Typical Soviet Apartment Tour (How Russian People REALLY Live)

Typical Soviet Apartment Tour (How Russian People REALLY Live)

[Music] People all over Russia live in all kinds of different apartments that were built during different generations. In this video, we wanted to share some of these apartments and to show you how people live in the biggest country in the world. But to start, we need to head to Siberia. Welcome to Siberia. We got here quick. So, the houses behind us are called panel. They used to be called Briki because they were built during BRIF time, but actually those ones were built a bit later, but they’re the same style. They’re called panel because they’re basically built out of prefabricated concrete panels and put together. And those apartments probably most associated with Russia and with the Russian look. And actually, the building behind me is where my grand used to live for over 25 years. Let’s head inside and show you what it looks like. So, there are lots of entrances to these houses. And as you can imagine, it can fit quite a lot of people inside. Apartments like this remind me of beehives. So as opposed to Kushovki, these apartments actually as well as these stairs have a lift. too. And one thing they also have is a trash shoot. So yeah, trash goes in there straight down the chute. Also, each floor looks like it has two doors. So two homes here and here. But actually behind each door there’s two homes. So we’ll go inside now and we’ll show you what that looks like. So, we’re inside your typical panel and I wanted to show you this apartment while I had the opportunity. This used to be my grand’s apartment and this is two bed apartment. Well, in Russian terms, it’s two bed. If you were to say in English terms, I think it would be one bed. So, here is the lounge and quite a big balcony. A lot of people usually use their balconies as storage space rather than a place, you know, to sit and chill. You can see that it’s way more roomy than your It’s quite a big corridor. So, here is our bedroom. Separate bathroom. and toilet. And here we have big kitchen. At some point, we actually used to live in apartments over there. And there you can see new apartments. They’re actually built recently and they’re built on a swamp. There used to be a factory, textile factory where my auntie actually used to work and all the sewage from there used to be dumped over there and my cousin told me that it was actually quite beautiful because in the winter it would never freeze as it was warm. So it looked really nice and you know mysterious. So yeah, instead of um swamp we have new buildings there. know those types of flats the same as hurushki still have a terrible soundproof system so you can still hear your neighbors very well but size-wise they’re way bigger than your I spent my whole life living in apartments like this bigger or smaller in size and I wanted to show you this specific apartment because it’s very very important to me and this specific apartment was my You know what’s interesting is all of these buildings in Russia that we’re going to show you are named after different presidents. So different eras and they were named after different presidents. So this as Julia said is Bjnki. You’ve also got Kushovki and now you’ve also got Putin. And each of them were built to solve a different problem. These were built because the Kushchovki that were the original buildings to counteract the overpopulation of the Soviet Union were built because after 15 20 years of people living in these cramped little Kushovki, people started to get tired of that way of living and they really needed some more space. So there was a lot of appeals to the government to the Soviet government at the time to build bigger apartments and yeah this where these big projects came about to build these PJVI which are 10 floors and the apartments inside are a lot bigger than those of the Kushovki and the little houses that people were living in before. So what’s fairly typical when these buildings were built as well is they were built along a main road and just behind these buildings is the main road Prospect Madni and then they usually have big courtyards in between the middle of these entire blocks and in this courtyard there’s a football pitch which is obviously covered in snow and like a park for It’s this part of the city used to be my favorite. I thought this was the best place to live in the city. I don’t really know why. Probably because I grew up here and everyone feels that way around the area where they spend majority of their time in. However, now there are lots of new parts of the city which are being developed. My cousin actually lives there and we’re renting an apartment there during our stay in Cameroon. So, let’s head over there, show you what these new areas look like and apartments inside. This region is more of a kind of elite region here in Keova and it’s built down on the banks of river Tom which is the main river that flows all the way through Keova Aglas and then into the OB river and off to the Arctic Ocean. So the views from down here are really beautiful and the air is probably the best quality in the city I would say. And yeah, let’s take you inside the apartment that we’re staying, which is costing us on, which is like the Russian