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

All these places belong to the era Soviet Union. In the so-called closed cities, military or scientific experiments.

Such settlements were built and are still located in places where you can’t get unnoticed. Siberia and Ural mountains. Previously, these cities were not on the maps. It was impossible even to think about letting foreign tourists in there. Residents of cities were under constant strict control. All cases of entry and exit from these often huge settlements with their enterprises were noted.

Many closed cities appeared during the lifetime of dictator Joseph Stalin, when an atmosphere of mistrust and paranoia reigned in the country. Andrei Sakharov, scholar and critic of the regime, laureate Nobel Prize world, in 1980 he was exiled to one of these cities - Gorky.

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

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Many cities of this type are still scientific activity on one scale or another. It is said that today there are 44 closed cities with general population to 1.5 million people.

75% are under the control of the Ministry of Defense, the rest is in charge federal agency on atomic energy.

According to rumors, another fifteen cities are so secret that their names and coordinates have never been made public.

As a rule, a permit is required to enter a closed city, and it is very difficult for a foreigner to obtain one. It is not recommended to imagine yourself as James Bond and invade secret territory.

Zelenogorsk (formerly Krasnoyarsk-45)

The city received special privileges in the turbulent year of 1956, which is remembered for the uprising in Hungary and the Suez Crisis. The city was engaged in uranium enrichment for the Soviet nuclear program. The US superpowers and the Soviet Union entered into an arms race. There was a cold war, many feared the Third World War.

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 arose in the Stalin era - in 1931. The place was to become a summer training ground for Soviet infantry, artillery and cavalry. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in 1941 a permanent military base. According to the Russians, the Second World War 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 the German attack on the USSR.

Now about nine thousand people live in Zvezdny.

Free

Soviet space program surpassed the American in October 1957, when the USSR became the first state to be able to launch 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 reputation of the United States.

On the contrary, at the Svobodny cosmodrome, they were engaged in experiments in the field of intercontinental ballistic missiles. This particular type of weapon almost provoked the Third world war during the Caribbean 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 the technical staff of the cosmodrome.

There are no more launches today.

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.

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

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

© RIA Novosti, Vladimir Rodionov

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

Now a little less than 30 thousand people live in the closed city.

Ozersk (formerly Chelyabinsk-65 and Chelyabinsk-40)

The numbers in the old city names indicate the postal 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 nuclear fuel processing and disposal nuclear weapons.

In 1957, a serious accident occurred at the city enterprise, 200 people died from radiation, 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, about 25 miles north of Yekaterinburg. This closed city was founded in 1947, at the very beginning 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 real name of the city and mark it on maps.

Yekaterinburg is probably best known as the site of the assassination 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 were also engaged in uranium enrichment, including using centrifuges and the gaseous diffusion method (this method can separate uranium-235 and uranium-238).

The city-forming enterprise was considered unique in its field. His work continues to this day. The construction industry and mechanical engineering are also represented in the city.

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. Nature there is not very inspiring, unless you have a weakness for swamps and dense coniferous forests. But the region is rich in minerals such as oil, gas and metals.

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

© RIA Novosti, A. Solomonov

In 2003, Russia and the United States agreed to shut down all plutonium reactors. But a special permit is still required to visit the city. Anyone who, for the love of adventure, tries to break the rules will have to pass six checkpoints.

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

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.

These cities were not on the maps. Their residents signed non-disclosure agreements. Before you - the most secret cities of the USSR.

Under the heading "secret"

Soviet ZATOs received their status in connection with the placement there of objects of state importance related to the energy, military or space spheres. It was practically impossible for an ordinary citizen to get there, and not only because of the strict access control, but also because of the secrecy of the location locality. Residents of closed cities were ordered to keep their place of residence in strict secrecy, and even more so not to disclose information about secret objects.

There were no such cities on the map, they did not have unique name and most often bore the name of the regional center with the addition of a number, for example, Krasnoyarsk-26 or Penza-19. Unusual in ZATO was the numbering of houses and schools. It began with a large number, continuing the numbering of the settlement to which the inhabitants of the secret city were "assigned".

