A polar bear is seen at an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country's Far East, on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)
Photos show polar bears chilling at home in abandoned Russian research station
Polar bears that have taken over an abandoned polar research station off Russia’s far eastern coast were intimately captured in drone footage by Vadim Makhorov. The photographer was filming the landscape of Kolyuchin Island during a cruise in the Chukchi Sea in September, when he noticed polar bears using one of the abandoned buildings as a shelter. The small island is about 11 kilometers (nearly 7 miles) off the northern coast of the Chukotka Peninsula, which faces Alaska across the Bering Strait. “Bears are no strangers to the feeling of comfort and coziness,” Makhorov said in a social media post. “They perceive homes as shelter.”
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Polar bears are seen at an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)An aerial view of an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)A polar bear is seen at an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)A polar bear is seen at an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)Polar bears are seen at an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)A polar bear is seen near an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)Polar bears are seen at an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)A polar bear is seen at an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)An aerial view of an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)A polar bear is seen near an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)A polar bear is seen in front of an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov)
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