Drone footage released this month shows a group of polar bears taking refuge from the Arctic summer in the buildings of an abandoned Russian weather station.

Photographer Vadim Makhorov uploaded his video of the polar bears, sheltering on an island in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of northeastern Russia, to Instagram on Monday. The footage shows the bears in abandoned buildings and moving around outside.

“I think they see these houses as shelter from the wind, rain and other things. In general, they get along fine there,” Mr. Makhorov told Reuters Friday.

Mr. Makhorov wrote in his caption that in addition to the bears on Kolyuchin Island, walrus and whales can be found nearby. 

During the Soviet era, the island hosted a polar weather station, but mankind abandoned it in 1992, according to wildlife photographer Dmitry Kokh, who visited the island and saw the bear population there in 2021.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.