Drone Videos of Northwestern Russia

Top contributor Timelab.pro's won a second annual Drone Video Award for this masterpiece of a drone video from St. Petersburg, Russia.  The video was shot during the long summer nights when the sun barely sets on this city created on the order of Peter the Great over three centuries ago.  Watch it to see some amazing aerial views of many of the city's top sights, including the St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Stock Exchange, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, the Port of St. Petersburg, the Kazan Cathedral, and more.  

Multiple DVOW Winner Makhorov brings us this magnificent aerial video of polar bears frolicking in icy cold waters just a few hundred mi./km from the North Pole, which was a Finalist for the 2023 Drone Video of the Year.  The video was filmed in the course of a trip on a nuclear-powered icebreaker to the Franz Josef Land Archipelago, a group of Russian islands which straddle the 81st north parallel, almost two-thirds of the way between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole; they include the northernmost point of the Eastern Hemisphere.    

DVA winner Timelab.pro created this stunning drone video of two Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers powering through the ice-covered Barents Sea.  Fifty Years of Victory and the Yamal are the only two active Arctica-class icebreakers.  These double-hulled vessels are just under 150 meters (486 ft.) long and displace about 25k tons.  Their two OK900A nuclear reactors produce an incredible 340MW of power, enough "juice" to fully supply a medium-sized city. This video won the X-Factor category at the 6th Annual NYCDFF.

Prepare to be blown away by this drone video of narwhal whales near the North Pole, compliments of top AirVuz contributor Timelab.pro.  The video filmed in the course of a scientific trip to study these narwahls in the Franz Josef Land Archipelago, a group of Russian islands which straddle the 81st north parallel, almost two-thirds of the way between the Arctic Circle and the earth's northernmost point.  Sometimes called "sea unicorns" due to their long tusks (usually only seen on males) narwahls grow up to about 18 ft. (5.5 m).    

AirVuz contributor Anemko brings us this excellent drone video from Velikiy Novgorod, one of Russia's oldest cities.  Also known as simply Novgorod (and not to be confused with the larger city of Nizhny Novgorod), it lies on the banks of the Volkhov River in Russia's Northwestern region.  Over a thousand years old, Novgorod was one of Europe's largest cities during the Middle Ages.  The video features footage of the city's most well-known sites, including the Novgorod Kremlin, the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, and the Cathedral of St. Sophia.

Brand-new contributor Mikhail from Russia created this outstanding drone video from the great north Russian port city of Murmansk.   At the north end of the Kola Peninsula and 2 degrees above the Arctic Circle.  Situated in the far northwestern corner of the country on a river estuary of the Berents Sea, Murmansk is the world's northernmost city with a population of at least 250k.  The video features footage of the city itself (including the Alyosha Monument erected in the wake of World War II) as well as the surrounding countryside.  

Former Drone Video of the Week Winner CINEMADRONE brings us this excellent drone video of Russia's only regularly-operated steam train.  The Ruskeala Express is a historic railway in Russia's Republic of Karelia, about 170 mi. (around 270 km) north of St. Petersburg.  The train runs a roughly one hour route between the town of Sortavala in southern Karelia on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga to the mountain park of Ruskeala, one of Karelia's top attractions and the site of some famous (now-disused) marble quarries.

In this very creative piece by top contributor DroneProduction.ru, you'll get some great air/ground views of one of Russia's oldest cities: Pskov.  The capital of its namesake province in the Northwestern region, the city lies on the Velikaya River near its mouth on Lake Peipus.  Founded in the early 10th century AD, the town played a critical role in the centuries-long struggle for control of this borderland region.   The video includes footage of some of the city's top sights, including the citadel Pskov Krom and Trinity Cathedral.

Contributor shulmanaerial created this amazing drone video of Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The footage is shot from the northern part of the lake in the Republic of Karelia, which is part of the Russian Federation.  Covering 17.7k square km (around 6.7k square mi.), it's the largest lake located entirely within Europe.  In frozen form, the lake was the site of the famous "Road of Life" which was used to supply nearby Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) during its brutal hunger siege by Nazi Germany during World War II.

If you looked at a map of the Baltic Sea region, you would think that the port city of Kaliningrad was part of Poland or Lithuania.  In fact, it's part of Russia, despite having no physical connection to the country.  Once known as Königsberg under centuries of German rule, the city was annexed by the USSR after the end of World War II, and it remained part of Russia following the Soviet Union's dissolution.  That is due in part to the fact that the city is the closest thing that Russia has to an ice-free Baltic port.  