The population of some ZATOs, due to the proximity of dangerous objects, was included in the risk group. There have also been disasters. So, a large leak that occurred in 1957 in Chelyabinsk-65 radioactive waste endangered the lives of at least 270,000 people.

However, living in a closed city had its advantages. As a rule, the level of amenities there was noticeably higher than in many cities of the country: this also applies to the service sector, and social conditions, and life. Such cities were very well supplied, they could get scarce goods, and the crime rate there was practically reduced to zero. For the costs of "secrecy" in addition to the basic salary of the residents of ZATOs, an allowance was charged.

Zagorsk-6 and Zagorsk-7

Sergiev Posad, which until 1991 was called Zagorsk, is known not only for its unique monasteries and temples, but also closed towns. The Virological Center of the Research Institute of Microbiology was located in Zagorsk-6, and the Central Institute of Physics and Technology of the USSR Ministry of Defense was located in Zagorsk-7.

Behind the official names, the essence is a little lost: in the first, in Soviet times, they were engaged in the development of bacteriological, and in the second, radioactive weapons.
Once in 1959, a group of guests from India brought smallpox to the USSR, and our scientists decided to use this fact for the good of their homeland. In a short time, a bacteriological weapon based on the variola virus was created, and its strain called "India-1" was placed in Zagorsk-6.

Later, endangering themselves and the population, scientists from the research institutes developed deadly weapon based on South American and African viruses. By the way, it was here that tests were carried out with the Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus.

It was difficult to get a job in Zagorsk-6, at least in a “civilian” specialty - an impeccable purity of the biography of the applicant and his relatives was required almost up to the 7th generation. This is not surprising since getting to our bacteriological weapons tried repeatedly.

In the military stores of Zagorsk-7, where it was easier to get into, there was always a good choice goods. Residents from neighboring villages noted the striking contrast with the half-empty shelves of local shops. Sometimes they made lists in order to centrally purchase products. But if officially it was not possible to get into the town, then they climbed over the fence.

The status of a closed city was removed from Zagorsk-7 on January 1, 2001, and Zagorsk-6 is closed to this day.

Arzamas-16

After the use by the Americans atomic weapons the question arose about the first Soviet atomic bomb. They decided to build a secret facility for its development called KB-11 on the site of the village of Sarov, which later turned into Arzamas-16 (other names are Kremlyov, Arzamas-75, Gorky-130).

The secret city, built on the border of the Gorky region and the Mordovian ASSR, was in as soon as possible put on the regime of enhanced protection and surrounded by two rows of barbed wire along the entire perimeter and a control-trace strip laid between them. Until the mid-1950s, everyone lived here in an atmosphere of extreme secrecy. Employees of KB-11, including family members, could not leave the restricted area even during the holidays. An exception was made only for business trips.

Later, when the city grew, residents had the opportunity to travel to the city by a specialized bus. regional center, as well as to host relatives after they receive a special pass.
Residents of Arzamas-16, unlike many fellow citizens, learned what real socialism is.

The average salary, which was always paid on time, was about 200 rubles there. The shelves of shops in the closed city were bursting with abundance: a dozen varieties of sausages and cheeses, red and black caviar, and other delicacies. Residents of neighboring Gorky never dreamed of such a thing.

Now the Sarov nuclear center, the former Arzamas-16, is still a closed city.

Sverdlovsk-45

Another "born by order" city was built around plant No. 814, which was engaged in uranium enrichment. At the foot of Mount Shaitan, north of Sverdlovsk, prisoners of the Gulag and, according to some reports, Moscow students, have been working tirelessly for several years.
Sverdlovsk-45 was immediately conceived as a city, and therefore was built very compactly. It was distinguished by orderliness and characteristic "squareness" of buildings: it was impossible to get lost there. “Little Peter,” one of the guests of the city once expressed himself, although to others his spiritual provinciality reminded patriarchal Moscow.

