Where Is the World's Deepest Cave?

Veryovkina Cave was first entered in 1968 but its full depth was not reached until a Russian-Ukrainian expedition in March 2018, when explorers descended to 2,212 metres below the entrance — surpassing the previous record held by Krubera Cave (also in the Arabika Massif) at 2,197 metres. Reaching the bottom requires multi-day expeditions involving rappelling down sheer vertical shafts, squeezing through narrow passages, traversing underground rivers, and camping at intermediate stations. The deepest camp is at about 1,800 metres, from which the final push to the bottom takes place. The cave is formed in Jurassic and Cretaceous limestone, carved by water over millions of years. The deepest section terminates in a sump (underwater passage) that has not yet been fully explored. The Arabika Massif, a high karst plateau receiving heavy rainfall, contains multiple extremely deep caves within a small area.