The Republic of Karelia is one of the eleven Federal Subjects which make up Russia's Northwestern District.  Part of a historical region which also includes bits of Finnish territory, it's essentially the area between the White Sea and the Gulf of Finland.  In addition to being home to Europe's two largest lakes (Ladoga and Onega), Russian Karelia features thousands of square miles of pristine forests dotted with small lakes.  See the mist-covered Karelian countryside from above in this excellent piece from chill_side. 

Here is an aerial view of some spots in Russia's northern Arkhangelsk Oblast (province).  While there are spots further north in Russia, it's not many.  Thre province covers a large area along the end of the Dvina River and on the White Sea.  This drone video by contributor Alexeykalinin, you'll get a bird's eye view of this Arctic land in the winter.  It includes footage of the White sea, the region's deep forests, bridges over the Dvina, Vorzogory village, and the Kudemskaya narrow gauge railway.

Top contributor and pilot Sergei Pinin created this amazing aerial tour of Karelia, one of the northernmost provinces of Russia.  Karelia is located northwest of Lake Ladoga and St. Petersburg.  Karelia is home to some of the most iconic looking natural scenery in Russia's Northwest Federal District.  The province has a long border with Finland, and parts of it were part of Finland prior to the Russo-Finnish War of 1939-1940.  Enjoy the bird's eye views of this stunning northern landscape.  

Contributor and drone pilot Sneba created this fascinating aerial video of a "ship cemetery" in the northern reaches of Russia.  It's situated off the Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk Oblast (province), the northernmost of the provinces on the Russian mainland and part of the Northwest Federal District.  Lying in these icy waters are dozens of nuclear-powered ships which are no longer in service but which have not been properly de-commissioned.  It's an example of how the end of the Cold War created its own set of problems.  

Check out this amazing drone video from the Ruskeala Stone Park in the Karelia province of northern Russia.  Karelia is one of the eleven republics that make up the Northwestern Federal District of Russia.  It is situated between the St. Petersburg area and Murmansk, the northernmost Russian mainland province.  What you'll see in the video are marble "canyons", created by the marble quarry operations which date to the 18th century here.  A number of these quarries were destroyed from overuse of dynamite.  

While the Urals and Caucasus are the two mountain ranges most commonly associated with Russia, they aren't the only mountains in this enormous country.  Witness this fantastic drone video from contributor and pilot Rocannon.  The video was filmed at the Khibiny Open Cup freeride competition in the Khibiney Mountains.  This range is one of two (and the taller) which sit on the Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk Oblast (province), in the very far north of Russia and well inside the Arctic Circle.  

The Curonian Spit is one of the more prominent geographic features of the southern Baltic Sea.  It's a long, thin sandbar which runs for about 100 km (around 60 mi.), separating the Curonian Lagoon from the open Baltic.  It's split between Lithuania and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.  Created between 4-5k years ago, the spit and lagoon have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.  In this drone video by contributor Fly&Travel, you'll get an excellent aerial view of the famous spit's southern (Kaliningrad) half.   

Check out this fascinating drone video by chill_side of a containership plowing its way through half-frozen waters of the Baltic Sea near St. Petersburg, Russia.  The video was shot near the city of Kronstandt, which is located on Kotlin Island about 30 km (around 18 mi.) west of central St. Petersburg, in the Gulf of Finland.  The island, which is part of the city of St. Petersburg, is the long-time home of the Russian Baltic Fleet.  The waters around Kronsadt are generally completely frozen during the winter months.  

Check out this drone ideo of a famous monastery in Russia, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot Anemko.  Yuriev Monastery is located on the banks of the Volkhov RIver near the city of Novgorod (also called Veliky Novgorod), about a two hour drive south of St. Petersburg.  The original structure of the complex dates to the 11th century, making it was is generally accepted to be the oldest monastery in Russia.  Heavily damaged during the Soviet period, Yiriev was restored to the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1990's.  

Check out these amazing wintertime drone views from northern Russia, compliments of contributor sinaysky.  The footage is from the Komi Republic, the southeasternmost of the eleven Federal Subjects (oblasts, republics, and centrally administered cities) of Russia's Northwestern region.  Heavily forested, Komi sits between the Ural Mountains to the east and the Eastern European Plain to the west.  The video features footage of the republic's beautiful forests as well as the industrial town of Sosnogorsk.