By Soviet standards, they lived very well in Svedlovsk-45, although it was inferior in terms of supply to the same Arzamas-16. There was never a crowd and a stream of cars, and the air was always clean. The inhabitants of the closed city constantly had conflicts with the population of the neighboring Lower Tura, who envied their well-being. It used to be that they would watch for the townspeople leaving through the watch and beat them, solely out of envy.

It is interesting that if one of the residents of Sverdlovsk-45 committed a crime, then there was no way back to the city for him, despite the fact that his family remained in it.

The secret objects of the city often attracted the attention of foreign intelligence. So, in 1960, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down near him, and its pilot was captured.

Svedlovsk-45, now Lesnoy, is now closed to casual visitors.

Peaceful

Mirny, originally a military town in the Arkhangelsk region, was transformed into a city in 1966 closed type because of the nearby testing cosmodrome Plesetsk. But the level of secrecy in Mirny turned out to be lower than in many other Soviet ZATOs: the city was not surrounded by barbed wire, and documents were checked only on access roads.

Due to relative accessibility, there were many cases when a lost mushroom picker or an illegal immigrant who entered the city for scarce goods suddenly appeared near secret objects. If the actions of such people were not noticed malice, they were quickly released.

Many residents of Mirny Soviet period called nothing more than a fairy tale. “A sea of ​​toys, beautiful clothes and shoes,” one of the residents of the city recalls her visits children's world. During the Soviet era, Mirny gained the reputation of the “city of carriages”. The fact is that every summer graduates of military academies came there, and in order to cling to a prosperous place, they quickly got married and had children.

Mirny retains its status as a closed city even now.

ZATO - a city or district in which strategic military enterprises, military installations 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, an ordinary resident of the USSR knew about their existence only by rumors: they were not on the maps, and all residents of the cities gave a subscription, according to which one could be held criminally liable 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 "post boxes" by analogy with the enterprises located in them, which did not have a specific address, but only the number of the mail box, to which all correspondence was sent. closed cities not only were they not on the maps, they were not in the official statistics either: during the census of the population, the inhabitants of the "mailboxes" were assigned to the large cities, not far from which they were located. For the purposes of conspiracy, 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. Enter such large ZATOs as Arzamas, Vladivostok, Zelenograd, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Omsk, Perm, Kuibyshev (now Samara), Saratov, Sevastopol, Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), Ufa, Chekhov, etc. ordinary person in fact it was possible, but at the entrance he was still waiting for a check of documents.

Sweet Closed Life

Closed cities were a closed world, and life in them had both minuses and pluses. So, they had a better supply of food: the stores had goods that were considered in short supply in other cities. In addition, the population of closed cities usually received a surcharge of 20% of wages, and this concerned all residents of ZATOs, and not just employees of defense enterprises and military personnel. In addition, closed cities generally had better service industries, and because entry into cities was restricted, crime rates were lower than the national average.

ZATO 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 that received instead digital notation names familiar today. On the this 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 get into them only with a pass. They are issued on a permissive basis, not on a notification basis. 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 after the collapse of the USSR became much easier. 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 in fact have not been closed for a long time. For example, at the checkpoint ZATO "Raduzhny" Vladimir region entrance has been free for a long time, there has never been a fence in the village of Bolshoy Kamen, and in 2012 the checkpoint at the entrance to the city was abolished. In Krasnoznamensk, documents are still being checked at the entrance to the city, but at the same time, there are many holes in the fence around the city through which hiking trails are laid.

5 active ZATOs of Russia

But one should not think that such a situation has developed in all Russian closed cities.

The city of Sarov 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 the Kremlin, and in 1995 it again received its original name. AT 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 was located in Sarov under code name"KB-11", which was engaged in the development of the atomic bomb. You can enter the city only with a special pass. According to the census, about 88 thousand people live in the city.

ZATO Zheleznogorsk in the Krasnoyarsk Territory has a population of 93,680 people and received its status because of the defense, nuclear and space industries located here. In addition to the city itself, ZATO also includes the villages of Podgorny, Tartat and three villages - Dodonovo, New way and Shiver. ZATO is surrounded by a fence, and access to the city is carried out with special passes through the checkpoint.

