Secrets of the closed cities of the USSR, which were not marked on the maps

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

There were many secrets in the USSR. One of them is a number of cities that cannot be found on the map. They were simply not celebrated. Moreover, they did not have their own names. Usually, to designate them, the name of another city was duplicated - the regional center, where they were located, but with the addition of a number plate. All points had the status of closed cities. The abbreviation stands for “closed administrative-territorial unit”.

The status was obtained due to the fact that they contained objects of a secret type - space, energy, as well as military-strategic.

In such settlements, general education schools, private and apartment buildings were distinguished by unusual numbering. At the very beginning, a number was indicated, which indicated the number of the settlement itself. All residents of such a territory were contacted by a nondisclosure agreement about this secret facility. The people who lived and worked there pledged to hide information about where they live. There was no talk of going abroad at all. Other countries were closed to them forever. The secrecy of ZATO in the Soviet Union was so high that ordinary citizens of the state could not even suspect that something like this existed. Naturally, no one could come to this settlement to visit relatives.

The population of certain closed-type cities (ZT) was at risk. This was due to the fact that the settlements were adjacent to facilities, which from time to time there were disasters that were dangerous to health, and even life. An example is the waste (radioactive) leak in Chelyabinsk-65. At the minimum, 270,000 people are in mortal danger.

The advantages of living in ZT settlements

It would seem that there can be good in life where there is no freedom, but there are a huge number of prohibitions and restrictions. However, there were also positive aspects. In ZATO, the standard of living of people was much higher than in other settlements, including in large Soviet cities. This applied to absolutely everything - the service sector, social and household levels, infrastructure. People living in closed cities did not know what shortages and queues meant. There was an absolute abundance of goods and products in the stores.

There was no crime here either. It was zero, and in all the closed cities in the country. Moreover, the state leadership appreciated highly qualified specialists, talented people who carry out their labor activities at classified enterprises. For such inconvenience, workers had to pay well. The population of ZATO received not only an impressive salary, but also a fairly large bonus.

The most significant Soviet closed cities

1. Arzamas-16

Due to the fact that the United States used an atomic bomb, the USSR government decided on the need to create its own atomic weapon. Its development was carried out at a classified facility called KB-11. It was decided to build it in the border zone between the Gorky Region and the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, where the small village of Sarov used to be. In its place, the town of ZT Arzamas-16 appeared in a very short time. Almost immediately, he was surrounded by a fence around the entire perimeter (the barbed wire was pulled in several rows) and was placed under security, moreover, reinforced. There was a control-trail line between the thorn, and it looked very much like a colony.

The increased secrecy has been observed here for more than nine years. Everyone who lived in the town (employees of the strategic facility, their families) was prohibited from leaving the closed city. Even on vacation, they had to stay in Arzamas-16. The only exceptions were business trips. Over time, by the mid-fifties, the inhabitants of the town increased, and they were allowed to organize bus trips to the region and invite relatives to their place. True, first they had to get special passes. At present, ZATO is called Sarov and is a nuclear center, still closed.

2. Zagorsk-6 and Zagorsk-7

A city in the Moscow region, Sergiev Posad, until 1991 bore the old name Zagorsk. He became famous throughout the vast country for working monasteries and beautiful temples. But no one even guessed that these were far from all the sights. Only a narrow circle of people was aware of the fact that closed towns, "numbered" Zagorsk-6 and Zagorsk-7, were located nearby.

In both settlements, top-secret facilities operated. The Virological Center of the Research Institute of Microbiology was located in Zagorsk-6. Here work was carried out on the creation of bacteriological weapons. The main asset and product was the variola virus. At the end of the fifties, the pathogen was brought to the Union by a tourist group from India. Some scientific luminaries took advantage of this incident and quickly created a real bacteriological weapon. The resulting strain was named "India-1". He was in the laboratory with the "secret" status in Zagorsk-6. After some time, scientists from the same research institute have created a similar biological weapon, which is based on deadly viruses - South American and African. Not only the scientists themselves were in danger, but everyone who lived in this town.

