Sankovo-Medvezhye
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52°29′N 31°33′E / 52.483°N 31.550°E
Sankovo-Medvezhye (Russian: Саньково-Медвежье; Belarusian: Санькова-Мядзвежжа, Sańkova-Miadzviežža) is a Russian exclave surrounded by Belarus (with an area of 454 hectares, 4.5 km2 or 1.7 sq mi). It is situated in the east of Dobrush Raion of Homiel Voblast, 5 km from the Russian village of Dobrodeyevka. Sankovo-Medvezhye is a part of Zlynkovsky District of Bryansk Oblast and is just 800 m (1⁄2 mi) from the Belarusian–Russian border, from which it is separated by marshes. The name of the exclave comes from the villages Sankovo and Medvezhye, which existed in this area during the Soviet times.
History
At the beginning of the 20th century settlers from the neighboring village of Dobrodeyevka left in search of a job for the United States. Having worked as miners in Pennsylvania, they returned before World War I broke out. New farmers bought holdings and established individual farms.
In 1926, during the administrative reform, the state border between Byelorussian Soviet Republic and Russian Soviet Republic was moved to the east but administratively the villages Sankovo and Medvezhye became a part of Russia's Bryansk Oblast.
During World War II, Germans burned these villages but after the war Russians re-settled this region.
Current status
Due to the nuclear disaster that occurred in Chernobyl in 1986 this area is polluted and abandoned. Housing and any other economic activity in the area are now completely forbidden.
The area is mainly only visited by thieves and poachers since the Russian police are and the Belarusian police do not have jurisdiction over the area.[1]
See also
References
- ^ The Atlas of Unusual Borders by Zoran Nikolič. ISBN 978-0-00-835177-9.p. 48