the site of the worst nuclear explosion in the USSR aside from Chernobyl.
The blast, which happened in 1957, led to tens of thousands being evacuated and polluting more than 5,800 square miles.
Some areas are still banned from use for forestry or farming.
The "paradise" waters in this former porcelain clay quarry are deemed too dangerous to swim in as a “health hazard”.
Fish cannot survive, due to natural chemical compounds in the vicinity.
To make matters worse, there is also a city dump and cattle burial ground nearby .
Despite all this, Russians who are unable to travel abroad due to coronavirus curbs or high ticket prices have come to this “Bali in the Urals” as a prime Instagram location.
This disused kaolin quarry was first dug on Stalin’s orders in 1945 to obtain the raw material for porcelain, ceramics and earthenware products.
It was flooded in 2011 and since then has become an unlikely tourist attraction.
As sun seeker nicedayse posted: “Bali is closer than it seems.
“Actually you don't need to go somewhere in Indonesia.
“You can find Bali in the Urals, not too far from Kyshtym.”
The quarry is “an industrial site turned into a cult sight".
Instagrammers are warned that the clay in the former quarry is soft and can easily trap those attempting a paddle in its azure waters.
One visitor warned: “It is recommended not to swim there because there are dangerous chemical compounds in clay.
“On top of that, there is a city dump and a cattle burial nearby.”
Kyshtym is close to the Mayak nuclear complex where the 1957 explosion involved dry nitrate and acetate salts in a waste tank, leading to high levels of contamination.
The Soviets hid the disaster from the outside world for almost a quarter of a century.
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