Abandoned places of the USSR. Accelerator-storage complex, Protvino, Russia

Capitals are always guarded by the most advanced developments of the military-industrial complex, and Moscow is no exception. There are dozens of abandoned defense facilities around the city, many of which are quite spectacular. Let's talk about some of them.

Former starting positions of the S-25 anti-aircraft missile system

To the southwest and west of Moscow are two abandoned sites. Previously, there were S-25 complexes - anti-aircraft missile systems, adopted by the USSR in May 1955. The main task of the complex is to protect the airspace over Moscow and on the outskirts of it. The creation of this anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) was one of the most complex, ambitious and costly pursuits of the Soviet Union in the post-war years. In fact, it became the world's first operating air defense system of this magnitude.

The entire Moscow sky defense system consisted of 56 anti-aircraft missile launchers located around the capital and forming two rings. Actually, the rings themselves can be found on the map very simply today: these are the A-107 and A-108 highways, also known as the Moscow Small Ring (45 km) and the Moscow Large Ring (90 km).

The roads were made specifically for the needs of military transport communications and the supply of air defense launch platforms. Concrete slabs were laid in several layers specifically so that the roads could support the weight of multi-ton rocket tractors. The roads became civil very quickly, although they were officially recognized as such only in the late 1980s, and were covered with asphalt. At the same time, until today, they are all called "concrete".

For the first time on civilian maps, a large "concrete" appeared in the atlas of the Moscow Region in 1991. Prior to this, the guidebook with the Moscow Region map, issued by the Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography in 1956, contained information only about a part of the sections of the large and small rings.

To date, some of the launch sites have been re-equipped, and modern S-300 air defense systems have been installed on them, while some have remained in disrepair. One of the empty objects is located to the west of Moscow, on the big ring, not far from the village of Lesodolgorukovo, on the Volokolamsk highway.

In total, 34 complexes were located on the large ring (the remaining 22 on the small one). Today, several buildings have been preserved here, and one rocket stands as a monument. There is a beautiful spruce forest around, in which there are also some buildings for military purposes, the entrance to which is not restricted in any way, and on the walls and internal doors of the buildings there were warning signs like “No entry” or “Dangerous for life”. Here you can also find two military units based on the MAZ-543 with an 8x8 wheel arrangement. In general, there is something to see.
Coordinates: 56.021221, 36.343330.

The second abandoned launch site is located to the south, but also on a large ring, between the Kaluga and Minsk highways, not far from the village of Vasilchinovo. Some buildings have also been preserved here. The main interest is radio domes - spherical buildings, the acoustics inside which are simply crazy. Any sound coming from the center of the ball is reflected off the walls and returned back to the center, amplifying many times over.
Coordinates: 55.353058, 36.490833.

Semi-abandoned military training center Nikolo-Uryupino

To the west of Moscow, in the very immediate vicinity of the village of Nikolo-Uryupino, there is a facility that cannot be called completely abandoned, but in fact it is not used. Only a part of the Center works, and you can get into it only if you are a student of some military department. Most of this landfill is empty and practically unguarded.

The center itself was formed as a result of the expansion of a military training ground, founded in 1921 in the neighboring village of Nakhabino, which, by the way, is still in operation. The territory of the center is located in the northern part of the landfill, closer to Nikolo-Uryupino. You can get here without any problems through the village. Sometimes you can meet military personnel on the territory of the center, but they are absolutely loyal to civilians - local residents often pick mushrooms here and just walk around.

There are many things to do in the center. There are several monuments here, but the main interest is models of military equipment, trenches and trenches. On the wooded area there are randomly scattered figures of armored vehicles and aircraft. In some places, training trenches have been dug, mobile bridges and temporary firing points are standing.
Coordinates: 55.803406, 37.193233.

Unfinished internal security hospital

The building is interesting primarily because in the central and right wing there is access to the roof, from where a gorgeous view of the surroundings opens. Inside, there is a post-apocalyptic atmosphere: bare walls painted by local graffiti artists, gloomy corridors and howling wind.

The left wing is not worth visiting, only a frame has been built here, and its reliability is very doubtful. The central and right wings are much better preserved, and no signs of collapse have been observed. In addition to the roof and the inside of the building, there is also an underground part. The pipe and cable collector and the basement are poorly preserved, and the possibilities of movement there are very limited, although it is worth looking into.

