In Polyarnye Zorya, the court ordered the liquidation of the memorial museum “Partisan of the Arctic”

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K: Settlements founded in 1968
Polyarnye Zori

- a city (since 1991) in the Murmansk region of Russia. The center of the urban district is the city of Polyarnye Zori. Near the city there is the Kola Nuclear Power Plant.

Population - 14,794[1] people. (2016).

Geography

The city is located on the banks of the Niva River and Lake Pinozero, 224 km from Murmansk. The nearest settlements are Zasheyek (3 km), Pinozero (4 km), Nivsky (8 km) and Afrikanda (13 km). The city is surrounded by the territory of Zasheikovsky forestry. Polar Zori is one of the northernmost cities where the polar night is not observed. The shortest day (December 22) in Polyarnye Zori lasts 21 minutesK: Wikipedia: Articles without sources (type: not specified) [ source not specified 2953 days

].

Education

As of 2010, in the district there are 6 preschool educational institutions (5 in Polyarnye Zorya, 1 in Afrikand) and 6 educational institutions, including gymnasium No. 1, evening (shift) school No. 1, 3 secondary schools (2 in Polyarnye Zori, 1 in Afrikand) and the House of Children's Creativity in Polyarnye Zori[29].

In addition, in Afrikanda and Polyarnye Zori there are children's art schools, and in the administrative center there is a children's and youth sports school[29].

Story

It appeared in 1968, as part of the Apatitsky district near the working village of Zasheyek, as a settlement for builders of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant.

The settlement of Polyarnye Zori was included in the registration data and received the status of a working village by decision of the Murmansk Regional Executive Committee No. 640 of December 20, 1973.

The status of a city of regional subordination was assigned by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR dated April 22, 1991. Previously, the village and the surrounding area were subordinate to the city council of Apatity.

The head of the construction department, in fact the founder of the city of Polyarnye Zori and the Kola Nuclear Power Plant, was Alexander Stepanovich Andrushechko.

Population

The population living in the territory of the settlement, according to the 2010 All-Russian Population Census, is 15,096 people, of which 7,175 are men (47.5%) and 7,921 are women (52.5%)[13][14].

A few words about refugees.

Well, I’d like to talk separately about Syrian refugees. Somewhat unexpected, right? But as it turned out, the Syrians are also harsh, and they choose harsh routes to Europe along the Murmansk-Norway route. The main difficulty in this route is crossing the transport border! The main emphasis should be on the word “transport”; accordingly, you cannot cross the border on your own. And so the unfortunate Syrians bought bicycles en masse in Murmansk and used them to cross the cherished border, after which they abandoned our bicycles there, in Europe. Local residents said the sight of refugees on bicycles was impressive.

Enterprises

The city-forming enterprise is the Kola Nuclear Power Plant, which employs about 2,000 people[15]. About a thousand people are employed at municipal enterprises[16].

Also in the city there are Niva HPP-1 (26 MW), Atomenergoremont OJSC, Kola Elektromontazhnaya, Energospetsmontazh OJSC, R-Trans, electric (54 MW) and fuel oil boiler houses, medical unit No. 118, branches of Sberbank and DNBNor Bank , several supermarkets, as well as other firms and enterprises.

Economy

The basis of the economy of the municipality is the electric power industry, and the city-forming enterprise is the Kola Nuclear Power Plant, which provides more than half of the electricity produced in the region. Other large enterprises of the district are: Betonny LLC, Agro - an agricultural enterprise LLC, the main focus of which is dairy farming, as well as enterprises of the housing and communal services complex - Teplovodosnabzhenie OJSC, Elektroseti OJSC, Polyarnozorinsk branch of Kolenergosbyt OJSC, LLC "Grad, Santekhmontazh LLC, Interpolusmontazh LLC, Nord-Service LLC, Liftservice LLC, Spetsavtohozyaystvo LLC[27].

The average salary in the district among employees of large and medium-sized enterprises in 2008 was 43,707 rubles. At the beginning of 2009, 287 unemployed were registered[28].