Snezhinsk is a city in Chelyabinsk region, which long time was called Chelyabinsk-70. ZATO received the status of a city on July 8, 1993, however, a special regime continues to be provided in the city in connection with 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). special regime implies a closed flight zone over the city, restrictions on entry and entrepreneurial activity in ZATOs, as well as the right to own land and real estate.

Zarechny city in Penza region has a population of 64 thousand people, and the main enterprises are the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Federal Research and Production Center “PO “Start” named after. M. V. Protsenko” and the Research and Design Institute of Radioelectronic Engineering (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 Chekist youth labor commune was created, later renamed into corrective labor colony No. 1. In 1949, a plant for the production of highly enriched uranium-235 and closed. The people called it "5th Postal", because the construction of the plant was called "mailbox number 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 within the city for access to the embankment of the Tom River. The population of Seversk is 108 thousand people.

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

In 1916, after the explosion of the battleship "Empress Maria" in the Sevastopol Bay, the city received the status of a closed one: 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. Someone considered this idea good, and someone spoke out against it. Yes, the head of the Agency strategic development Sevastopol, Alexei Chaly considered that such a measure would be economically unjustified. According to him, the base Black Sea Fleet is unable to independently ensure the existence of Sevastopol, and the city needs to attract investment, and its closed status will interfere with this.

The world is full of closed and secret places. Usually such places are various bunkers, underground paths, buildings, etc. However, there are entire cities in the world, which not everyone can get into. We have collected 6 of the most closed cities in the world and invite you to get acquainted with them.

Sarov, Russia

In the USSR, the concept of a “closed city” was quite normal. For example, such cities in different time were Samara, Vladivostok and Nizhny Novgorod. However, after the collapse of the USSR, many previously closed cities lost this status. To date, the most closed and secret city is Sarov. You can enter the city only with a special pass. Sarov is surrounded by barbed wire, a trail and surveillance cameras.

Pyongyang, North Korea

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It is impossible for journalists, Americans and South Koreans to get to Pyongyang. All other people can visit Pyongyang, but only accompanied by a special group. In addition, the tourist will have to follow local rules and travel with a guide. A visa request should be made at least one and a half months before the visit.

Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia

located in Saudi Arabia the cities of Mecca and Medina are closed to non-Muslims. Only here you can get here if you are in a group of Muslim pilgrims. Within the cities there is no concept of human rights (in the European version familiar to us). By themselves, the cities of Mecca and Medina are very beautiful cities, but it is simply impossible to get here by an ordinary tourist.

The city of Mecca is holy because the main shrine, the Kaaba, is located here. It is a large cube and is the center of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad himself lived and died in the city of Medina.

Mogadishu, Somalia

In the list of the most closed countries compiled by the World Policy Journal, Somalia is in second position, just after North Korea. most closed and dangerous city Somalia is Magadishu. It has been here for more than 2 decades Civil War and the authorities of the city can not take the situation under their control.

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

"site" redirects here. See also other meanings. Web site (from English Website: web web and site "place") in 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 are located industrial enterprises for the development, manufacture, storage and disposal of weapons mass destruction, processing of radioactive and other materials, military and other facilities, for ... ... Wikipedia

Closed administrative-territorial formations (ZATOs) closed to free access to cities and towns 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 formations (ZATOs) closed to free access to cities and towns 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 economy. area. Founded in 1934 Pl. 87.9 thousand km², adm. center - Chelyabinsk; others big cities: Magnitogorsk, Zlatoust, Miass, Troitsk. Located at the junction of the Ural Mountains ... Geographic Encyclopedia

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

In Russian federation. 87.9 thousand km2. Population 3681.0 thousand people (1998), urban 81.3%. 30 cities, 30 urban-type settlements. Center Chelyabinsk. Located in the Southern Urals and in the Trans-Urals; in the east west Siberian Plain. Medium… … encyclopedic Dictionary

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