Saint-Petersburg: residents stuck in Soviet 'Kommunalkas' ​ In Saint Petersburg's largest communal apartment, people barely talk to each other. Living conditions here are dismal and most residents dream of leaving the place for good. Located in the centre of the former imperial capital, the "kommunalka" flat occupies the entire ground floor of a building, with 34 rooms coming off a corridor almost 100 metres (330 feet) long. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES