- (ZATO) cities and towns closed to the public in the USSR and the Russian Federation. Urban planning of the USSR and Russia Documentation Urban planning code · Land use and development rules · General plan · Planning project ... Wikipedia

Cemeteries are closed- Closed cemeteries - cemeteries in which only family burials are carried out, as well as burials in established family (tribal) and service plots within the existing boundaries of cemeteries... Source: DECISION of the Moscow Government dated... ... Official terminology

The request for "site" is redirected here. See also other meanings. Website (from the English Website: web web and site “place”) on a computer network united under one domain name or IP address) a collection of documents of a private person or ... ... Wikipedia

- (ZATO) urban district, within which there are industrial enterprises for the development, production, storage and disposal of weapons of mass destruction, processing of radioactive and other materials, military and other facilities, for ... ... Wikipedia

Closed administrative territorial entities (ZATOs) are cities and towns closed to free access in the USSR and the Russian Federation. Urban planning of the USSR and Russia Documentation Urban planning code · Land use rules and... ... Wikipedia

Closed administrative territorial entities (ZATOs) are cities and towns closed to free access in the USSR and the Russian Federation. Urban planning of the USSR and Russia Documentation Urban planning code · Land use rules and... ... Wikipedia

In the Ural economic area. Formed in 1934 Sq. 87.9 thousand km², adm. center – Chelyabinsk; other large cities: Magnitogorsk, Zlatoust, Miass, Troitsk. Located at the junction of the Ural mountains... Geographical encyclopedia

CHELYABINSK REGION, subject of the Russian Federation; located in the Southern Urals and Trans-Urals, part of the Ural economic region. Pl. 87.9 thousand km2. Population 3681.0 thousand people. (1998). Center of Chelyabinsk. Dr. major cities Magnitogorsk, ... ... Russian history

In Russian federation. 87.9 thousand km2. Population 3681.0 thousand people (1998), urban 81.3%. 30 cities, 30 urban villages. Center Chelyabinsk. Located in the Southern Urals and Trans-Urals; in the east is the West Siberian Plain. Average... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Books

• Brainstorming, S. L. Leskov. The author talks with Russian scientists about the origins of our problems and the prospects for modernization, as well as how to attract young people to build a knowledge economy. The essays introduce readers to...
• Binary code – 7. Doomsday Clock, Arthur Zadikyan. My dear reader, we went through the levels of a top-secret organization, the Polygon facility, closed cities, secret laboratories, secret clubs, combat and the virtual world. Now the new one...

Sounds like a tourist's nightmare or some adventurer's fantasy. Eight closed and secret Soviet cities.

All these places belong to the era of the Soviet Union. Military or scientific experiments were carried out in so-called closed cities.

Such settlements were built and are still located in places where you cannot reach unnoticed. Siberia and the Ural Mountains were considered especially suitable. Previously, these cities were absent from maps. It was impossible to even think about letting foreign tourists there. City residents were under constant strict control. All cases of entry and exit from these often huge settlements with their enterprises were noted.

Many closed cities arose during the life of dictator Joseph Stalin, when an atmosphere of mistrust and paranoia reigned in the country. Scientist and regime critic Andrei Sakharov, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was exiled to one of these cities in 1980: Gorky.

He and his wife Elena Bonner were forced to remain there until 1986, when President Mikhail Gorbachev finally reversed the decision to exile.

Context

Top secret city in Russia

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Multimedia

Closed areas

Leninsk - Zvezdograd - Baikonir

75% are under the control of the Ministry of Defense, the rest is managed by the Federal Atomic Energy Agency.

According to rumors, fifteen more cities are so secret that their names and coordinates have never been made publicly available.

As a rule, a permit is required to enter a closed city, and it is very difficult for a foreigner to obtain one. Imagining yourself to be James Bond and invading classified territory is not recommended.

Zelenogorsk (formerly Krasnoyarsk-45)

The city received special privileges in the turbulent year of 1956, which was remembered by the Hungarian uprising and the Suez Crisis. The city was engaged in uranium enrichment for the Soviet nuclear program. The superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union entered into an arms race. The Cold War was going on, and many feared World War III.

The city was first put on the map only in 1991.

Today about 66 thousand people live in it.

Zvezdny (formerly Perm-76)

In the strict sense of the word, Zvezdny is not a city, but an urban-type settlement, according to the local administration. This settlement first appeared during the Stalin era - in 1931. The site was to become a summer training ground for Soviet infantry, artillery and cavalry. With the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, a permanent military base was established there. According to the Russians, World War II began in 1941, and not in 1939, as the rest of the world believes. Russia does not want to hear anything about the non-aggression pact signed in 1939 by the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and claims that the start of the war was a German attack on the USSR.

Now about nine thousand people live in Zvezdny.

Free

The Soviet space program surpassed the American one in October 1957, when the USSR became the first nation to place a satellite into low-Earth orbit. A month later, Sputnik 2 went into orbit with the dog Laika on board.

Both launches were a blow to the US reputation.

At the Svobodny cosmodrome, on the contrary, they were conducting experiments in the field of intercontinental ballistic missiles. This type of weapon almost triggered World War III during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when the Soviet Union and Cuba agreed to deploy medium-range missiles on Cuban territory.

The maximum population of Svobodny was 100 thousand people, of which 30 thousand were technical staff of the cosmodrome.

Today there are no more launches.

Kapustin Yar

The city is located between Volgograd and Astrakhan near the Caspian Sea in southern Russia. It was founded as a training ground in May 1946, almost immediately after the end of World War II. Less than a year has passed since America dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

At this test site, test launches of rockets, satellites, and probes with measuring equipment were carried out.

Despite winning World War II with the Allies, the Soviets suffered serious losses. The first activities at the training ground were carried out using captured German military equipment. In 1953, the West learned about Kapustin Yar after it was spotted by a spy plane.

Later, Kapustin Yar began to be compared with the American Roswell in New Mexico, where it was believed that evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations was found.

Now just under 30 thousand people live in the closed city.

Ozersk (formerly Chelyabinsk-65 and Chelyabinsk-40)

The numbers in old city names indicate the zip code of the nearby city.

The closed city of Ozersk arose in 1945 and exists to this day. About 15 thousand people work in the city; today they are mostly engaged in reprocessing nuclear fuel and disposing of nuclear weapons.

In 1957, a serious accident occurred at a city enterprise, 200 people died from radiation, and another 10 thousand were evacuated. Russia stopped hiding the fact of the accident only in 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In February 2013, a meteorite fell in neighboring Chelyabinsk. The meteorite hit the ground at a speed of 65 thousand kilometers per hour. About a thousand people were injured.

Lesnoy (formerly Sverdlovsk-45)

The city is located in the Sverdlovsk region, approximately 25 miles (about 40 kilometers - editor's note) north of Yekaterinburg. This closed city was founded in 1947, at the very beginning of the Cold War. Its task was to produce highly enriched uranium for Soviet nuclear weapons. Information about the city was kept secret; its official name was Sverdlovsk-45. In 1992, President Boris Yeltsin decided to start using the city's real name and mark it on maps.

Yekaterinburg is probably best known as the site of the murder of members of the last Russian royal family, including Tsar Nicholas II.

About 50 thousand people live in Lesnoy.

Novouralsk (formerly Sverdlovsk-44)

The city already existed during the Second World War, but received its name only in 1954. Until 1994, its location was kept secret, but there is an assumption that the city was still known in the West. Residents of Novouralsk also engaged in uranium enrichment, including using centrifuges and the gas diffusion method (this method can be used to separate uranium-235 and uranium-238).

The city-forming enterprise was considered unique in its area. His work continues today. The city also has a presence in the construction and mechanical engineering industries.

The population is about 85 thousand people.

Seversk (formerly Tomsk-7)

The closed settlement of Seversk is located within the boundaries of the city of Tomsk in Western Siberia. The nature there is not very inspiring, unless you have a weakness for swamps and dense coniferous forests. But the region is rich in mineral resources such as oil, gas and metals.

Seversk is famous for its nuclear industry. Between 1954 and 1992 it was called Tomsk-7.

In 2003, Russia and the United States agreed to shut down all plutonium reactors. But visiting the city still requires special permission. Anyone who tries to break the rules out of love for adventure will have to pass through six checkpoints.

According to rumors, approximately 100 thousand people currently live in Seversk.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively from foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

Closed administrative-territorial entities (CLATEs) began to appear in our country during the work on the creation of nuclear weapons in 1946-1953. In Soviet times they were strictly classified. They did not exist on the maps, they could not be talked about (residents signed a non-disclosure agreement). Letters for residents of ZATO came to the mailbox. For secrecy, closed cities were considered microdistricts of regional centers (called, for example, Chelyabinsk-40, Sverdlovsk-45). The perimeter of such settlements is surrounded by fences with barbed wire and security; you can only get inside through a checkpoint.

In Soviet times, residents of prohibitions lived quite freely. They did not have such a shortage as in the country as a whole. But if something happened, problems arose with the security forces.

The list of closed cities became known after the collapse of the USSR; it was approved by a separate law adopted in 1992 and changed several times. At the same time, “mailboxes” got their own names.

Now closed cities have appeared on maps, but you can still get into them only with passes. Most residents of ZATO like to live behind barbed wire and every time they get home through security posts, after an inspection. The advantages include the absence of strangers and a low crime rate.

Russian ZATOs have different departmental affiliations: some belong to Rosatom, others to the Ministry of Defense, and others to Roscosmos.

There are currently 44 closed cities in Russia.

According to statistics, almost every hundredth resident of Russia lives in ZATO (ZATO does not include ordinary military towns).

Now about each closed city of the Urals in more detail.

Closed cities of the Sverdlovsk region

Lesnoy (Sverdlovsk-45)

Year of foundation: 1947.

The population is 50 thousand people.

Specialization - disposal, assembly of nuclear weapons, production of stable isotopes. Reports to Rosatom.

It was created as plant No. 418 (or base No. 9) for electromagnetic separation of isotopes. Built by Gulag prisoners. Began work in 1950. In 1951, construction began here of the second plant in the USSR for the serial production of atomic bombs with a capacity of 60 units per year (plant No. 418).

It received its modern name (the city of Lesnoy) in 1994. Now the main plant of Lesnoy is called the Elektrokhimpribor plant. The ZATO of the Sverdlovsk region is most strictly guarded: several nearby fences, towers with guards, seriously equipped checkpoints.

Novouralsk (Sverdlovsk-44)

Year of foundation: 1941.

The population is 83 thousand people.

Specialization - separation production of uranium isotopes. Reports to Rosatom.

It began in 1941 with a light alloy plant. In 1946, construction began on “Combine No. 813” for the production of highly enriched uranium. The highly enriched uranium produced here was used to create the first Soviet uranium atomic bomb. Now the leading enterprise of the closed city is called the Ural Electrochemical Plant.

Rosatom is considering the issue of opening the city of Novouralsk.

Svobodny village (Nizhny Tagil-39)

Year of foundation: 1960.

The population is 8 thousand people.

The 42nd Tagil Missile Division of the Strategic Missile Forces is located here.

Uralsky village (Kosulino-1)

Year of foundation: 1960.

The population is 2.4 thousand people.

The 21st Arsenal is located here. The current name was given in 1994.

Closed cities of the Chelyabinsk region

Ozersk (Chelyabinsk-65, formerly Chelyabinsk-40)

Year of foundation: 1945.

The population is 80.5 thousand people.

Specialization - storage and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, production and processing of nuclear materials for military purposes. Reports to Rosatom.

Ozersk is considered the firstborn of the country's nuclear industry, since the plutonium charge for the atomic bomb was created here. Created by I.V. Kurchatov. The company is PA Mayak.

On September 29, 1957, a tank containing high-level waste exploded at the Mayak plant. As a result, a large area became contaminated, called the East Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT). The East Ural Radiation Reserve was created at the head of the trail.

The name was given for the abundance of lakes around. Ozersk received city status in 1954. Since 1994, it has been officially listed with a declassified name, which it received in 1954 (protocol of the Presidium of the RSFSR Armed Forces dated March 17, 1954).

Snezhinsk (Chelyabinsk-50, Chelyabinsk-70)

Year of foundation: 1957.

The population is 49 thousand people.

Specialization - development of nuclear weapons. Reports to Rosatom.

Of all ten cities of Rosatom, Snezhinsk, thanks to its lakes and picturesque views, is considered the most beautiful. It originated on the shores of Lake Sinara.

The enterprise “Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics named after Academician E.I.” operates here. Zababakhina"

Trekhgorny (Zlatoust-20, Zlatoust-36)

Year of foundation: 1952.

The population is 33 thousand people.

Specialization - development of devices and systems for nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons. Reports to Rosatom.

It originated in 1952 from Plant No. 933 for the production of atomic bombs. The first aviation atomic bombs were produced here in 1955. Now this enterprise “Instrument-Making Plant” produces instruments for nuclear power plants.

In 1993, Zlatoust-36 was named the city of Trekhgorny.

Settlement Lokomotivny (formerly Solnechny, Kartaly-6)

Year of foundation: 1965.

The population is 8.5 thousand people.

The 59th Karta Division of the Strategic Missile Forces, disbanded in 2005, was located here. The current name of the village was given in 1992.

Closed cities of the Perm region

Village Zvezdny (Perm-76)

Year of foundation: 1961.

The population is 9 thousand people.

The 52nd Tarnopol-Berlin missile division of the Strategic Missile Forces, created on the basis of the Bershet military camp, was located here. Belongs to the Ministry of Defense.

On December 2, 2002, the 52nd Missile Division was reduced, and on its basis, the 1328th base for reloading and storing elements of the BZHRK (combat railway missile systems) of the Strategic Missile Forces was created. There is a division museum. Now the village has been opened.

Closed cities of the Republic of Bashkortostan

Mezhgorye (Beloretsk-15, Beloretsk-16)

Year of foundation: 1979.

The population is 16 thousand people.

The closed city of Mezhgorye consists of two parts, 20 kilometers apart. The 9th TsUMO, the 129th Directorate of Orders and Logistics for Special Objects (Mezhgorye-1) and the 1110th OUESO (Beloretsk-16) are located here. It is believed that here, on the territory of the South Ural Nature Reserve, in Mount Yamantau, a bunker was built for the state elite.

Closed cities of the Orenburg region

Village Komarovsky (Dombarovsky-3)

The population is 9.6 thousand people.

The 13th Red Banner Missile Division of the Strategic Missile Forces is located in the village. Belongs to the Ministry of Defense.

The village is named after cosmonaut V.M. Komarov, who died tragically in the Orenburg region.

ZATO - a city or district in which strategic military enterprises and military facilities are located, where a special regime for the protection of state secrets is established. The first closed cities began to appear in connection with the creation of the Soviet atomic bomb in 1946-1953. In those days, the cities in which employees of such enterprises lived were strictly classified, and it was almost impossible for an outsider to get into them. Moreover, the average resident of the USSR knew about their existence only through rumors: they were not on the maps, and all city residents gave a subscription, according to which they could be subject to criminal liability for disclosing their place of residence.

Life in a mailbox

Residents of closed cities were supposed to answer questions about their place of residence within the framework of the legend. For example, if a person lived in Chelyabinsk-70 (now Snezhinsk), he had to say that he was from Chelyabinsk. Sometimes such cities were called “mailboxes” by analogy with the enterprises located in them, which did not have a specific address, but only a mailbox number to which all correspondence was sent. Closed cities were not only absent from maps, they were also not in official statistics: during the census, residents of “mailboxes” were assigned to large cities near which they were located. For purposes of secrecy, ZATOs were most often called the same as the areas in which they were located: Chelyabinsk-40, Tomsk-7, Krasnoyarsk-26, Salsk-7, etc.

The degree of “closedness” of cities varied depending on their size and status. In fact, it was possible for an ordinary person to enter such large ZATOs as Arzamas, Vladivostok, Zelenograd, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Omsk, Perm, Kuibyshev (now Samara), Saratov, Sevastopol, Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), Ufa, Chekhov, etc. , but at the entrance there was still a document check waiting for him.

Sweet closed life

Closed cities were a closed world, and life in them had its pros and cons. Thus, they had a better food supply: the stores had goods that were considered in short supply in other cities. In addition, the population of closed cities usually received a bonus of 20% of their wages, and this applied to all residents of closed cities, and not just to employees of defense enterprises and military personnel. In addition, closed cities generally had better services, and because entry into the cities was restricted, crime rates were lower than the national average.

BUT today

After the collapse of the USSR, closed cities ceased to be secret, but it turned out to be impossible to completely “open” all of them: strategic enterprises continued to function and required increased security measures. As a result, the law of 1992 approved a list of ZATOs, which received today’s familiar names instead of digital designations. At the moment, there are 44 ZATOs in Russia, in which, according to the 2010 census, more than 1.2 million people live.