This drone video from AirVuz contributor chill_side features some spectacular aerial views of the forests and lakes of Northwestern Russia.  Without question, the highlight of the video is at around the :05 mark, where he was able to aerially capture what appears to be an eagle flying right below the drone.  Somehow, he was able to keep the bird in the drone's field of camera vision long enough to create an absolutely epic ten second sequence before the raptor drifts off to the left and disappears from view.  

Check out this excellent nighttime hyperlapse drone video of the Russian port of Murmansk at night, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot murmanak.  Located at nearly 69 degrees north latitude, Murmansk has the distinction of being the northernmost major city in the world.  The city sits on Kola Bay (part of the Berents Sea), and despite being within the Arctic Circle its port is ice-free all year.  The seaport is one of Russia's most important, and during World War II it served as one of the country's lifelines.  

Contributor Sneba created this marvelous drone video of the Rybachy Peninsula, the northernmost part of European Russia.  It's a northern extension of the oblast (province) of Murmansk, part of the country's Northwestern Federal Disrtrict.  The area had been part of Finland for a time before being ceded to the USSR after the Winter War of 1939-40, and it played an important role in World War II given its position on the routes to and from the main Soviet Arctic Sea ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk.

Former Drone Video of the Week Finalist Vadim_Danilov brings us this excellent drone video of an important historic Russian city called Veliky Ustyug.  It's located at the confluence of the Veliky and Ustyug Rivers (which become the Northern Dvina) in the oblast (province) of Vologda, part of the country's Northwest region.  Dating to the 13th century, Veliky Ustyug became one of the most important cities of northern Russia during the 17th-18th centuries, when its strategic position allowed it to control much of the commerce of the region.

Contributor Hyperlapse this astoundingly well done dronelapse sequence from Russia's Ural Mountains.  The video was taken from the area around Mt. Monaraga, in the northern Urals.  It's situated in the Komi Republic, which is actually part of the Northwestern rather than Urals federal subject territory.  The mountain has a peak elevation of about 1.65k meters above sea level (around 5.45k ft.).  The Ural Mountains form a north-south chain and serve to divide the continents of Europe and Asia.  

AirVuz contributor and pilot kino.team brings us this fantastic drone video of an important bulk cargo port in Northwestern Russia.  It's the port of Ust-Luga, and it's located near the mouth of the Luga River in the Kingiseppsky District of the Leningrad Oblast, about 70 mi. (around 110 km) west of St. Petersburg.  The centerpiece of the port is the coal and fertilizer terminal, which was constructed in the late 1990's at a cost of over US $2 billion.  The port also maintains a terminal for containerized freight.  

Check out this drone video of a Russian island monastery called Kamenny Monastery, compliments of contributor robert_msk.  It's located in the middle of Kubensky Lake in the Vologda Oblast (province), part of the country's Northwest region.  The main current structure was built in the 15th century, on the ruins of a 13th century structure which burnt down.  A church structure was built in the 16th century, and the entire complex fell into a ruined state after the Russian Revolution.  It's now under renovation.  

In this video, drone pilot stavraero_spb brings us to the mysterious Vottovarra Mountain in Karelia, a region in Northwestern Russia bordering Finland. The site was considered sacred by the Sami people and is an ancient pagan site of worship. The region is known as the home of Lake Onega, where archaeologists discovered 1,200 rock drawings that are estimated to be 5-6,000 years old.  In the video, you can see the odd boulders scattered across Vottovaara Mountain that have also made the site famous for both tourists and archaeologists. 

AirVuz contributor and pilot Vadim_Danilov brings us this excellent drone video of the Curonian Spit is a long, narrow sand bar that separates the Baltic Sea from the Curonian Lagoon.  The video was filmed in the southern portion of the spit in Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave which is surrounded by Polish and Lithuanian territory.  The northern part of the spit is in Lithuania.  Formed about 5,000 years ago, the spit runs for about 60 mi. (around 100 km) on a southwest-to-northeast axis.  