Another virus was tested in the Zagorsk laboratory. We are talking about Ebola hemorrhagic fever.

There could not even be a question of employment in a secret organization. It was extremely difficult to get there, even at the rate of a cleaner or an electrician. In addition to the talent and knowledge that demanded a higher level of specialists, a crystal biography was also needed, moreover, of all relatives up to an unknown generation. Thus, even the slightest attempts to get to the state bacteriological weapon were suppressed. And there were attempts more than once.

At the same time, in Zagorsk-7, an innovative weapon was being developed - nuclear. Few physicists were able to get a job here either. The reason was the same - having an impeccable reputation and biography. But it was a little easier to get into the town itself from the outside environment. At the beginning of the 2000s, in January, the ZATO status was removed from Zagorsk-7, and the second settlement, Zagorsk-6, remains closed today.

3. Sverdlovsk-45

This Soviet settlement was originally built as a closed compact settlement. It was built at the foot of Shaitan Mountain, north of Sverdlovsk. The enterprise for which the city was founded is factory # 814. They were engaged in uranium enrichment here. The construction took several years. The builders were those who were imprisoned in the GULAG. There is information that students of the capital's universities also became participants in this construction. A kind of "squareness" was observed here. It was simply impossible to get lost on the streets of the city. Some visitors to the city compared it with the patriarchal capital, while others called it "Little Peter".

As for the supply of Sverdlovsk-45, it was slightly worse than numbered Zagorsk and Arzamas-16. Nevertheless, its inhabitants did not need anything and were always in abundance. The plus of the town was the cleanest air and no fuss. There were also problems and they consisted in conflicts with residents of the nearby villages.

Espionage, or rather his attempts on the part of foreign intelligence, in Sverdlovsk-45 was also repeatedly noted, as, incidentally, in other similar settlements. In 1960, a U-2 spy plane was shot down near the city. The pilot was an American intelligence officer who was taken prisoner. Today this city is called Lesnaya and still remains closed to visitors. He is now heavily guarded.

4. Peaceful

This small military town, located in the Arkhangelsk region, received the status of ZATO in 1966. The reason was the Plesetsk test-type cosmodrome located near it. Of course, the type of closeness here was much less than in other similar settlements. There was no thorn here. Identity documents were checked. However, they did it on the roads leading to the city. The work of the security services increased, since next to the classified object, villagers periodically appeared who came to shop, or mushroom pickers who got lost in the forest. We checked everything very quickly. If a person really had nothing to do with espionage or sabotage, then he was released without further consequences.

For the residents of the town itself, life was like a fairy tale - apartments of increased comfort, high wages, an abundance of industrial, household goods and food. This has never happened in ordinary cities of the Soviet Union. Today Mirny has retained its status and remains a settlement of ZT.

5. Balaclava

Located near Sevastopol, Balaklava - ZATO, which arose in the Union during the Cold War. An underground secret factory was erected here, where submarines were repaired. Placed the object in an artificial grotto. The repair and technical base of this scale in the USSR was the only one. Everything was here: production workshops, a power station, a boiler room, ammunition depots, barracks and other infrastructure facilities.

As for the choice of location, it is not accidental. A narrow passage leads to Balaklava Bay, surrounded on all sides by the highest mountains. The cliffs became an excellent place for military units defending the territory, and the narrow passage was an obstacle to storm waves. A large hill covered with vegetation was visible from the sea. But no one even suspected that there was a military plant underneath. It is covered with concrete multi-meter armor, which can even withstand a nuclear strike.

Naturally, Balaklava did not exist on any of the maps and no one knew about it. It was impossible to get into the settlement, it was strictly forbidden. Nowadays, a museum has been opened on the factory territory, and the city itself has turned into a popular center among tourists.