Although you can move freely here, but, like any other abandoned site, special care should be taken. The building looks very reliable, but do not forget that it has been standing in this form for almost a quarter of a century, and the waterproofing of the structure has almost never been completed to the end, and the water is gradually “wearing away” the floors.
Coordinates: 55.739265, 37.995358.

The Soviet Union was a huge power with the same large-scale projects in a variety of industries. Unfortunately, history has developed in such a way that not every one of these projects has been implemented.
But it also happened that an already implemented project, and it seemed such a promising project, turned out to be unnecessary and fell into decay over time. This review is about 13 mysterious, frightening, and in some places frankly creepy places on the territory of the former USSR.

1. Ball near Dubna

A protective dome that was accidentally dropped.
In the forest near Dubna, in Russia, a huge hollow ball with a diameter of about 18 meters can be found. Finding it yourself will be salty, but the locals are always willing to tell you how to get to the local “attraction”. From a bird's eye view, the ball can be mistaken for a UFO, but in reality it is a dielectric cap for a parabolic space communications antenna. The cap was transported by helicopters, but during transportation the cable burst. It turned out to be too problematic to take out the dome. It is made, by the way, of fiberglass honeycomb structure. Any noise is repeatedly amplified in it and a powerful echo is emitted.

2. Khovrinsk hospital

It's funny, but the hulls are reminiscent of a biological threat sign.
Eleven-story abandoned, unfinished hospital in Moscow. Traditionally, it falls into all sorts of unofficial ratings of the most terrible places on the planet. The construction of a multidisciplinary hospital began in the 80s. It was designed for 1,300 beds. They stopped construction after 5 years, when all the buildings had already been erected. Ironically, for all subsequent decades, the Khovrinsky hospital does not save, but cripples and takes lives. Homeless people, drug addicts and thrill-seekers have been “registered” here for a long time. Accidents on the territory of patients are a sad reality.

3. Crimean NPP

Completely plundered.
An unfinished nuclear power plant, which is located near the city of Shchelkino. The first design calculations were made in 1964. Construction began in 1975. It was assumed that this nuclear power plant will provide electricity to the entire Crimean peninsula. It was also supposed to be the starting point for the further development of industry in these places. The first reactor was planned to be launched in 1989, the construction went on without any deviations. However, the shaken economy of the USSR, together with the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, put an end to the Crimean project. At that time, more than 500 million Soviet rubles were spent on the station, and the warehouses had materials and equipment for another 250 million Soviet rubles. All this was stolen in the following years. It is worth adding that the Crimean nuclear power plant was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive power plant of this type.

4. Balaclava

Today this object can be visited by everyone.
In 2003, for the first time in 46 years of its existence, the Balaklava submarine base appeared for the first time on public display. Today it is an exclusively tourist site, and once the base was one of the most secret objects of the Soviet Union. Submarines were located in a huge underground complex. The base could withstand a nuclear attack with the most powerful charges and was built in case of an atomic war. The base consists of a water channel, a dry dock, numerous warehouses of various profiles and buildings for military personnel. The object was closed in 1994, after the last submarine was withdrawn from it. For many years, the pride of the Soviet Union was simply stolen.

5. Object 221

The reserve command center is abandoned and plundered today.
Not far from Sevastopol, in addition to the already mentioned base for the repair of submarines, you can find another once secret object of the Soviet Union. We are talking about a bunker - object 221. It had many names, but behind all of them was a reserve command post of the Black Sea Fleet. You can find an object under the village of Morozovka. It was a real underground city. Construction began in 1977. The object lies at a depth of 200 meters, where 4 floors of buildings are located. The total area of ​​the underground part of the complex is 17 thousand sq.m. To date, the object is completely looted and ruined.

6. Nuclear lighthouse at Cape Aniva

The unique lighthouse is idle and almost completely plundered by marauders.
On Sakhalin, you can find Cape Aniva, where a unique atomic lighthouse is located. The lighthouse is nine stories high. Previously, up to 12 people could be on duty in it. Today, this once unique complex is completely looted by looters and does not function.

7. Missile complex "Dvina"

The Soviet legacy is flooded.
The collapse of the Soviet Union "gave" the former republics a huge arsenal of various weapons, including silos. So, under the capital of Latvia, in the forests, you can find the once unique, secret Dvina launch complex. It was built in 1964. This is a huge complex consisting of bunkers and silos, most of which are now flooded. Visiting the complex is highly discouraged due to the remnants of extremely poisonous rocket fuel there.