In relation to modern ZATOs, the same rules continue to apply as in Soviet times: you can only get into them with a pass. They are issued by permit, and not by notification. That is, you can get into the city only by indicating the reason why such a visit is necessary. Visiting ZATOs is simplified for relatives of residents of closed cities, but does not apply to their friends and acquaintances.

Holes in the fence and holidays

Getting into many closed cities became much easier after the collapse of the USSR. For example, many of them began to host events during which anyone can visit the city. For example, an athletics race in Star City. It is also worth noting that many closed cities have not been closed for a long time. For example, at the checkpoint of the ZATO "Raduzhny" in the Vladimir region there has long been free entry, in the village of Bolshoy Kamen there has never been a fence, and in 2012 the checkpoint at the entrance to the city was abolished. In Krasnoznamensk, documents are still checked at the entrance to the city, but at the same time there are many holes in the fence around the city through which walking trails are laid.

5 operating ZATOs of Russia

But you shouldn’t think that this situation has developed in all Russian closed cities.

The city of Sarov in the Nizhny Novgorod region holds the record for changing names. It received its name in 1706, in 1946 it was renamed Arzamas-16, since 1991 it was called Kremlev, and in 1995 it again received its original name. In the Russian Empire, the city was widely known for the monastery located here, in which the Orthodox Saint Seraphim of Sarov lived. In 1946, a design bureau codenamed “KB-11” was located in Sarov, which was developing an atomic bomb. You can only enter the city with a special pass. According to the census, about 88 thousand people live in the city.

Zheleznogorsk in the Krasnoyarsk Territory has a population of 93,680 people and received its status due to the defense, nuclear and space industry enterprises located here. In addition to the city itself, the ZATO also includes the villages of Podgorny, Tartat and three villages - Dodonovo, Novy Put and Shivera. The closed city is surrounded by a fence, and access to the city is carried out using special passes through a checkpoint.

Snezhinsk is a city in the Chelyabinsk region, which for a long time was called Chelyabinsk-70. A ZATO received the status of a city on July 8, 1993, however, the city continues to be provided with a special regime due to the location of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Technical Physics named after Academician E. I. Zababakhin" (RFNC - VNIITF). The special regime implies a closed flight zone over the city, restrictions on entry and on conducting business activities in the ZATO, as well as on the right to own land and real estate.

The city of Zarechny in the Penza region has a population of 64 thousand people, and the main enterprises are the Federal State Unitary Enterprise FSPC "PO Start" named after. M.V. Protsenko" and the Research and Design Institute of Radioelectronic Technology (NIKIRET). At the moment, you can still enter the city only with passes.

On the site of the city of Seversk in the Tomsk region in 1933, the youth labor commune “Chekist” was created, later renamed correctional labor colony No. 1. In 1949, a plant for the production of highly enriched uranium-235 and plutonium-239 was created here, and the city became closed. People called it “5th Post Office” because the construction of the plant was called “mailbox No. 5”. Currently, the city is surrounded by a fence with barbed wire. Access to the territory is through a checkpoint. Three more checkpoints are located inside the city for access to the Tom River embankment. The population of Seversk is 108 thousand people.

Sevastopol, which along with Crimea became part of Russia, is a city of federal significance. There is an ice-free port, an industrial, scientific, technical, cultural and historical center here. Also in Sevastopol is the main naval base of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. The city's current population is 343 thousand people.

In 1916, after the explosion of the battleship Empress Maria in Sevastopol Bay, the city received closed status: foreigners could no longer enter its territory. After the October Revolution the ban was lifted, but in 1939 it was closed again. Until 1992, Sevastopol was a city that was not easy to get into: there were special posts at the main entrances to the city, and people were allowed into it with passes.

The initiative to assign a closed status to the city caused a controversial reaction from Sevastopol residents. Some thought this idea was good, while others spoke out against it. Thus, the head of the Agency for Strategic Development of Sevastopol, Alexey Chaly, considered that such a measure would be economically unjustified. In his opinion, the Black Sea Fleet base is not capable of independently ensuring the existence of Sevastopol, and the city needs to attract investment, and its closed status will interfere with this.