Abandoned Soviet Military Hospital in Budapest lies derelict since 1991

Pipes run on a ceiling of a surgery department of a former Soviet military hospital, which lies in a precarious condition since 1991 when the last Russian troops left Hungary, in Budapest. First opened in 1904 as a private mental institution, the Art Nouveau hospital was occupied by the Red Army as it advanced against the Nazis in 1945. New buildings, including a huge surgery department, were added later. (Laszlo Balogh/REUTERS )

Updated on: Jun 01, 2017 9:09 AM IST

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Published on Jun 01, 2017 9:09 AM

Pipes run on a ceiling of a surgery department of a former Soviet military hospital, which lies in a precarious condition since 1991 when the last Russian troops left Hungary, in Budapest. First opened in 1904 as a private mental institution, the Art Nouveau hospital was occupied by the Red Army as it advanced against the Nazis in 1945. New buildings, including a huge surgery department, were added later. (Laszlo Balogh/REUTERS )

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Apartments used by Russian soldiers and doctors seen at a former Soviet military hospital. (Laszlo Balogh/REUTERS)

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In 1991 the Hungarian government was not willing to pay the Russians compensation for what they had invested in the hospital. (Laszlo Balogh/REUTERS)

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When the Russians left in 1991, all that was left was bare walls and broken windows. That marked the start of a long saga of changing ownership rights and searches, still unresolved, to find new investors. (Laszlo Balogh/REUTERS)

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A copy of the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda is seen lying on the floor in one of the apartments where doctors and soldiers lived with their families.Traces of the Russian presence can be felt everywhere. (Laszlo Balogh/REUTERS)

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Entry into the underground shelters at a former Soviet military hospital. (Laszlo Balogh/REUTERS)

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Soldiers wounded in Afghanistan were among those treated here. The 17 acre complex lies derelict with its walls crumbling, its floors torn up and its windows broken. (Laszlo Balogh/REUTERS)

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Russian writing is seen on a wall in a surgery department of a former Soviet military hospital. The place now is eerily quiet, with pigeons flying across occasionally. (Laszlo Balogh/REUTERS)