8. Workshop No. 8 of the Dagdiesel plant

This is not Fort Boyard, this is, once, a super secret workshop.
In Kaspiysk, in Dagestan, you can find a unique factory workshop built right on the water. The workshop belonged to the Dagdiesel plant. It was built to test naval weapons, in particular a variety of torpedoes and missiles. The plant was unique for the USSR. It was built on a pit with a volume of 530 thousand cubic meters, which was dug out with the help of special shells. An “array” was installed in it, on which an all-metal 14-meter structure was later lowered. The total area of ​​the constructed workshop exceeds 5 thousand sq.m. The station was equipped for permanent residence and work. However, by the mid-60s of the XX century, the project was curtailed as unnecessary due to too rapidly changing trends in the field of weapon design. Since then, the building has been abandoned and gradually destroyed by the Caspian Sea.

9. Lopatinsky phosphate mine

The mine is almost stopped, plundered and abandoned.
Not far from the city of Vokresensk, in the Moscow region, you can easily find a huge phosphorite mine. This deposit is unique in Europe and the largest. The first developments here began in the 30s of the XX century. All types of bucket-wheel excavators worked in numerous quarries: caterpillar, rail and walking. Rail excavators had special equipment to move the rails. Since the 90s, the mine has been practically abandoned, the quarries are flooded with water, and expensive special equipment is simply rotting in the open.

10. Station for studying the ionosphere

Today, this scientific facility is visited only by stalkers.
In Zmeev, a district of the city in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, you can find a unique station for studying the ionosphere. It was built almost before the collapse of the USSR. It was a direct analogue of the American Harp project, which is deployed in Alaska and has been successfully operating to this day. The Soviet complex consisted of several antenna fields and one giant parabolic antenna with a diameter of 25 meters. Unfortunately, after the collapse of the union, no one needed the station. Today, incredibly expensive scientific equipment simply rots or is stolen by stalkers and non-ferrous metal hunters.

11. Northern Crown

The most sinister hotel ever.
Initially, the Severnaya Korona Hotel was called Petrogradskaya. Construction began in 1988. The hotel is famous not for its beauty, but for the huge number of accidents during construction. The popularity of the complex was not added by the fact that Metropolitan John died of a heart attack within its walls, immediately after the lighting of the building.

12. Particle Accelerator

The USSR could have its own collider.
The USSR could have its own hadron collider. A unique complex began to be built in the Moscow region, in Protvino in the late 80s. As it is not difficult to guess, the collapse of the USSR actually put an end to the scientific project. A 21-kilometer tunnel was already completely ready for the collider. Equipment has even been brought into the facility. Work continued after, but very sluggishly. Financing was literally enough only for lighting the tunnels that were falling into disrepair.

13. "Oil Rocks"

A real city on the water.
In Azerbaijan, you can find a real sea city. We are talking about the so-called "oil stones". It appeared after Soviet geologists discovered huge oil deposits in the Caspian Sea in the 1940s. Thanks to the development of mining, a whole city appeared on embankments and metal overpasses. Power plants, hospitals, nine-story houses and much more were built right on the water! In total, there were about 200 platforms with residents on the water. The total mileage of the streets was 350 km. However, the cheap Siberian oil that appeared later put an end to local production, and the city fell into decay.

Abandoned city: mining village Industrial. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, this village was suddenly cut off from electricity, and the government of the country did not provide the necessary support. Photo: Oleg Shvets

When water, gas and electricity stopped working, the residents of the village simply took off and left in search of housing and work, leaving behind houses, property and the wreckage of a past life. Photo: Oleg Shvets

The things left by the settlers have survived to this day, becoming sad monuments to the past. Photo: Oleg Shvets

Abandoned submarine base: object 825.Once upon a time, the small town of Balaklava on the Black Sea coast was a secret submarine base. Photo: Russos

Even relatives of residents of Balaklava were not allowed to visit this closed military facility without a special entry permit. Photo: Russos

In 1995, the complex was abandoned, but already in 2003 a museum was opened on the territory of the base. Photo: Russos

Near the base is an abandoned and unguarded fuel storage. Photo: Russos

Abandoned concentration camps are a stone reminder of mass repressions, a sad monument to overwork and a mass grave for hundreds of thousands of those sentenced to death. Photo: angelfire.com