Airbnb, around $20 a night. Um, but usually obviously to rent full time would cost a little bit less. Let’s show you inside. It’s so windy today. My god, my fingers are freezing. Let’s show you around a modern apartment here in Russia and here in Siberia. This one is pretty small. It’s only 26 square m. But yeah, I mean for us right now while we’re staying here, it’s perfect. So yeah, here’s the bedroom. Here’s the large office area and a kitchen and yeah, so it’s got everything. There’s a hob, oven, and then fridge, freezer over here, h and then back into the corridor, you’ve got a big kind of cupboard area. And last but not least, a bathroom. To be honest, the style of this apartment is fairly typical for modern apartments here. Um, but yeah, the world really. I think that’s how they build them everywhere now, to be honest. Yeah, they’re pretty cut and paste, right? A small kitchen with a little bit of worktop space, dining area. Dining area. What I do like about this is it’s really light and the view. We’re only on the second floor, but I’d imagine if you were on the higher floors, the view over the city would be really, really beautiful. It’s just lacking an extra bedroom. But overall, I really like the modern apartments that are built here in here in Russia. And we’ll show you a couple of others in this video if we haven’t already. Yeah, that’s it. There is not much to show over here. And to be honest, for me, it’s quite strange to see these kind of apartments here the size of them that small. For sure. Like we’ve been used to your grand size apartment, right? Which is basically double. Yeah. And um and those style as well. Like every time we’ve we’ve come to Russia, we mainly stay in in that like BRKI in that sort of style home. So it makes a real change to stay in a modern apartment. I wonder if the soundproof system is better in those kinds of apartments because in panel if your neighbor is coughing you literally feel like they’re coughing in your room. You can hear everything. And we had a look to buy this apartment would cost you about 5 million. I feel like a estate agent like good price. I do a good price. It’s 5 million. I actually asked my cousin. He bought an apartment which is 51 square meters in 2019 for 3 million in the building next door basically. Yeah. So yeah, prices here have gone up quite a lot especially in rubble terms. Maybe if you translate the price of the ruble to dollar it may not kind of work out like that much of a jump but in rubble terms prices here in Keova. We can’t tell you about the entirety of Russia just yet, but here in Kova, prices have changed a lot. That’s because everyone from the region is moving here, right? That’s true as well. And they’re building a lot a lot of new apartments going everywhere. Let’s show you the view. Last but not least. There we go. The river’s just there, but we’re only on the second floor, so you can’t see it. But I think if you were up high, you’d be able to see all over the city. Behind us is the famous Krushchovki, which you will see all over Russia. We’re currently staying in one tonight. So, let’s take you inside and show you what it’s like. So this is your typical one bed hashovka which obviously had a bit of an upgrade. Those types of buildings were constructed from mid to late 50s till ‘7s under the Soviet leader Nikita hence the name Kushovk. They were built as a quick solution to overpopulation back in the Soviet Union. And they’re known for being pretty small. As we’re sitting here talking, I can literally hear everything the neighbors are doing upstairs. And they were actually famous for having a very small kitchen, which I find quite funny. Now, I’m sitting in the kitchen right now, and it doesn’t seem that small, especially compared to how the kitchens are built in all the new apartments now, which are literally non-existent. So, we’re currently staying on the first floor, and we don’t have a balcony, but typically an apartment in Kurushovka would have a balcony as well. I personally never lived in one, but many of my friends did. Andas to me always associate with just good memories and coziness, but I’m sure there are lots of different opinions on that one. And you can find those types of buildings literally everywhere across post Soviet countries. Well, we absolutely had to take you to the northern capital of Russia to St. Petersburg and show you a completely different type of home and a completely different way of living. These are the Baroque homes of the very center of St. Petersburg, built during the Russian Empire period from the 1800s into the early 1900s. And these are just so grandiose. We’re going to take you inside the building that we’re staying now and show you what it’s like inside. And here in Russia, the entrance hall area everywhere around the country is called a pad, which is um where you go through before you get into your apartment. Yeah. Where the lifts and stuff are. But here in St. Petersburg, they’re called parad. Paradna, like parade, because of course everything here in St. Petersburg is exquisite and on a different level to everywhere else in Russia. So, let’s take you inside our parad and then show you our apartment here. So the main street here in St. Petersburg is called Nevski, which goes from the main train station