Lighthouses of Russia: Novaya Zemlya

Russia (Россия, Rossiya in Russian) is by far the world's largest country, spanning a little over 150° in longitude. It is organized as the Russian Federation (Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) with members known as federal subjects (sub'yekty federatsii). Russia is primarily a continental nation but it has important coastlines on the Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas and very long coastlines on the Arctic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean. To guard these coasts it operates hundreds of lighthouses, many of them historic.

Novaya Zemlya ("New Land") is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean consisting of two large islands, Ostrov Severny (North Island) and Ostrov Yuzhny (South Island), separated by a narrow fjord called the Matochkin Strait. The 56 km (35 mi) wide Kara Strait separates Ostrov Severny from Ostrov Vaygach (Vaygach Island), which in turn is separated from the mainland of Siberia by the very narrow Yugorskiy Strait.

The islands represent the northernmost extension of the Ural Mountains; they have a total length of more than 800 km (500 mi) and a width of up to 100 km (60 mi). Novaya Zemlya separates the Barents Sea on the west from the Kara Sea on the east, and geographers consider it to be the northeasternmost extension of Europe. During the Cold War the Soviet Union conducted tests of nuclear weapons on the islands and the small population today (a little under 2000) is associated with military bases established during that period. Most live in the settlement of Belush'ya Guba ("Beluga Bay") founded in 1897 at the southwestern end of the archipelago. Novaya Zemlya is administered as a district of Arkhangel'sk Oblast.

Novaya Zemlya is a border security zone, which means that visits require a special permit from the Federal Security Service.

The Russian word for a lighthouse is mayak (маяк); ostrov is an island, mys is a cape, bukhta or guba is a bay, zaliv is a larger bay or gulf, proliv is a strait, reka is a river, and gavan' is a harbor.

Russian lighthouses are owned by the Russian Navy and maintained by the Navy's Office of Navigation and Oceanography (Управление навигации и океанографии).

Russian light list (RU) numbers are from Russian Navy Publications 2103 (Barents Sea) or 2111 (Kara Sea) as reported by the Admiralty. Admiralty numbers are from volume L of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 115.

General Sources
World of Lighthouses - Russia Arctic Ocean
Photos available from Lightphotos.net.
Online List of Lights - Russia - Arctic Sea Coast
Photos by various photographers posted by Alexander Trabas.


Mys Zhelaniya Light, Ostrov Severny, July 2012
photo copyright Moscow State University
Dept. of Physical Geography and Landscape
reproduction allowed with attribution

Southeast Coast (Kara Strait) Lighthouses
Mys Men'shikov (1 and 2?)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 33 m (108 ft); red light, 2 s on, 4 s off. 18 m (56 ft) square skeletal tower, painted white. Vladimir Shadrin has an aerial photo and Google has a satellite view. The light is on the shorter of the two towers seen in the photos, but the taller tower is likely to be an earlier lighthouse. Located on the southeastern tip of Novaya Zemlya, marking the eastern entrance to the Kara Strait. Site status unknown. RU 2111-0490; Admiralty L7618; NGA 16576.
Ostrov Bol'shoy Loginov
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 42 m (138 ft); green light, 2 s on, 6 s off. 17 m (56 ft) square pyramidal tower carrying a daymark painted white with black V-shaped stripes. No photo available but Google has a distant satellite view. Located on an island off the south coast of Novaya Zemlya at the narrowest point of the strait. Site status unknown. RU 2111-0475; Admiralty L7636; NGA 16580.
Mys Kusov Nos
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 41 m (135 ft); two white flashes every 12 s. 16 m (52 ft) square pyramidal tower carrying a daymark painted with black and white vertical stripes. Wikimapia has a closeup photo and a distant sunset photo, but Google has only a fuzzy satellite view of the area. Located on a small island off the southern tip of Novaya Zemlya, marking the western entrance to the strait. Site status unknown. RU 2111-0470; Admiralty L7642; NGA 16584.

Southwest Coast (Pechora Sea) Lighthouses
The southeastern corner of the Barents Sea, between Kolguyev and Vaygach islands and the southern end of Novaya Zemlya, is known in Russia as the Pechora Sea.

Mys Vkhodnoy (Krasino)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 40 m (131 ft); white flash every 3 s. 14 m (43 ft) square pyramidal tower carrying a daymark painted with black and white horizontal bands. No photo available but Google has an indistinct satellite view. The name simply means "Entrance Cape," and there is another light by the same name listed below. Located on a promontory on the west side of a fjord leading to Krasino. Site status unknown. RU 2103-2205; Admiralty L7650; NGA 16592.
Ostrov Podresov
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 29 m (95 ft); white flash every 3 s. 18 m (56 ft) square pyramidal tower carrying a daymark painted with red and white horizontal bands. No photo available and Bing has only a distant satellite view of the island. Located on a small island off the entrance to Belush'ya Guba. Site status unknown. RU 2103-2260; Admiralty L7678; NGA 16600.
Samoedskiy-Vkhodnoy (Belush'ya Guba) Range Front
Date unknown. Active; focal plane about 15 m (49 ft); red flash every 2.3 s. 6 m (20 ft) square pyramidal rubblestone tower carrying a daymark painted with black and white vertical stripes. A photo is at right, Wikimapia has several additional photos, and Google has a satellite view. Belush'ya Guba (Beluga Bay) is the principal military base and largest settlement on Novaya Zemlya. Located just north of the main pier at Belush'ya Guba. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty L7697.

