Moscow diggers reveal secrets of the underground world

There are a vast number of underground passes, caves, tunnels, mines and bunkers under Moscow. Urban explorers are attempting to discover why these structures were constructed, as well as uncovering the hidden mysteries of these grim vaults.

Residents of the capital had absolutely no idea about what lies literally under their feet. Almost all of the structures were constructed for government use. Moscow’s subterranean world combines the mystical and the real, the hidden and the explicit, the discovered and the unknown.

A strong, stale, and moldy odor permeates the environment.

Fearless explorers - the masters of the underground – follow the drainage system to access the lost world.

Silence and darkness rule, and you feel like you are entering another dimension. You can walk where no-one has gone for decades.

Steps resound ominously in the dim lights of the lamps shaking from the roars of the metro trains that pass somewhere nearby.

The dangers of the underground: deep holes between the ties, power cables and rails under voltage – and the actual trains.

Most of underground facilities remain classified to this day and therefore inaccessible.

The underground bunkers are still haunted by the shadows of the nuclear threat and the Cold War.

The explorers continue their search for new experiences, heading deeper while the social world continues above.

Some three thousand people head into the passages as a hobby.

The biggest challenge is avoiding the police. Every descent to the underground is punishable by a fine of 1,500 rubles.

The metro always amazes those who stumble on it.