Infrastructure

Transport

The city has developed bus and taxi services. Travel to the Kola Nuclear Power Plant and the Salma ski complex is provided by company buses. The main highway connecting the city with the rest of the country is E 105

—
M18
, passes half a kilometer from the city limits. For suburban transport, the Kandalaksha - Polyarnye Zori - Apatity electric train is used; there is a railway station in the city. The nearest airport is Khibiny.

Connection

There are 4 GSM cellular operators in the city: Megafon, MTS, Beeline, Tele2. All operators provide GPRS services. CDMA2000 standard cell phones are serviced by the SkyLink operator. Wired communications are provided by the Murmansk branch of OJSC Rostelecom (formerly the Murmansk branch of OJSC NWTelecom), including broadband Internet services using ADSL and FTTx technologies. A fiber optic cable MELS (1 Gbit/s) has been laid to the city. Internet in the city is provided by 2 providers of OJSC Rostelecom and a cable television network.

City administration, city council

The first mayor of the city of Polyarnye Zori was Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Chistova, a former Komsomol worker in the city of Apatity. Currently works in the administration of the governor of the Murmansk region.

Valery Mironov was elected as the second mayor. Before his election, he worked as the head of the Polyarnozorinsky branch of the tax inspectorate.

The third mayor was Vladimir Lukich Goncharenko, who worked as Valery Mironov’s deputy before being elected to the position.

Since 2006, the 4th mayor of the city has been the former head of the legal department of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant, Nikolai Nikolaevich Goldobin.

In November 2013, Maxim Olegovich Pukhov was elected mayor of the city.

Notes

1. ↑ 123
   www.gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2016/bul_dr/mun_obr2016.rar Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2021
2. [demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus79_reg2.php All-Union Population Census of 1979 The size of the urban population of the RSFSR, its territorial units, urban settlements and urban areas by gender.] (Russian). Demoscope Weekly. Retrieved September 25, 2013. [www.webcitation.org/6GDOjhZ5L Archived from the original on April 28, 2013].
3. [demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus89_reg2.php All-Union Population Census of 1989. Urban population]. [www.webcitation.org/617x0o0Pa Archived from the original on August 22, 2011].
4. ↑ 123456789
   www.MojGorod.ru/murmansk_obl/poljarnzori/index.html People's encyclopedia “My City”. Polar dawns
5. [www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/1_TOM_01_04.xls All-Russian Population Census 2002. Volume. 1, table 4. Population of Russia, federal districts, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, districts, urban settlements, rural settlements - regional centers and rural settlements with a population of 3 thousand or more]. [www.webcitation.org/65AdCU0q3 Archived from the original on February 3, 2012].
6. [www.gks.ru/bgd/regl/B09_109/IssWWW.exe/Stg/d01/tabl-21-09.xls Number of permanent population of the Russian Federation by cities, urban-type settlements and districts as of January 1, 2009]. Retrieved January 2, 2014. [www.webcitation.org/6MJmu0z1u Archived from the original on January 2, 2014].
7. [murmanskstat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/murmanskstat/resources/aa332b004e80f75784f8f7b8fc91c3ba/14650.zip All-Russian Population Census 2010. Volume 1 “Number, distribution and age-sex composition of the population of the Murmansk region”]. Retrieved February 2, 2014. [www.webcitation.org/6N5F3qERD Archived from the original on February 2, 2014].
8. www.gks.ru/dbscripts/munst/munst47/DBInet.cgi?pl=8112027 Murmansk region. Estimated resident population as of January 1, 2009-2015
9. [www.gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2012/bul_dr/mun_obr2012.rar Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities. Table 35. Estimated resident population as of January 1, 2012]. Retrieved May 31, 2014. [www.webcitation.org/6PyOWbdMc Archived from the original on May 31, 2014].
10. [www.gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2013/bul_dr/mun_obr2013.rar Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2013. - M.: Federal State Statistics Service Rosstat, 2013. - 528 p. (Table 33. Population of urban districts, municipal districts, urban and rural settlements, urban settlements, rural settlements)]. Retrieved November 16, 2013. [www.webcitation.org/6LAdCWSxH Archived from the original on November 16, 2013].
11. [www.gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2014/bul_dr/mun_obr2014.rar Table 33. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2014]. Retrieved August 2, 2014. [www.webcitation.org/6RWqP50QK Archived from the original on August 2, 2014].
12. [www.gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2015/bul_dr/mun_obr2015.rar Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2015]. Retrieved August 6, 2015. [www.webcitation.org/6aaNzOlFO Archived from the original on August 6, 2015].
13. Statistical collection [murmanskstat.gks.ru/census/DocLib1/Volumes%20official%20publication%20togo%20VPN-2010.aspx Number, distribution and age-sex composition of the population of the Murmansk region. Results of the All-Russian Population Census. Volume 1. 2012] / Federal State Statistics Service, Territorial body of the Federal State Statistics Service for the Murmansk region. Murmansk, 2012 - 75 p.
14. [murmanskstat.gks.ru/census/DocLib7/02.doc Population of the Murmansk region by gender as of October 14, 2010]
15. [www.atomic-energy.ru/node/2084 Kola NPP: Polarnozorin residents will receive awards from the “Engineer of the Year 2008” competition]
16. [www.pz-city.ru/city/municipals/ Municipal enterprises and institutions on the city website]
17. ↑ 123
    [ke.culture51.ru/Goroda-pobratimi-p1581.html Sister cities of the Murmansk region] // Kola Encyclopedia. In 5 volumes. T. 1. A - D / Ch. ed. A. A. Kiselev. - St. Petersburg: IS; Apatity: KSC RAS, 2008. - P. 502.