In most countries, desolation and devastation reign in abandoned buildings, which in their best times were used for their intended purpose. There are many buildings in the Soviet Union that have always been empty: the remains of unfinished projects, unfinished and abandoned due to lack of funds or as unnecessary. In a sense, they can be used to study a unique history - the history of a corrupt and short-sighted government, the history of the failed, in other words, the history of what could have been. This unfinished abandoned factory was supposedly supposed to produce concrete panels. Moscow region. Photo: EUTHANASIA

In 1997, during the preparations for the World Youth Games in Moscow, a project for the construction of an aquadrome was approved. Building area 1.7 ha, building area 43,500 sq. m., 12-storey building with a glass sloping roof. The building includes 3 underground and 9 ground floors, 5 swimming pools, water slides, an athletics arena, a team sports palace, a hotel for out-of-town athletes, offices, a cafe, a center for physical therapy and medicine. In February 2002, the construction of the aquadrome was frozen. Moscow. Photo: EUTHANASIA

Abandoned mines of missile systems. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the former Soviet republics inherited a dubious legacy: mines of long-range missile systems scattered here and there. Photo: martin.trolle / Flickr

The photograph shows one of these complexes, located in Latvia. It included 4 mines, a central flight control panel, and an underground bunker. Photo: martin.trolle / Flickr

Decommissioned mines have long become places of pilgrimage for numerous tourists. Photo: martin.trolle / Flickr

Abandoned ocean military bases. Once upon a time, the military bases of Vladivostok were considered part of the country's security system: the strengthening of the country's Pacific coast was designed to protect the USSR from possible aggression from Japan. Photo: Shamora.info

It's hard to imagine that incredibly complex, expensive machinery and equipment can be abandoned as easily as a decrepit building. However, the builders of communism excelled in this area too: rusting equipment can still be easily found in abandoned deposits, and huge satellite dishes scattered throughout the country, apparently, are destined to disintegrate into elements. Photo: Avi_Abrams / Flickr

Abandoned Fort: Fort Alexander is more popularly known as the Plague Fort. It was built in the 19th century, and already in 1869 it was excluded from the defensive structures. Photo: anglerfish / Panoramio

At the moment, the fort is abandoned, and numerous visitors can only see it from boats. Even now, they are advised to wear respirators and rubber boots to avoid infection. Now there is a project to build an entertainment complex in the fort with a theater stage, a museum, a cafe, a bar, a restaurant, a shopping area.Photo: anglerfish / Panoramio

Abandoned "sea city": Oil Rocks is an urban-type settlement in Azerbaijan, in the Caspian Sea. It is located on a metal overpass, built in 1949 in connection with the start of oil production from the bottom of the sea. A "virtual city" with shops, pharmacies, schools and other buildings was built around the oil rigs. All this splendor was connected with each other by bridges and overpasses. Oil production continues to this day, but the city has fallen into disrepair and is currently uninhabited. Abandoned buildings are gradually returning to the depths of the sea. Photo: Azerbaijan International Magazine, REGION plus, Travel-Images.com, Google Maps

Abandoned Mine: Some of the abandoned mines from the former USSR, located in the vicinity of the city of Kyshtym, are not radioactive. This potassium mica mining complex has been abandoned since 1961. Photo: Evgeny Chibilev

Then the explosion of the radioactive storage tank caused radiation contamination with a radius of 40 km and provoked the evacuation of more than 300 thousand miners. The incident was carefully hidden from the public. Photo: Evgeny Chibilev

The abandoned city of miners: On the Svalbard archipelago there was once a whole Russian settlement - the city of Barentsburg, and three mines - the Barentsburg mine and the mothballed Grumant and Pyramid mines. Under the 1920 agreement, the archipelago was transferred to the jurisdiction of Norway, but other states, including Russia, which was traditionally present on the islands, are allowed to use the islands for any non-military activity. The USSR took up coal mining. Photo: Erling Svensen

In the early 90s. at the Pyramid mine, a decision was made to mothball it on the basis of the unprofitability of the mine. The population was given only a few hours to pack. As a result, their abandoned houses resemble a picture from Chernobyl - left personal belongings, books, children's toys. Photo: vizion, Anne-Sophie Radisch

