Starlit labs: a visual tour of enduring Soviet science institutes

Eric Lusito’s photo essay takes readers on a journey across former Soviet science institutes—from Ukraine’s radio-astronomy labs to Armenia’s Byurakan Observatory—showing how the USSR projected a utopian scientific future, built large-scale facilities for wartime aims, and how, after the 1991 collapse, many sites faced neglect yet linger on through adaptation, diaspora support, and wartime resilience.