An excerpt characterizing Polar Dawns

Natasha, pale and frightened, ran into the living room. - Mom, Bolkonsky has arrived! - she said. - Mom, this is terrible, this is unbearable! – I don’t want... to suffer! What should I do?... Before the countess even had time to answer her, Prince Andrey entered the living room with an anxious and serious face. As soon as he saw Natasha, his face lit up. He kissed the hand of the Countess and Natasha and sat down near the sofa. “We haven’t had the pleasure for a long time...” the countess began, but Prince Andrei interrupted her, answering her question and obviously in a hurry to say what he needed. “I wasn’t with you all this time because I was with my father: I needed to talk to him about a very important matter.” “I just returned last night,” he said, looking at Natasha. “I need to talk to you, Countess,” he added after a moment of silence. The Countess, sighing heavily, lowered her eyes. “I am at your service,” she said. Natasha knew that she had to leave, but she could not do it: something was squeezing her throat, and she looked discourteously, directly, with open eyes at Prince Andrei. "Now? This minute!... No, this can’t be!” she thought. He looked at her again, and this look convinced her that she was not mistaken. “Yes, now, this very minute, her fate was being decided.” “Come, Natasha, I’ll call you,” the countess said in a whisper. Natasha looked at Prince Andrei and her mother with frightened, pleading eyes, and left. “I came, Countess, to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage,” said Prince Andrei. The countess's face flushed, but she said nothing. “Your proposal...” the countess began sedately. “He was silent, looking into her eyes. – Your offer... (she was embarrassed) we are pleased, and... I accept your offer, I’m glad. And my husband... I hope... but it will depend on her herself... - I will tell her when I have your consent... do you give it to me? - said Prince Andrei. “Yes,” said the countess and extended her hand to him and, with a mixed feeling of aloofness and tenderness, pressed her lips to his forehead as he leaned over her hand. She wanted to love him like a son; but she felt that he was a stranger and a terrible person for her. “I’m sure that my husband will agree,” said the countess, “but your father...” “My father, to whom I told my plans, made it an indispensable condition of consent that the wedding should take place no earlier than a year.” And this is what I wanted to tell you,” said Prince Andrei. – It’s true that Natasha is still young, but for so long. “It couldn’t be otherwise,” said Prince Andrei with a sigh. “I will send it to you,” said the countess and left the room. “Lord, have mercy on us,” she repeated, looking for her daughter. Sonya said that Natasha is in the bedroom. Natasha sat on her bed, pale, with dry eyes, looking at the icons and, quickly crossing herself, whispering something. Seeing her mother, she jumped up and rushed to her. - What? Mom?... What? - Go, go to him. “He asks for your hand,” the countess said coldly, as it seemed to Natasha... “Come... come,” the mother said with sadness and reproach after her running daughter, and sighed heavily. Natasha did not remember how she entered the living room. Entering the door and seeing him, she stopped. “Has this stranger really become everything to me now?” she asked herself and instantly answered: “Yes, that’s it: he alone is now dearer to me than everything in the world.” Prince Andrei approached her, lowering his eyes. “I loved you from the moment I saw you.” Can I hope? He looked at her, and the serious passion in her expression struck him. Her face said: “Why ask? Why doubt something you can’t help but know? Why talk when you can’t express in words what you feel.” She approached him and stopped. He took her hand and kissed it. - Do you love me? “Yes, yes,” Natasha said as if with annoyance, sighed loudly, and another time, more and more often, and began to sob. - About what? What's wrong with you? “Oh, I’m so happy,” she answered, smiled through her tears, leaned closer to him, thought for a second, as if asking herself if this was possible, and kissed him. Prince Andrei held her hands, looked into her eyes, and did not find in his soul the same love for her. Something suddenly turned in his soul: there was no former poetic and mysterious charm of desire, but there was pity for her feminine and childish weakness, there was fear of her devotion and gullibility, a heavy and at the same time joyful consciousness of the duty that forever connected him