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Butugychag () was a tin, gold and uranium mine and a former forced labour camp in the Kolyma region of North-Eastern Russia, present-day Magadan Oblast.
The camp's main activity was the mining of various types of ore, including tin, gold, and uranium. The camp also contained a top secret research-medical facility where a series of experiments were conducted on camp inmates. Witnesses of the camp state that the camp took the life of some 380,000 people in the 10 years of its existence, despite a maximum capacity of 31,500 only having been reached in 1952. Uranium mining was conducted manually without any protective gear, resulting in severe occupational risks to prisoners. The average miner's life span was less than a year, and radiation levels in the area are still elevated. The administration of the Tenkinsky District installed warning signs around the area as a precaution against trespassers.
The settlement has only recently come to light, and is not even listed among the abandoned camps as though it never existed. The remains of the camp can still be found about north of Ust-Omchug near the Tenkin highway. There are two abandoned settlements in the area located near each other (10 kilometres): Butugychag was the camp itself where prisoners were kept, and Lower Butugychag, which housed the servicemen of the local electric substation. In 1955 when the camp was shut down, Lower Butugychag was abandoned and its population was moved to Ust-Omchug.
Located nearby (8 kilometres) is an abandoned chicken farm, which was left uncompleted and under construction due to the high concentration of radiation.
All the roads to the area have deteriorated, making it difficult to find the settlement and, thus, to reach it. The only practical way to get to the area is by a cross-country vehicle or by air transportation.
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