Abandoned estates: Abandoned country houses and estates of historical and architectural value are not in a hurry to be restored. The reason is simple - the lack of proper funding at the state level. The history of the Belogorka estate begins in 1796, when Paul I granted these lands to General L. Malyutin, who soon sold part of them to the marshal of the nobility of the Tsarskoye Selo district F. Bel. At that time, the estate was called "Gorka", and after the death of the owner it became known as "Belyagorka", and at the beginning of the 20th century it received its modern name. After the revolution, the estate was nationalized. The history of the estate is closely intertwined with the history of the country. The poet Iosif Brodsky spent the summer before going abroad in Belogorka. The places around Belogorka - the villages of Novsiverskaya and Starosiverskaya - are associated with the name of the landscape painter Ivan Shishkin. Photo: The Nostalgic Glass Abandoned territories: Abkhazia is a territory that considers itself independent from Georgia. In the late 80s, Abkhazia wanted to secede from Georgia and become part of Russia. This gave rise to the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict of 1992-1993. Photo: Natalia Lvova / ID Rodionova

In 1994 after a devastating war, as a result of which the Georgian side was defeated, Abkhazia gained independence and the status of an unrecognized state. Now, due to lack of funding in the country, it is impossible to restore the transport network and buildings destroyed during the war. Photo: Natalia Lvova / ID Rodionova

The other day, a friend of mine once asked: “Have you ever been to abandoned military bases?” I answered in the negative, and he suggested that I take a tour of one of these bases, abandoned by the military many years ago. Unfortunately, I am not strong in geography, and I have problems with memory, so I am definitely not able to remember where this place is located.

At the bottom left are the railroad tracks. The track that is to the right, old and rusty, leads to the base - however, it is so overgrown with grass that at first glance it seems just a path in the photo.

The left track is in working condition - occasionally trains still go along it.

Here it is, the entrance to the abandoned military base. The gates are locked, but the barbed wire on the right has already been processed by someone for a comfortable passage to the territory.

“Damn them, bespectacled, - wow, they figured out where to hang the road: along the recess! Well, I’m good too, where did my stupid eyes look when I admired their map?

At the sight of this hangar, it involuntarily came to mind from the Strugatskys' Picnic: “I stopped on the threshold and looked around. Still, how much easier it is to work during the day than at night! I remember lying on this very threshold. It’s dark, like a black man’s in the ear, the “witch’s jelly” sticks out his tongues from the pit, blue like an alcohol flame, and what’s insulting is that nothing, you bastard, doesn’t illuminate, it even seems darker because of these tongues. And now what! Eyes are accustomed to the dusk, everything is at a glance, even in the darkest corners the dust is visible. And indeed, it is silvering there, some kind of silvery threads stretch from the canisters to the ceiling, it looks very much like a cobweb. Maybe there is a web, but it’s better to stay away from it.” Do you come in?

However, the web inside was found to be only the most common. And also - the rails around the pit: this room was clearly not intended for the repair of the Zhiguli.

On the wall is a torn switchboard: obviously, the local inhabitants have long pulled out everything that was of even the slightest practical interest from here.

Fuse box.

... a Soviet-style railway lamp ...

... felt boots - quite in good condition. Suitable, of course, for further stay in the same place.

Well, where boots - there are boots. Military boutique, choose for every taste.

Unknown crap the length of a human being. Raise, judging by the appearance, it would be possible only with a jack.

Time has not spared the rails.

Steps lead down into the hole.

In the distance you can see covered awnings.

Very elegant plants grow along the openings - neatly, as if in a line, and therefore I got the impression that they were planted here on purpose. For what purposes, one can only guess, but hardly for beauty - there were no other similar measures for the improvement of the territory in the district.

Close-up.

The entire territory of the base is thoroughly mastered by all kinds of vegetation, and complete silence, even the birds around you can not hear - for the entire time of the tour we did not meet a single living soul. But birds fly even over highways. Here, no one.

Inside the well-preserved buildings - complete desolation. In some places, rusty locks hang on the doors - if desired, one could enter the premises through the windows, in some of them the windows were broken by uninvited guests. Needless to say, my friend and I entered only those buildings, the doors of which were hospitably open. We walked past the transformer booth without stopping - from inside, to our amazement, we heard a measured rumble, and our plans did not include either pretending to be a barbecue or improving the demographic situation in the district by rolling blackouts.

In some places, bags for gas masks are scattered on the floor in the rooms.

Here, uninvited guests not only visited before us, but also arranged everything for their followers.