with her. The real feeling, although it was not as light and poetic as the previous one, was more serious and stronger. – Did maman tell you that this cannot be earlier than a year? - said Prince Andrei, continuing to look into her eyes. “Is it really me, that girl child (everyone said that about me) Natasha thought, is it really from this moment that I am a wife, equal to this stranger, sweet, intelligent man, respected even by my father. Is that really true! Is it really true that now it’s no longer possible to joke with life, now I’m big, now I’m responsible for my every deed and word? Yes, what did he ask me? “No,” she answered, but she did not understand what he was asking. “Forgive me,” said Prince Andrei, “but you are so young, and I have already experienced so much of life.” I'm scared for you. You don't know yourself. Natasha listened with concentrated attention, trying to understand the meaning of his words and did not understand. “No matter how difficult this year will be for me, delaying my happiness,” continued Prince Andrei, “in this period you will believe in yourself.” I ask you to make my happiness in a year; but you are free: our engagement will remain a secret, and if you were convinced that you do not love me, or would love me ... - said Prince Andrei with an unnatural smile. - Why are you saying this? – Natasha interrupted him. “You know that from the very day you first arrived in Otradnoye, I fell in love with you,” she said, firmly convinced that she was telling the truth. - In a year you will recognize yourself... - A whole year! – Natasha suddenly said, now only realizing that the wedding had been postponed for a year. - Why a year? Why a year?...” Prince Andrei began to explain to her the reasons for this delay. Natasha didn't listen to him. - And it’s impossible otherwise? – she asked. Prince Andrei did not answer, but his face expressed the impossibility of changing this decision. - It's horrible! No, this is terrible, terrible! – Natasha suddenly spoke and began to sob again. - I will die waiting a year: this is impossible, this is terrible. “She looked into the face of her fiancé and saw on him an expression of compassion and bewilderment. “No, no, I’ll do everything,” she said, suddenly stopping her tears, “I’m so happy!” – Father and mother entered the room and blessed the bride and groom. From that day on, Prince Andrei began to go to the Rostovs as a groom. There was no engagement and Bolkonsky’s engagement to Natasha was not announced to anyone; Prince Andrei insisted on this. He said that since he was the cause of the delay, he must bear the entire burden of it. He said that he was forever bound by his word, but that he did not want to bind Natasha and gave her complete freedom. If after six months she feels that she does not love him, she will be within her right if she refuses him. It goes without saying that neither the parents nor Natasha wanted to hear about it; but Prince Andrei insisted on his own. Prince Andrei visited the Rostovs every day, but did not treat Natasha like a groom: he told her you and only kissed her hand. After the day of the proposal, a completely different, close, simple relationship was established between Prince Andrei and Natasha. It was as if they didn't know each other until now. Both he and she loved to remember how they looked at each other when they were still nothing, now both of them felt like completely different creatures: then feigned, now simple and sincere. At first, the family felt awkward in dealing with Prince Andrei; he seemed like a man from an alien world, and Natasha spent a long time accustoming her family to Prince Andrei and proudly assured everyone that he only seemed so special, and that he was the same as everyone else, and that she was not afraid of him and that no one should be afraid his. After several days, the family got used to him and, without hesitation, continued with him the same way of life in which he took part. He knew how to talk about the household with the Count, and about outfits with the Countess and Natasha, and about albums and canvas with Sonya. Sometimes the Rostov family, among themselves and under Prince Andrei, were surprised at how all this happened and how obvious the omens of this were: the arrival of Prince Andrei in Otradnoye, and their arrival in St. Petersburg, and the similarity between Natasha and Prince Andrei, which the nanny noticed on their first visit Prince Andrei, and the clash in 1805 between Andrei and Nikolai, and many other omens of what happened were noticed by those at home.

