A closed city or town is a settlement where travel or residency restrictions are applied so that specific authorization is required to visit or remain overnight. Such places may be sensitive military establishments or secret research installations that require much more space or internal freedom than is available in a conventional military base.[ citation needed ] There may also be a wider variety of permanent residents, including close family members of workers or trusted traders who are not directly connected with clandestine purposes.
Many closed cities existed in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. [1] Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a number of them continue to exist in the post-Soviet states, especially in Russia. In modern Russia, such places are officially known as "closed administrative-territorial formations" (Russian : закрытые административно-территориальные образования (ЗАТО), romanized: zakrytye administrativno-territorial'nye obrazovaniya (ZATO)). [2]
Closed cities are sometimes only represented on classified maps that are not available to the general public. [1] In some cases there may be no road signs or directions to closed cities, and they are usually omitted from railroad timetables and bus routes.
Sometimes closed cities may be indicated obliquely as a nearby insignificant village, with the name of the stop serving the closed city made equivocal or misleading. For mail delivery, a closed city is usually named as the nearest large city and a special postcode, for example, Arzamas‑16, Chelyabinsk‑65. The actual settlement can be rather distant from its namesakes; for instance, Sarov, designated Arzamas-16, is in the federal republic of Mordovia, whereas Arzamas is in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (roughly 75 kilometres (47 mi) away). People not living in a closed city were subject to document checks and security checkpoints, and explicit permission was required for them to visit. [3] To relocate to a closed city, one would need security clearance by the organization running it, such as the KGB in Soviet closed cities.
Closed cities were sometimes guarded by a security perimeter with barbed wire and towers. The very fact of such a city's existence was often classified, and residents were expected not to divulge their place of residence to outsiders. This lack of freedom was often compensated by better housing conditions and a better choice of goods in retail trade than elsewhere in the country. [1] Also, in the Soviet Union, people working with classified information received a salary bonus.[ citation needed ]
Closed cities were established in the Soviet Union from the late 1940s onwards under the euphemistic name of "post boxes", referring to the practice of addressing post to them via mailboxes in other cities. They fell into two distinct categories.
The locations of the first category of closed cities were chosen for their geographical characteristics. They were often established in remote places deep in the Urals and Siberia, out of reach of enemy bombers. They were built close to rivers and lakes that were used to provide the large amounts of water needed for heavy industry and nuclear technology. Existing civilian settlements in the vicinity were often used as sources of construction labour. Although the closure of cities originated as a strictly temporary measure that was to be normalized under more favorable conditions, in practice the closed cities took on a life of their own and became a notable institutional feature of the Soviet system. [5]
Any movement to and from closed areas was tightly controlled. Foreigners were prohibited from entering them and local citizens were under stringent restrictions. They had to have special permission to travel there or leave, and anyone seeking residency was required to undergo vetting by the NKVD and its successor agencies. Access to some closed cities was physically enforced by surrounding them with barbed wire fences monitored by armed guards.
"Mailbox" (Russian : Почтовый ящик, romanized: Pochtovyy yashchik) was the unofficial name of a secret Soviet facility much like the closed city, but smaller, usually the size of a factory. The name of such a facility was usually secret, as were the activities there. Incoming mail was addressed to "Mailbox #XXXX", thus the name of "mailbox". Most Soviet design bureaus (OKB) for weapons, aircraft, space technology, military electronics, etc. were "mailboxes".[ citation needed ]
Russia has the largest number of closed cities. The policy of closing cities underwent major changes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The adoption of a new constitution for the Russian Federation in 1993 prompted significant reforms to the status of closed cities, which were renamed "closed administrative-territorial formations" (or ZATO, after the Russian acronym). Municipally, all such entities have a status of urban okrugs, as mandated by the federal law.
There are currently 44 publicly acknowledged closed cities in Russia with a total population of about 1.5 million people. 75% are administered by the Russian Ministry of Defense, with the rest being administered by Rosatom. [6] Another 15 or so closed cities are believed to exist, but their names and locations have not been publicly disclosed by the Russian government. [7]
Some Russian closed cities are open for foreign investment, but foreigners may only enter with a permit. An example is the Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI), a joint effort of the United States National Nuclear Security Administration and Minatom, which involves in part the cities of Sarov, Snezhinsk, and Zheleznogorsk.