Even from the threshold you can see the utter ruin.

And inside this room is somewhat reminiscent of a frame from the movie "Silent Hill".

Among the half-rotted junk, the fresh plastic case of the monitor looks somewhat unusual.

A gas mask filter was found in a pile of oily paper.

And here is the mask itself. It stands on the windowsill.

A brush of a very unusual design. They probably liked cleanliness here.

Another find. Those wishing to borrow the contents of the box, apparently, have not yet been found.

Mysterious unknown crap with a pressure gauge.

Two brand new car air filters in plastic bags. Judging by the size - never for the budget class.

Next room. The words "unknown crap" stubbornly spin on the tip of the tongue.

One of the plywood boxes contained a gift repair kit for non-children's size carburetors. Well, the Mercedes that overtook me half a day ago - now let's talk?

In general, there are a lot of all kinds of boxes in the rooms. Naturally, almost all - opened, hacked and mostly empty.

Or with incomprehensible stuff inside.

On the floor among the boxes there were two glass corrugated T-series. As archaeologists say - objects of unknown ritual purpose. In a hundred years, during excavations, the contents of this database will probably be characterized in this way.

True, archaeologists will no longer find glass slats there. It’s somehow embarrassing to leave without souvenirs, and the number is appropriate - just for the two of us with a friend. Glass, they say, has a minimum degree of permeability of chemicals, second only to marble.

Documents with the number of the military unit were found on the windowsill of one of the rooms. We did not touch them - let them remain in their original place, for posterity. Or for archaeologists.

Kind of like a boiler room. It is characteristic that not a single glass was broken in this building, the door is locked, like many other doors on the territory.

The same locked door.

On the porch of a military mobile trailer standing alone in the middle of the territory, a lantern is lying - exactly the same as those that swayed with a rusty creak in the dungeons of the computer game "Stalker".

In some places, all kinds of shields, memos and other regulatory documents hang on the walls.

And in some places the documents are scattered right on the floor.

Hangars for equipment look impressive from the outside ...

…and from within.

Some of them even come across interesting finds, suggesting that perhaps the base is not so abandoned after all. It is unlikely that the locals would have dragged two brand new fire extinguishers here, or the hangar had just recently been tightly locked.

And at the sight of these trailers, the Strugatskys with their “Picnic” again involuntarily remembered: “I got up, shook off my belly and looked around. There are trucks on the site, really, like new ones - since the last time I was here, they, in my opinion, have become even newer, and the fuel truck - that one, poor thing, has rusted, will soon begin to fall apart.

A scattering of already familiar air filters is lying next to the trailers. The military left this place many years ago, and the sight of almost new paper filters on the damp stone floor and the oily gleaming rims of the trailers somehow becomes a little uncomfortable. True, the shadows here are not naughty - they lie exactly in accordance with the laws of physics, but the peppy gait somehow involuntarily changes into a cautious tread.

Pallets are not quite ordinary - steel and brightly colored.

This is not an art design, as one might think at first glance - just barrels stood on sheets of cardboard, then the sheets were lifted and leaned against the wall.

Reservoirs of unknown purpose.

Inside - definitely "stalker" interiors. Just look, a bloodsucker will jump out of the far corner.

Nearby - the same tank, but in a mirror image.

It was not possible to enter this room - it was flooded with water up to the waist. In addition, water can easily be energized, and this is already fraught with sideways and other similar consequences. Especially considering the hum from the transformer box.

At the bottom is absolutely empty - no boxes of ammunition, no machine-gun belts for "Maxim".

Joyful stickers on the lid of a rusty barrel.

Behind the tanks you can see the building of the barracks. Locked and with absolutely whole glasses. My friend and I considered it unnecessary to change the status quo of the barracks. There are no “no entry” signs at the borders of the territory, but we didn’t particularly notice invitations to feel at home.

Patrol tower. Naturally, completely empty inside. “Remember: we are not guarding the Zone from you, but you from the Zone!” Broken glass from the entrance. Interesting artifacts are visible through a broken window (including a telephone set and something else in detail), but we did not come for prey, but for an excursion.

There are several tanks along the way. Judging by the condition of the rails - not the first year.

On the way we looked through the window into the basement. It's strange - again the Strugatskys, or is someone keeping this room in order?

Barrels were bypassed just in case. In principle, they have been standing here for quite a long time, but you never know what?