Polar Dawns: City under the summer snow

Photo: SeverPost

200 km south from Murmansk along the federal highway “Kola” - and we are greeted by the Polar Dawns, as evidenced by the inscription on a high stele going into the sky. Today SeverPost is visiting the city of nuclear scientists. Polar Zori is located on the banks of the Niva River. The area is only 3.6 square kilometers, the population is 14.5 thousand people, the majority are associated with the nuclear power plant. By the way, this was the first nuclear power plant in Russia built beyond the Arctic Circle. Actually, thanks to her, in 1968, first a workers’ settlement and then a developing city appeared here. A year ago, Polyarnye Zori celebrated the 50th anniversary and 45th anniversary of the launch of the first power unit of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant. The fate of the city and the station are inextricably linked.

You can get to the city by highway, by regular bus from Murmansk and Kandalaksha, or by train. The townspeople themselves complain that the turn on the highway is not illuminated in any way, and it is very easy to miss the sign. But already in the populated area itself, the ring at the entrance is decorated with a 15-meter light structure. Behind it, houses with bright balconies are immediately visible. Let us remind you that SeverPost continues its journey across the Kola Peninsula. We plan to travel around the entire Kola Peninsula: from north to south, from its western to eastern borders. All in order to write honestly about how people live in a variety of settlements in our region. Last time we visited Teriberka, which has become a polar brand, and where we met an interesting local resident who calls himself Petrovich.

Our guide in Polyarnye Zori was a young mother, Yulia. She truly loves her city, even talks about it on Instagram.

There are two ways from the stele. If you go to the right, you will end up at the “Rublevskoye Bog”, and if you go straight, you will end up in a beautiful park.

We are going to a place that the townspeople themselves call “Rublevskoe swamp”. There are low-rise buildings and new houses here.

“In general, when they were built, it was the most expensive housing in the city. Because it was clean, cozy, free,” says Yulia.

The microdistrict is developing rapidly.

Houses with unusual facades are the central part of the neighborhood. Immediately from them there are roads to the Umka square, crowded with children’s laughter, despite Monday, a church and a parish school, a kindergarten.

Laundry is dried on the territory of the kindergarten, right on the street. The blogger’s instinct forces Yulia to immediately take a photo of the unusual action: “I haven’t seen laundry drying on the street like this for a long time. But in the morning I took a photograph of an apple tree blooming in the city center, and I also posted it.”

About local Umki

“Umka” attracts all residents, especially parents. With kids on the street, both moms and dads are clearly not always happy with this mission.

“It’s so compact, and at the same time it’s a symbolic place for our city. The first public garden that attracts all residents. Mothers are here with their babies, and I already bring my one-year-old son here. Everyone likes it,” says Yulia.

The bright facades of houses - yellow, blue, orange - are a reason to give them their names. Polarnozorin residents, for example, call local high-rise buildings “Orange” and “Mandarin”. Julia says that the visible transformation of the city began five years ago. They make him smart. Everything that was gray and faceless becomes colorful and cheerful.

From the park you can see two new buildings - completely “smart houses”. The price per square meter is high, three rubles can reach 4 million, but, according to local residents, it is justified.

“Here we have a topic with meters, heat and water consumption - they are recorded by computer programs. Everything is entered and can be taken into account through the application. Everyone sees everything. Nowadays, adjustments are often made for common house metering devices, people, as a rule, pay extra once a year, but here such a situation no longer exists,” says Yulia.

