Villages Disappearing En Masse in russia: 266 Settlements Liquidated Within a Year

In 2025, the degradation of the rural network continued in russia: at least 266 settlements were officially liquidated in one year, most of which were completely abandoned villages. For the second time, a leader in the “disappearance” of settlements was kostroma region, followed by novgorod region; together, those two regions accounted for about three-quarters of all liquidated settlements. In the third place is perm region, where not only the so-called “death” of villages is being recorded, but remote settlements with small populations are also being deliberately resettled. Some small villages are simply being merged with larger ones in order to at least somehow patch up the infrastructure failures.

In fact, this is not about development, but about the legal formalization of decline: russian regions are consistently losing population, and the territories of “vacant” villages are simply being transferred for economic needs. This contrasts sharply with moscow’s loud statements about a new “general resettlement plan”, which is supposed to bring the provinces back to life. In reality, the document only confirms the deep demographic crisis, spatial inequality, and non-existence of prospects in the periphery: life in half-empty villages without medicine, education, or work does not attract anyone, and attempts to “disperse the population” are attempts to cosmetically cover up the failure.

As a result, russia is experiencing systemic decline outside of a few large urban agglomerations: depopulation, dying out of villages, and the development gap are only growing, while high-profile programs remain mere window dressing for a reality that is rapidly emptying out.