Perhaps there used to be some kind of barrel here too? However, if so, then judging by the result, the safest distance to the barrels is at least a couple of kilometers, and then without any guarantees.

And here it’s definitely better not to come close. Especially the day is extremely hot. Everything has its time sooner or later...

A beam crane used to ride along these rails - a rusty motor still hangs on them (behind the scenes on the left).

Under one of the structures, a small shunting diesel locomotive found its last shelter.

It is not entirely clear why it occurred to someone to break glass in it - the door of the locomotive is open.

Inside, as elsewhere, they thoroughly managed it.

Through the broken glass of the diesel locomotive, the surrounding landscape looks relatively peaceful and calm. Is that just an unusual, dead silence all around. And not a single living soul on the territory, except for me and my friend.

The once mighty communist empire spared no expense either for defense or for science. And from the Pacific Ocean to the middle of Europe, huge antennas aimed into space towered, and secret military bunkers hid in the forests. With the collapse of the Union, the maintenance of many of these objects was too expensive for the heirs. And the newly formed young states were not interested in science, and the task of defending the borders was assigned to powerful neighbors ...

Here are just a few of the thousands of secret and not so secret objects hidden in the mountains and forests that characterize the full power of the collapsed empire. But these are only the least valuable, which turned out to be unclaimed during the division of property between the once fraternal republics ...

Balaklava, Crimea, Ukraine

Secret submarine base
One of the largest military facilities that were abandoned after the collapse of the USSR.

Since 1961, a complex has been located under Mount Tavros where ammunition (including nuclear) was stored and submarines were repaired.

Up to 14 submarines of various classes could hide in the docks of the base, and the entire complex was able to withstand a direct strike from a nuclear bomb with a power of up to 100 kT.

Abandoned in 1993, the object was taken for scrap by local residents, and only in 2002 a museum complex was organized on the remains of the submarine base.

Abandoned missile silo, Kekava, Latvia

After the collapse of the empire, the young republics inherited a lot of military property, including ballistic missile silos scattered through the forests.

Not far from the town of Kekava, there is the former location of the R-12U complex. It consisted of 4 launch silos and a central control and technical support bunker.

This is a former secret object of the USSR - one of the missile shields of the motherland! In the 1960s, the Dvina complex was built here, which consisted of four "glasses" - shafts more than 35 meters deep and underground bunkers.

The territory was surrounded by a triple perimeter of a fence and barbed wire, behind which submachine gunners were on duty around the clock, and the area was viewed from towers. Residents of the surrounding villages did not even suspect WHAT was nearby!

But the military left the base already in the 1980s, took away everything valuable and secret, and then the same residents from the surrounding villages came and stole everything they could, in the early 1990s even convex-concave doors weighing more than a ton were cut off and handed over to scrap metal…

Now most of the underground facilities are flooded, at the bottom of the "glasses" are the remains of super-toxic rocket fuel ...

Giant excavators, Moscow region

Until 1993, the Lopatinsky phosphorite mine was a quite successful operating deposit, where the most important minerals for Soviet agriculture were mined. And with the advent of a market economy, abandoned quarries with giant bucket-wheel excavators have become a place of pilgrimage for tourists.

It’s worth hurrying up with a visit, huge mechanical dinosaurs are gradually being dismantled for scrap. But even after the dismantling of the latest technology, the Lopatinsky quarries, thanks to unearthly landscapes, will remain a very remarkable place. And by the way, here you can still find fossils of ancient marine life.

Over-the-horizon radar Duga, Pripyat, Ukraine

The titanic facility, built in 1985 to detect ICBM launches, could still function successfully to this day, but in reality it has worked for less than a year.

The giant antenna, 150 meters high and 800 meters long, consumed such an amount of electricity that it was built almost close to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and, of course, stopped working along with the explosion of the station.

At the moment, excursions are being taken to Pripyat, including to the foot of the radar station, but only a few risk climbing the 150-meter high.

Station for the study of the ionosphere, Zmiev, Ukraine

Almost just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, an ionospheric research station was built near Kharkov, which was a direct analogue of the American HAARP project in Alaska, which is still successfully operating today.

The station complex consisted of several antenna fields and a giant parabolic antenna with a diameter of 25 meters, capable of radiating a power of about 25 MW.

But the young Ukrainian state turned out to have no need for advanced, and very expensive, scientific equipment, and now only stalkers and hunters for non-ferrous metals are now interested in the secret station. And, of course, tourists.