all the way up to the uh to the main square to where the Hermes Museum is. And we’re staying on a street called Marata, which is just off of Nefki, which is here. So we’re in the very center of the city. And let’s take you inside. This is not just a pad. This is parad an entrance hall. Look at the ceilings there. They’re actually so beautiful. Yeah. Imagine owning an apartment somewhere like this. I mean, you made it in life if you do in my opinion. I mean, it’s very dated, obviously, but you can feel you feel like you’re going back in time, right? We’re in the 1800s now. Also, in St. Petersburg, they often have a different side where you enter the building. Usually, you would enter it from the inside, but here you would enter the building from the main street. So there is a second entrance right there where you can go inside the courtyard and also fill your rubbish there as well. So obviously this courtyard area back in the day would have been a uh a meeting place you know for people that living in these in these buildings for them to sit down and have a have a cup of tea but obviously yeah now it’s just a place to pin your rubbish parking as well and parking yeah you know what I’m surprised about to see um lifts here we staying in apartment number Six. Imagine there is a whole floor for just one apartment. An entire floor. It’s amazing, right? They used to be so big. Obviously, a lot of them are split up now, aren’t they? Yeah. As you’ll see, let’s take you inside. Now, there are three apartments here, but imagine this used to be just one massive apartment. And what I love about them the most, the ceilings are so high. They’re actually huge. So, let’s show you inside of one of them apartments, one of the rooms, I guess, that was before. Let’s start with the bathroom. And this apartment is actually really nice. It’s one of the nicest we’ve ever stayed in. We live in St. in Petersburg before the situation was completely different. They were so crammed. It seems like they split it not in three apartments, like in five. So, it was ridiculous. There was literally no space. But this one’s actually quite modern and quirky and there is enough room for the two of us 100%. It’s really nice and, you know, clean. Beautiful looking apartment. The stairs are quite steep. You have to be careful if you need the L at night. Obviously, you can’t stand up straight. Even me, and I’m very short. Yes. Obviously, as Julia said, these ceilings here are so so high. And this part is obviously an addition by the owners when they split this massive apartment into three. But can you imagine how people used to live here in this central part of St. Petersburg in these massive apartments with really high ceilings, balconies? I mean, they’re properly grandiose. And we’ve seen apartments like this obviously all over Europe. In Vienna, we stayed in one very similar that had been converted in London. And I really, really love these old buildings to be honest. They are so so bourgeoa, I think the word is. And yeah, you feel like you’ve gone back maybe 150 years to a different period of time when you’re here. [Music] Welcome to a completely different region of Russia. And one last apartment type we wanted to show you is right in front of us. Now this is also a kushovka but these are what are called abshagi uh obsit aka shared apartments or almost like a hostel format. Each of the apartments you see in front of you is shared between three or four different people. They’ll have a shared kitchen. And actually this one in front of us always makes me laugh because they’ve got the doors for the balconies but there’s no balconies on this building. So, in the summer when we’ve been here, you see people with the doors wide open. If you’ve had a few too many or something and you’re uh not paying attention, you could walk straight out of that door and fall five stories to the ground. So, yeah, makes me laugh because I’ve never seen that happen. Perhaps you’ve saw that happen. My face would straighten a little bit. And anyway, on that note, I hope you’ve enjoyed this video and found it interesting. We certainly have exploring not just the different apartments and different types of ways that people live in, but also the different regions of the country with that. And yeah, thanks for watching. See you in the next one.

Want to know what its really like to live in Russia?
Russia is the largest country on Earth, and in this video we will share different types of Russian / Soviet apartments, and how people live all over this vast country. From the grey Soviet apartment blocks, to Krushchevka’s and even down to the modern apartments, we will share what each of these buildings are like, both inside and outside, and what it is like to live in each of these different apartment buildings in various regions of Russia.

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CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:27 Inside a ‘Brezhnevka’ – The Soviet Panel Buildings
04:38 Why these different buildings exist?
06:32 Modern Russian Apartments, and how much they cost
11:04 ‘Krushchevka’ – Solving the Soviet housing crisis
12:34 Saint Petersburg – How the ‘Imperial Elite’ used to live
18:09 ‘Obshaga’ – Communal Living in 2025

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