R504, Road of bones

Ride.

The R504 Kolyma Highway, part of the M56 route, is a major road traversing the Russian Far East. It links the city of Magadan with the town of Nizhny Bestyakh, situated on the eastern bank of the Lena River, directly across from Yakutsk. At Nizhny Bestyakh, the Kolyma Highway intersects with the Lena Highway, forming an important transportation connection. The highway is colloquially known as the Road of Bones, while its local designation is the Kolyma Route.

The Dalstroy construction directorate undertook the building of the Kolyma Highway during the Stalinist period of the Soviet Union. The initial section was commenced in 1932 by inmates of the Sevvostlag labour camp, and the project proceeded over the following decades, relying extensively on forced labour from the gulag system until its completion in 1953.

It is widely alleged that between 250,000 and 1,000,000 imprisoned laborers who perished during its construction were buried beneath or alongside the road, though no documented evidence of remains has been found to substantiate this claim. Given that the road was built on permafrost, a persistent rumour—circulated through Western and dissident sources—suggests that incorporating the bodies into the structure was considered more practical than excavating new graves for the deceased.

In 1938, records show that 10,251 individuals perished within the Kolyma region prison system, with official causes primarily attributed to disease. The Central Intelligence Agency’s initial 1950s estimate of three million victims has been identified as inaccurate in Martin Bollinger’s work on Kolyma prison labour. In his review of Bollinger’s book, Norman Polmar cites a significantly lower figure of 130,000 deaths.

The daily distances suggested are as follows:

• Yakutsk to Khandyga is 380 km (240 mi)
• Khandyga to Kyubeme is 320 km (200 mi)
• Kyubeme to Kadykchan via Tomtor covers 420 km (260 mi) – Kyubeme to Kadykchan north via Ust-Nera (along the new and maintained section) is 650 km (400 mi)
• Kadykchan to Susuman is 90 km (60 mi)
• Susuman to Magadan at 630 km (390 mi)