Abandoned particle accelerator, Moscow region

In the late 80s, the agonizing Soviet Union decided to build a huge particle accelerator. The ring tunnel, 21 kilometers long, lying at a depth of 60 meters, is now located near Protvino (aka Serpukhov-7) near Moscow, the city of nuclear physicists.

This is less than a hundred kilometers from Moscow along the Simferopol highway. They even began to bring equipment into the already finished accelerator tunnel, but then a series of political upheavals broke out, and the domestic "hadron collider" remained to rot underground ...

The place was chosen for geological reasons - it is in this part of the Moscow region that the soil allows the placement of large underground facilities.

Underground halls to accommodate large equipment were connected to the surface by vertical shafts down 68 meters! Directly above the well, cargo cranes with a lifting capacity of up to 20 tons are installed. The diameter of the well is 9.5m.

At one time, we were 9 years ahead of the USA and Europe, but now everything is the other way around, we are far behind and there is simply no money for the Institute to complete construction and put the Accelerator into operation.

The remaining engineers and scientists nevertheless tried to bring the matter to a more or less acceptable conclusion with the crumbs allocated by the state budget. At least in the form of a completed unique engineering structure - an underground "donut" 21 km long.

But, it is quite obvious that a country with a ruined economy, which does not have clear prospects for its further development as part of the world community, will not be able to implement such a project ...

The cost of creating UNK is commensurate in scale with the cost of building a nuclear power plant.

Maybe next-generation physicists will find a worthy use for it...

Sea City "Oil Rocks", Azerbaijan

The Union needed oil, and in the 40s of the last century, its offshore production began in the Caspian Sea, 42 kilometers east of the Absheron Peninsula.

And around the first platforms, a city began to grow, also located on metal overpasses and embankments.

During its heyday, power plants, nine-story hostel buildings, hospitals, a cultural center, a bakery and even a lemonade shop were built on the high seas 110 km from Baku.

The oil workers also had a small park with real trees. Oil stones are more than 200 stationary platforms, and the length of the streets and alleys of this city in the sea reaches 350 kilometers.

But cheap Siberian oil made offshore mining unprofitable and the village began to fall into disrepair. Today, only about 2 thousand people live here.

Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Kazakhstan. Semipalatinsk

The Semipalatinsk nuclear test site is the first and one of the largest nuclear test sites in the USSR, also known as "SIYAP" - the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

Semipalatinsk test site. View on google. Underground test sites

On the territory of the Semipalatinsk test site there is a facility where the most modern nuclear weapons were previously stored. There are only four such objects in the world.

On its territory is the previously closed city of Kurchatov, renamed in honor of the Soviet physicist Igor Kurchatov, previously Moscow 400, Bereg, Semipalatinsk-21, Terminal station.

From 1949 to 1989, at least 468 nuclear tests were carried out at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, in which at least 616 nuclear and thermonuclear devices were detonated, including: 125 atmospheric (26 ground, 91 air, 8 high-altitude); 343 test nuclear explosions underground (of which 215 in adits and 128 in wells).

In the hazardous areas of the former test site, the radioactive background still (as of 2009) reaches 10-20 milliroentgens per hour. Despite this, people still live on the site.

The territory of the landfill was not protected in any way and until 2006 it was not marked on the ground in any way.

The radioactive clouds of 55 air and ground explosions and the gas fraction of 169 underground tests went beyond the range. It was these 224 explosions that caused radiation contamination of the entire eastern part of the territory of Kazakhstan.

Kadykchan "Death Valley" Russia, Magadan region

The abandoned mining "ghost town" is located 65 km northwest of the city of Susuman in the basin of the Ayan-Yurya River (a tributary of the Kolyma).

Almost 6,000 people in Kadykchan began to rapidly thaw after an explosion at a mine in 1996, when it was decided to close the village. There has been no heat here since January 1996 - due to an accident, the local boiler house froze forever. The remaining residents are heated with the help of bourgeois stoves. The sewerage has not worked for a long time, and the toilet has to go outside.

There are books and furniture in the houses, cars in the garages, children's pots in the toilets.

On the square near the cinema there is a bust of V.I. Lenin. Residents were evacuated in a few days, when the city was "thawed". Since then it has been...

There are only two principal residents left. There is an eerie silence over the city, broken by the rare rattle of roofing iron in the wind and the cries of crows...