AirVuz contributor and pilot Anemko brings us this excellent drone video of Vyazhishchi Monastery, a famous hermitage in Northwestern Russia.  The structure is situated in its namesake village, just a few mi./km northwest of the city of Novgorod (aka Veliky Novgorod).   While the original monastery was founded in the late 14th century, The buildings which remain standing date to the time of Peter the Great i.e,,  around the turn of the 18th century.  It is famous for its tin-glazed pottery known as Maiolica.

Northern Russia is home to some of the world's most iconic winter scenery. It's a land of vast pine forests, interspersed with thousands of lakes.  During the long winter months, these areas become enrobed in white, and the scene presented is hauntingly beautiful.  In this video by contributor Dronemedia, you'll get a bird's eye view of a forest in the depths of the frigid Russian winter.  The video was shot in Russia's Northwestern Federal District, one of the eight official regions of Russia.  

Check out this drone video of a beautiful spot just north of St. Petersburg, Russia, compliments of contributor and pilot junglijay.  It's called Solnechnoe, and it's located in Kurortny, the northernmost district of Russia's second-largest city and erstwhile capital.  The territory here is part of the Karelian Isthmus, the land bridge between the Gulf of Finland to the west and Lake Ladoga to the east.  The area had been part of Finland prior to its capture by the Soviet Union in the Winter War of 1939-40.

For a first upload to AirVuz, new contributor Anemko brings us this excellent drone video of what is believed to be the oldest monastery in Russia.  It's called Yuriev Monastery, and it's located just a few mi/km south of the historic city of Novgorod, about a two hour drive south of St. Petersburg.  Situated on the banks of the Volkhov River, the original structure of the complex dates to the 11th century.  Heavily damaged during the Soviet period, Yiriev was restored to the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1990's.  

Top contributor vitaliy.karpovich put together this stunning DVOW Finalist drone video of St. Petersburg, Russia as the country's second-largest city and erstwhile capital transitioned from winter to spring.  Featured locations include (in order of first appearance): the crescent-shaped Kazan Cathedral; the Admiralty Building; the Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange Rostral Columns; Saint Isaac's Cathedral; the Bronze Horseman statue in Senate Square; the Lomsonov Bridge over the Fontanka River; and more. 

Former DVOW Finalist sinaysky brings us this excellent wintertime drone video of a historic train line in the region of Karelia in Northwestern Russia.  It's called the Ruskeala Express, and it's a steam-powered train which runs between the town of Sortavala and Ruskeala's mountain park, one of its top attractions.  The Republic of Karelia is a Federal Subject (essentially, an oblast or province) of Russia, located north of St. Petersburg.  It's a largely forested land which is home to over 60,000 lakes.  

For a first upload to AirVuz, brand-new contributor DNSJUST brings us this outstanding drone video of the Russian port city of Murmansk.  The city is situated on Kola Fjord, an inlet of the Berents Sea.  With a population of around 300k, it's the largest city within the Arctic Circle.  Despite its northerly location, the city's port remains ice-free throughout the year due to the effect of the North Atlantic Current.  It is the country's fourth-busiest seaport, and the busiest in Northwestern Russia after St. Petersburg.

Former DVOW Finalist VadimUshKa brings us this excellent wintertime drone video from Pskov, one of the oldest cities in Russia.  Situated on the banks of the Velikaya River, just south of its mouth on Lake Peipus, and just east of the border with Estonia, Pskov was founded over 1,000 years ago and served as a key northwestern outpost of Russia for centuries.  The video features footage of the city's Alexander Nevsky statue (at the :27 mark), the Pskov State University building (1:18), the Kremlin and Trinity Church (1:24), and more.  

Check out these stunning views of Russia's Lake Ladoga, compliments of AirVuz contributor Skyslant.  Europe's largest freshwater lake, Ladoga covers a surface area of nearly 7k square mi. (just under 18k square km).  Located east and northeast of St. Petersburg in the northwestern part of the country, the lake forms the eastern boundary of the Karelian Isthmus, the strip of land between the lake and the Baltic Sea on which Russia's second-largest city sits.  The video includes some underwater shots to complement the drone footage.   

What is snowkiting?  You'll find out when you watch this drone video by Rocannon.  Snowkiting is like kiteboarding except it's on snow instead of water. And what better place to practice an extreme winter sport than in a far northern corner of Russia.  The video was shot on the Kola Peninsula, which is best known for its main city, Murmansk.  It's almost completely within the Arctic Circle, and the waters of the Berents and White Seas freeze up, making this the land of icebreakers and snowkiting!