Russian Closed Cities and Restricted Areas: Let's Debunk a Myth!

It’s a well-known fact that within the Russian Federation there are a few restricted areas and closed cities. That’s true. However, it’s highly misleading, both syntactically and semantically, to label said areas as “inaccessible to foreigners”. We’ll try to be as a brief and simple as possible, aiming to finally dispel the long-running urban legend that wants you to believe that it is impossible to travel to places such as Norilsk or Chukotka unless you are a Russian citizen or a well-connected foreigner.

There are many kinds of restricted areas in Russia, but for the sake of simplicity we will mention just the ones that an average foreign tourist may encounter during her/his travels.

  • Border areas that lie within the Border Security Zone of the Russian Federation, a strip of land (usually, though not always, along Russia’s external border) where economic activity and access are restricted (but not forbidden!) in line with the Frontier Regime Regulations set by the Federal Security Service (FSB). For foreign tourists to visit a permit issued by the local FSB department is required. The border zone (with an average width of 7.5 kilometres) was established in the Soviet Union in 1934, and includes major touristic highlights such as the medieval watchtowers of Ingushetia and the majestic sceneries of the Mongun-Tayginsky plateau, in southern Tuva, near the border with Mongolia. Obtaining a permit to visit localities within the Border Security Zone is relatively simple when done through a tour operator.

  • Restricted regions are territories with a so-called “regulated entry regime for foreign citizens”. They can be extremely vast in size and their strategic importance may vary a lot. Most of the Russian Arctic, including Chukotka and the Taymyr Peninsula, falls within this category. As for the border zone, obtaining a permit to visit restricted regions is a straightforward (albeit a bit lengthy) affair that a reliable travel agency can easily sort out. Many international tourists visit Chukotka and the Taymyr Peninsula every year and permission is seldom denied.

  • Closed cities: also known as ZATO, acronym of zakrytye administrativno-territorial'nye obrazovaniya (closed administrative-territorial formations), are urban settlements where travel or residency restrictions are applied so that specific authorisation is required to visit or remain overnight. There are currently 44 publicly acknowledged closed cities in Russia with a total population of about 1.5 million people. 75% are administered by the Russian Ministry of Defence, with the rest being administered by Rosatom, the Russian state corporation that oversees the country’s nuclear energy industry. Another 15 or so closed cities are believed to exist, but their names and locations have not been publicly disclosed by the Russian government. Closed cities hold little or no touristic charm and permits are rarely granted, the only exception being Zvyozdny Gorodok, also known as Star City, a planned town northeast of Moscow, where Soviet cosmonauts used to train and reside before their missions into the outer space.

With the exception of military installations, nuclear power plants and similar no-go zones—which are off-limits in every country of the world—a foreign tourist can theoretically access all restricted areas of the Russian Federation as long as she/he has the proper permits and a valid reason to obtain them. “Valid reason” is, indeed, the key concept here and, since we are talking about leisure and travel, to have a reason means that there must be something worth to be visited from a touristic point of view, be it a historical landmark (such as the medieval towers of southern Ingushetia), a natural sights (like the secluded and serene lake Kutramakan near Norilsk) or a cultural attraction (such as the migration of the Nenets reindeer herders in the Yamal Peninsula).
In other words, you should have an “excuse” to apply for a permit to visit a restricted area for recreational purposes. This is easy to find in places of stunning beauty such as Chukotka, the Taymyr Peninsula, the Russian Arctic, the North Caucasian highlands or even the Curonian Spit near Kaliningrad. Obtaining a permit for the aforementioned areas it’s usually just a bureaucratic matter that every reputable travel company can take care of. Not without a reason, one can find a wide range of tour operators (such as Soviet Tours) that offer scheduled group trips and bespoke journeys to all these destinations. On the other hand, it’s much harder to demonstrate the plausibility of your travel purposes if you wish to visit some random closed cities that have no particular appeal besides the very fact that they are restricted. The acid test is that closed cities often lack the presence of local tour operators that could issue the invitation needed to obtain the permit. In the eyes of the Russian authorities the only reason you may have to visit a ZATO (closed city) is snooping around the strategic facilities that are behind the ZATO status itself. One noteworthy exception is the already mentioned Star City near Moscow, which is a popular tourist attraction for all those interested in the history of the Soviet space race.

On a final note, independent travel to restricted areas, no matter which reason you may have and regardless of the degree of restriction of the place you wish to visit, is close to impossible. Even for the more touristic regions, such as the Yamal Peninsula and the Putorana Plateau, you will need to book a tour from an accredited travel company such as Soviet Tours in order to obtain a permit.


Closed Cities (2018)

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Restricted areas (closed cities, border zones, regulated-access destinations) in the Kola Peninsula (2019)

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Restricted areas around Moscow (2020)

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Gianluca Pardelli