The number of closed cities has been significantly reduced since the mid-1990s. However, on 30 October 2001, foreign travel (without any exceptions) was restricted in the northern cities of Norilsk, Talnakh, Kayerkan, Dudinka, and Igarka. Russian and Belarusian citizens visiting these cities are not required to have any permits; however, local courts are known to deport Belarusian citizens. [8]
The number of closed cities in Russia is defined by government decree (see links further). They include the following cities. Reasons for restrictions are denoted in the descriptions below.
Altai Krai
Amur Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Astrakhan Oblast
Republic of Bashkortostan
Chelyabinsk Oblast
Kamchatka Krai
Kirov Oblast
Krasnoyarsk Krai
Moscow Oblast
Murmansk Oblast
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Orenburg Oblast
Penza Oblast
Perm Krai
Primorsky Krai
Pskov Oblast
Saratov Oblast
Sverdlovsk Oblast
Tomsk Oblast
Tver Oblast
Vladimir Oblast
Zabaykalsky Krai
There is a list of territories within Russia that do not have closed-city status but require special permits for foreigners to visit. [18] The largest locality within such territory is the city of Norilsk. [19]
There were two closed cities in Estonia: Sillamäe and Paldiski. As with all the other industrial cities, their population was mainly Russian-speaking. Sillamäe was the site for a chemical factory that produced fuel rods and nuclear materials for the Soviet nuclear power plants and nuclear weapon facilities, while Paldiski was home to a Soviet Navy nuclear submarine training centre. Sillamäe was closed until Estonia regained its independence in 1991; Paldiski remained closed until 1994, when the last Russian warship left. [20]
Tartu, home to Raadi Airfield, was partially closed. Foreign academics could visit the University of Tartu, but had to sleep elsewhere.
Moldova has one partially closed city: the village of Cobasna (Rîbnița District), which is under the control of the unrecognized state of Transnistria internationally recognized as part of Moldova. The village, on the left bank of the Dniester river, contains a large Soviet-era ammunition depot guarded by Russian troops. [25] [26] Only the Transnistrian and Russian authorities have detailed information about this depot. [27]
Ukraine had eighteen closed cities, including:
During the period of communist rule in Albania, the towns of Çorovodë and Qyteti Stalin (now Kuçovë) were closed cities with a military airport, military industry and other critical war infrastructure.
The Frontier Closed Area (FCA) is a fenced stretch of land along the northern border of Hong Kong, which serves as a buffer between the closed border and the rest of the territory. For anyone to enter the area, a Closed Area Permit is required. Between 1951 and 2012, it contained dozens of villages over an area of 28 square kilometres. Upon several stages of reduction, by 2016, the border town of Sha Tau Kok remains as the only settlement within the FCA.
Within the Korean Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea are two "peace villages" (one maintained by each nation): Daeseong-dong (South) and (possibly) Kijŏng-dong (North). Access by non-residents to Daeseong-dong requires a military escort, while Kijŏng-dong is not accessible to visitors.
The Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center sits within a closed city that occupies 24.8 square kilometers (9.6 sq mi). [35] The classification of a city being closed or not closed is dubious in a North Korean context, as North Korean citizens generally need a permit if they wish to travel outside of their county,[ citation needed ] and further permits required for entry to Pyongyang,[ citation needed ] thus the whole nation could be considered closed.
Between 1957 and 1962, approximately one-third of the United States was closed to Soviet citizens. [49] Only eight states were accessible in their entirety: Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, North Carolina, Arkansas, Vermont, Missouri, and Mississippi. [49] [50]
The 2020 film Tenet prominently features a fictional Soviet-era closed city in Siberia called Stalsk-12. [51]
Baikonur, formerly known as Leninsk, is a city in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river. It is currently leased and administered by the Russian Federation as an enclave until 2050. It was constructed to service the Baikonur Cosmodrome and was officially renamed Baikonur by Russian president Boris Yeltsin on December 20, 1995. During the Soviet period, it was sometimes referred to as Zvezdograd (Звездоград), Russian for Star City.
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk. As of 2024, it is Europe's only operational orbital spaceport and the northernmost spaceport in the world. Originally developed as an ICBM site for the R-7 missile, it also served for numerous satellite launches using the R-7 and other rockets. Its high latitude makes it useful only for certain types of launches, especially the Molniya orbits, so for much of the site's history it functioned as a secondary location, with most orbital launches taking place from Baikonur, in the Kazakh SSR. With the end of the Soviet Union, Baikonur became a foreign territory, and Kazakhstan charged $115 million usage fees annually. Consequently, Plesetsk has seen considerably more activity since the 2000s.