The townspeople whom we manage to talk to in the park assure us that gradually the overall appearance of the city is becoming bright and cheerful. Residents of absolutely all ages vote for the decision to transform their city. For example, on social networks. Everyone has their own motivation: for the “old people” - to please the eyes, for the young people - to take a beautiful photo.

It is interesting that the population of the city is quite young: there are many active Polarnozorin residents who are eager to develop their native “nest”. The head himself is young - Maxim Pukhov is only 40 years old.

There are also many visitors. Of those we talked to in the city, there were two pensioners who came to Polyarnye Zori to stay. One is walking with her child in the park: “I’m not a local myself, but I came to my daughter-in-law and I’m very happy. An excellent place to relax. The relatives themselves came in 2021 and decided to stay. It’s very cozy.”

Umka, the bear cub from the Soviet cartoon, has become a kind of symbol for the city. The very first one appeared in this place. Then Umki “settled” on the central staircase, embankment and in the park.

“Kids love to climb on the bear cub, adults just take pictures and whisper wishes in their ears, and the locals are even a little proud that the city has something of its own, something individual,” says Yulia.

And in September, Northern Lights Boulevard should open across the road from the park. It will be a huge promenade with bicycle paths and playgrounds, with various forms of activities for older children and an open-air cafe. From the boulevard you can easily ascend to the city center and descend to the park. Actually, it’s not so difficult to do this now. You can walk through the city at a leisurely pace in about an hour.

By the way, there is no consensus in Polyarnye Zory about what constitutes the city center. Some believe that this is a geographical point, while others consider the center to be Andrushechko Square, where the Palace of Culture, administration and department store are located. There is also a music school, a clinic and a swimming pool nearby. In appearance, he is completely unprepossessing, but within his walls he raised the young athlete Pavel Samusenko, who is competing to get into the Russian youth team. Yulia also talks about him: the teenage swimmer is a local star in the city, although he has been training in Murmansk lately.

It seems that there are no problems with sports for young people in the city at all. Yulia takes us to the stadium, where on a weekday there are also quite a lot of visitors. Entrance here is free. Only heels are not allowed, because the field has a modern rubber surface, several running tracks and soft artificial grass.

“My son spends time here all the time. Absolutely everyone is allowed to enter the stadium, despite the fact that the covering is quite expensive. I also decided to take up sports and fitness. Now the hall is very stuffy, especially when people run up. So they take us straight to the stadium, into the fresh air. The guys here play frisbee, basketball, football and running in the evening. In a word, life at the stadium is in full swing,” says Yulia.

But there is another opinion. Local 20-year-old artist Dmitry Razdva says that the city is literally rich in talent, but everyone needs support.

“We have a very profitable city-forming enterprise, and its efforts are now mainly focused on the development of infrastructure related to the leisure of the population. In general, this can be considered a success: a skate area is finally being built in the city park,” he says.

Dmitry has seen the skate park project and is sure: if everything goes as planned, it will be the best in the Murmansk region.

A new sports and recreation complex is already being built not far from the city park. The townspeople, however, fear that visiting it “will cost a pretty penny,” but are looking forward to the opening.

However, someone is just lying on the couch.

“The predominant number of young people prefer to take a passive consumer position, spending their weekends at home watching movies. The kids are not shown an example of how to truly relax. It’s good if they choose different sports for themselves, because the Kola NPP tries to support young athletes. For example, alpine skiing competitions are held on the slope on a regular basis,” says Dmitry.

Magnet for youth

The Salma ski slope is located not far from the city, and in winter it really becomes a point of attraction for young people. It opens as the very first on the Kola Peninsula due to the presence of a unique snowmaking system, and is the last to close, usually in May. The Salma ski complex near the town of Polyarnye Zori has rightfully become one of the most visited by ski lovers, and hotel rooms located right on the slope are sold out in September.

Although it cannot do without eternal complaints. According to snowboarders, their sport, just like in neighboring Kirovsk, is inferior to alpine skiing in the attention of authorities and business.