Samoedskiy-Vkhodnoy Range Front Light, Belush'ya Guba
unattributed Belushka.ru photo via Lightphotos.net
Samoedskiy-Vkhodnoy (Belush'ya Guba) Range Rear
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 19 m (62 ft); one long red flash every 6 s. 10 m (33 ft) square pyramidal rubblestone tower painted yellow with a black vertical stripe. A photo is at right and Google has a satellite view. Located in the center of Belush'ya Guba, 685 m (0.43 mi) east of the front light. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty L7697.1.
Mys Lil'e (Lil'ye)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 27 m (89 ft); white flash every 3 s. 7 m (23 ft) triangular pyramidal tower. No photo of the tower is available. Wikimapia's page has distant views of the station from the sea and Google has a distant satellite view. Located on a sharp promontory on the west side of the entrance to Belush'ya Guba. Site status unknown. RU 2103-2235; Admiralty L7680.

West Coast (Barents Sea) Lighthouses
Mys Britvin
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 32 m (105 ft); one long white flash every 6 s. 19 m (62 ft) square pyramidal tower, painted black with a white vertical stripe and a red lantern. No photo available and Google has only a very distant satellite view of the location. Located on a sharp promontory on the northwest coast of the South Island (Ostrov Yushny). Site status unknown. RU 2103-2320; Admiralty L7714; NGA 16656.
Ostrov Golets
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 38 m (125 ft); white flash every 6 s. 13 m (43 ft) square skeletal tower carrying a daymark painted yellow with a black vertical stripe. No photo available and Google has only a fuzzy satellite view of the island. The name means "Char Island," after the Arctic char, a fish of the salmon family. Located on an island off the northwest coast of the South Island, about 65 km (40 mi) south of the Matochkin Strait. Site status unknown. RU 2103-2325; Admiralty L7718; NGA 16660.
Ostrov Pankrat'yeva
Date unknown. Active (?); focal plane 82 m (269 ft); white flash every 5 s. 8 m (26 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower. No photo available and the tower is only a faint brown spot in Google's satellite view. Located on an island off the northwestern coast of the North Island. Site status unknown. RU 2103-2360; Admiralty L7900.

Samoedskiy-Vkhodnoy Range Rear Light, Belush'ya Guba
unattributed Belushka.ru photo via Lightphotos.net

East Coast (Kara Sea) Lighthouses
Mys Zhelaniya
Date unknown. Inactive at least since 1999. Approx. 15 m (49 ft) square pyramidal wood tower. The photo at the top of this page is from an expedition to Novaya Zemlya in July 2012 conducted by Moscow State University. Lightphotos.net has Roman Chudinov's view from the sea, Wikimedia also has a view from the sea and Google has a satellite view. Cape Zhelaniya (the name means "Cape Desire") is the northeastern tip of Novaya Zemlya and hence the northeasternmost point of Europe. The Soviet Union established a base at this remote location during World War II and maintained it during the Cold War; the site remained in occupation as a weather station until 1994. There is now an automated weather station on the cape. Site status unknown.
Mys Vkhodnoy (Matochkin Strait East Entrance)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 39 m (138 ft); white flash every 2 s. 20 m (66 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower carrying a daymark painted with black and white horizontal bands. No photo available and Google has only a distant satellite view of the area. This lighthouse and the next frame the entrance to the Matochkin Strait from the Kara Sea. One would expect comparable lighthouses at the western end of the strait, but if they exist they are not listed by the Admiralty. Note: The name Mys Vkhodnoy simply means "Entrance Cape," and there is another light by the same name listed above. Located on a promontory on the north side of the entrance to the strait. Site status unknown. RU 2111-0560; Admiralty L7840; NGA 16680.
Mys Rok
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 57 m (187 ft); white flash every 5 s. 10 m (33 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower carrying a daymark painted black with a white vertical stripe. No photo available and Google has only a very distant satellite view of the area. Located on a bluff on the south side of the entrance to the strait. Site status unknown. RU 2111-0550; Admiralty L7830.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: South: Nenetsia

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Created November 18, 2011. Checked and revised April 24, 2024. Lighthouses: 14. Site copyright 2022 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.