Afghanistan Journal | Kabul | May 2025
3rd Mikrorayon - Kabul's Soviet Housing District
One would be forgiven if they thought they were walking around Bishkek, Dushanbe or any other Post-Soviet Central Asian city. With its leafy communal spaces and concrete apartment blocks, the four Soviet-built Mikrorayons, which translates to ‘micro district’ in Russian, are prime real estate in Kabul. Located near the centre of the city, this somewhat out of place complex tells the story of a different, more peaceful time in Afghanistan’s history before the country endured four long decades of conflict. Unlike the former Soviet States in the region whose cities are filled with Mikrorayons in which anybody can walk around freely, those in Afghanistan are much more private. Visiting the 3rd Mikrorayon, located next to the important Sash Darak neighbourhood, it became apparent that the Taliban who guard the complex were instantly suspicious of the presents of a foreigner. The photographs in this article are a mix of digital camera and iPhone and required two trips to the Mikrorayon after Taliban deleted many of the pictures of the buildings upon being stopped. Their reasoning being in case I took a photo of a woman.
Against the backdrop of mountains covered in traditional mud-built houses, the new prefabricated concrete four story apartment blocks began to be built in Kabul during the 1960s. A peaceful time in which women made up 40% of the city’s workforce, and buses traversing the hippie trail would frequent the bustling city. The Soviets at this time were investing heavily into the country and relations between the two governments were cordial. This new wave of building and architecture were to symbolise Afghanistan entering a new age, to modernise, and housed Afghans from officials to ordinary workers. Later in the 70s and 80s, during the Soviet Afghan war in which the Soviet Union helped the then Communist Afghan Government fight against the Mujahedeen, newer five and six story apartment blocks were constructed, the 3rd Mikrorayon being one of them. These primarily house Soviet men and women during the conflict and were built as compounds with barbed wire and armed guards keeping them secure. These attracted anti Soviet sentiment from many in the city who did not want the country to modernise and still stand as a reminder of hostile foreign intervention to some.
Two Taliban guards just outside the Mikrorayon, initially confused to why a foreigner was taking interest in apartment blocks, tell their thoughts on the complex. Omar (left) explains how the apartments are some of the most sought-after real estates in Kabul, and that having one of the fifth or sixth floor apartments is ‘Luxury’. He also explains how the Russians built them to last, and they are better than Afghan buildings in the city. The average price to rent one of these two-bedroom apartments is $100-$150 per month, an expensive bill in a city where the average monthly wage is only $200. Omar did not have an opinion on the Soviet Union but acknowledged the apartments were built during ‘very bad times’ as he put it and says that Kabul is now ‘free’.
Two men keeping watch escort anyone who isn’t living in the block back out the gate.
The buildings themselves are Khrushchevkas, a prefabricated concrete panel constructed apartment block of three to six stories high. They were the first standardised industrial housing in the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin, getting their name from his successor Nikita Khrushchev. Today they can be seen across the former union, from Estonia all the way to Ashgabat to Vladivostok, and are the backbone of housing in countless Soviet cities. Beginning construction in 1956, the majority were built with five stories, as Soviet housing policy at the time dictated any building over five floors must have an elevator fitted. Housing projects completed outside of the union however didn’t have to adhere to such strict measures. Many Khrushchevka residents complained of paper-thin walls, small apartments and poor insulation combined with shared bathrooms and kitchens. By the mid-1970s, high rise Brezhnevkas became the new standardise model of apartment blocks.
During the war, the Mujahadeen targeted the 3rd Mikrorayon with suicide bombers and small arms fire, as many Soviet engineers and military officials were housed in these apartments. The Mikrorayons were meant to show the Kabul population what life could look like under a socialist government and inspire the people to modernise the country; however, many saw their presence as an attack of Afghan culture and subsequently Islam. Combined with the war against the Mujahadeen, many came to see the districts as nothing more than a Soviet military base, or a ‘little Moscow’. In the aftermath of the war many of the apartment blocks received little to no maintenance, as well as sustaining damage during the civil war following the Soviet exit. Running water and electricity became intermittent at best and residents were forced to dig wells and burn fuel to keep warm. Many windows are still covered by bars which were put up to protect against mortar damage and looting.
Despite the armed guards in the streets outside, the communal area within the complex offers a quiet retreat from the city. By now most Khrushchevkas across the world look as if they were built in forests, with the trees planted with the construction of the blocks now towering above them in many places, in Kabul it gives the much-needed shade from the afternoon sun. Young boys to old men enjoy the communal space, drinking tea, having picknicks in the grass and playing cricket on the court, one boy explains there is a cricket league between teams of boys all from the apartment blocks. It’s hard to ignore however the fact there are only men. The Taliban’s sexist policies find their way into the quietest neighbourhoods of Kabul, as women can only socialise with other women in the female section of the communal areas, and are forbidden to enter the men’s section. What is more confusing is there is no clear boundary, with women keeping to one side of the area with their female children, a clear representation of the Taliban’s totalitarian governance following people into their homes.
Most of the residence in the Mikrorayons today have a higher standard of living than many in Kabul, and are either Kabul’s richer residents or Taliban officials, along with their children who seem to be the most numerous of all residents. Khrushchevkas were initially given a 25–50-year expected lifespan by the Soviet Union, but many are still standing today with the proper care. Although currently the complex is a desirable place locals are willing to spend big money on, with lack of proper maintenance, especially under the Taliban’s government, it is likely the apartments will fall into a state of disrepair within the coming decades. The blocks, just like many other buildings and sites across Afghanistan, are the leftovers of another empire that came and tried to rule Afghanistan and failed but tell of a time in which Kabul was a different, more open city.