“It’s just a pity that attention is paid only to alpine skiing, and snowboarding is somehow treated with disdain, without paying due attention,” complains the young artist, who is himself passionate about snowboarding.

Polyarnye Zori is a well-groomed town, clean streets and a neat square, despite the fact that graduates were walking here the day before. Yulia convinces that you should definitely come and visit in winter, when there are light figures in the center of the city - the city turns into a fairy tale.

The rest of the time, according to townspeople, the area is not sufficiently illuminated, but the Polar Dawns – City of Light festival is intended to solve the problem. The project is a finalist in the “100 City Leaders” program of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI).

“Now we will be holding the City of Light festival. As part of this festival, it is planned to reconstruct the square,” Yulia shares with us.

But the local park is unusually beautiful at any time of the year; it is slightly inferior only to the Monchegorsk park. It starts right behind the administration building and goes down to the shore of Lake Pinozero. The name of the park is extremely simple and popular - “Our Park”.

Paths lined with stones along the edges, animal figures, playgrounds and many, many benches - everything can be found here in the central city park. Only Monchegorsk can boast of a similar place. But the main difference between the Monchegorsk park and the Polarnozorin park is the poplar fluff.

Polyarnye Zori is probably the only city in the Murmansk region where “snow” regularly falls in the summer. On the way from the park to the center, fluff flew into the car window more than once, making me sneeze violently. The solution to the problem is cutting down trees. For example, this has already been done in the vicinity of the pool. The fluff has disappeared, but the indignation of the residents has grown quite strongly.

“By the way, poplars are being cut down here to make life easier for allergy sufferers. Those who are against any kind of logging begin to protest, but those who cannot live, too, excuse me, should be understood,” says Yulia.

So those who want to take original photos without going far to the south will be welcomed by Polar Zori with open arms. But those with allergies should refrain from traveling, otherwise problems will not be long in coming.

When asked if there are any problems in the city, our interlocutors become thoughtful. A young father with a child in a stroller says that there are problems with employment.

“I believe that Polyarnye Zori is one of the most pleasant cities to live in the Murmansk region. I have visited many cities: Kandalaksha and Olenegorsk, but none of them attracted my attention as much as this one. There are indeed many opportunities here, but, unfortunately, only for those who are ready to work at the Kola Nuclear Power Plant. The rest simply have nowhere to work. So, if you have your head on your shoulders, then perhaps you will find a good place, but if not, then it’s better to leave,” he says.

But the problems are not only with work. As in any small city, citizens complain that while they can buy groceries in many places, they have to go to neighboring cities to buy a banal microwave oven. It’s the same story with clothes: jackets for the winter and T-shirts for the summer - everything has to be ordered via the Internet or gone to Murmansk.

Several people, most of them younger, noticed that the city lacks retail counters with clothes and equipment. But older people have never even heard of the fact that you can buy clothes somewhere on the Internet.

But things are going well with playgrounds, but not in the courtyards of residential buildings. From the windows of the rainbow house one can see a completely non-rainbow playground. Little girls have to lay out a blanket with dolls right along the shabby path: no bench, no table, no sandbox. This is how they sit among the dandelions, and under the windows of their parents.

The accessible environment still remains a problem. Our guide Yulia admits that before maternity leave, “while she was running in heels and in the car all the time,” she didn’t pay attention to sidewalks and curbs, but now, with a stroller, she understands that walking around the city is not easy everywhere. “Then how do wheelchair users feel?!” - says the woman.

All the townspeople unanimously recommend completing the journey through the Polar Dawns in the so-called “blink”. The dining room, which is famous for its pancakes, is located near the entrance to the city, in one of the shopping centers. The Polarnozorin residents themselves are sure that this is the best pancake house in the Murmansk region. At lunchtime, the queue for the counter here is literally outside. It’s tasty and very inexpensive - so, lunch for two cost us only 360 rubles. And the pancakes are truly finger-licking good!

We are moving further along the Kola North!

Do you want to become our guide and show or tell something that will never be published in a guidebook? Join us! We are waiting for your suggestions by phone: 8-953-752-00-30 or by mail

The project is being implemented with financial support from the government of the Murmansk region.