Chelyabinsk is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population of over 1.1 million people, and the second-largest city in the Ural Federal District, after Yekaterinburg. Chelyabinsk is located to the East behind the South part of the Ural Mountains and runs along the Miass River.
Chelyabinsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia in the Ural Mountains region, on the border of Europe and Asia. Its administrative center is the city of Chelyabinsk.
Sarov is a closed town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It was known as Gorkiy-130 (Горький-130) and Arzamas-16 (Арзама́с-16), after a (somewhat) nearby town of Arzamas, from 1946 to 1991. Until 1995, it was known as Kremlyov/Kremlev/Kremljov (Кремлёв). The town is closed as it is the Russian center for nuclear research. Population: 92,047 ; 87,652
Severodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina, 35 kilometers (22 mi) west of Arkhangelsk, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 2021 Census, the population was 157,213. Due to the presence of important military shipyards, Severodvinsk is an access-restricted town for foreign citizens. A special permit is required.
The Mayak Production Association is one of the largest nuclear facilities in the Russian Federation, housing a reprocessing plant. The closest settlements are Ozyorsk to the northwest and Novogornyi to the south.
Magnitogorsk is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Its population is currently 410,594 (2021 Census).
Kapustin Yar is a Russian rocket launch complex in Astrakhan Oblast, about 100 km east of Volgograd. It was established by the Soviet Union on 13 May 1946. In the beginning, Kapustin Yar used technology, material, and scientific support gained from the defeat of Germany in World War II. Numerous launches of test rockets for the Russian military were carried out at the site, as well as satellite and sounding rocket launches. The towns of Znamensk and Kapustin Yar were built nearby to serve the missile test range.
Svobodny was a Russian rocket launch site located approximately 15 km north of Svobodny, Amur Oblast. The cosmodrome was originally constructed as a launch site for intercontinental ballistic missiles called Svobodny-18. It was initially selected as a replacement for Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, which became independent as Kazakhstan after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However the development of Svobodny was subsequently ended in 2007 in favour of a totally new space port, the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
Naukograd, meaning "science city", is a formal term for towns with high concentrations of research and development facilities in Russia and the Soviet Union, some specifically built by the Soviet Union for these purposes. Some of the towns were secret and were part of a larger system of closed cities in the USSR, many built by forced labour from the Soviet Gulag. In the Russian Federation in post-Soviet times, the term is used generally for about seventy towns that have concentrations of scientific research and production, and specifically, refers to a small number of towns that have been recognised for their scientific capabilities and hence get special privileges.
Snezhinsk is a closed town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. Population: 48,810 (2010 Census); 50,451 (2002 Census).
Ozyorsk or Ozersk is a closed city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It has a population of 82,164 as of the 2010 census.
Material Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC&A) refers to the safeguarding of nuclear assets, including nuclear fuel and weapons. In the United States, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a component of the Department of Energy, oversees MPC&A as part of its nonproliferation program.
The Russian Space Forces are the space force branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Having been reestablished following August 1, 2015 merger between the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces after the independent arm of service was dissolved in 2011.
Belushya Guba, also Belushye (Белушье), is a work settlement and the administrative center of Novaya Zemlya District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Gusinaya Zemlya peninsula of the Yuzhny Island of the Novaya Zemlya arctic archipelago. Its population was reported as 1,972 (2010 Census), a decline of more than 20% from 2,622 (2002 Census). It is the largest settlement on the island.
The 12th Chief Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the former Soviet Union and of the Russian Federation after 1991 (Russian: 12 Главное Управление Министерства Обороны СССР/РФ is a department within the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is responsible for the safe-keeping, technical maintenance, transportation, delivery, issuance, disposal, etc. of the nuclear arsenal of the state, as well as the testing of nuclear charges, which includes ensuring ecological safety of such tests and the maintenance of Soviet/Russian testing grounds, known in Russian as "polygons" – in Semipalatinsk and on Novaya Zemlya Archipelago.
Yevgeny Ivanovich Zababakhin was a Soviet military engineer, theoretical physicist and one of the chief designers of nuclear weapons in the USSR. Amongst many others, he was involved in the first Soviet nuclear bomb (RDS-1) and the design of the first Soviet two-stage hydrogen bomb (RDS-37).
This article lists events from the year 2016 in Russia.
Yevgeny Nikolayevich Avrorin, D.N, was a Russian physicist whose career was spent in the former Soviet program of nuclear weapons.
See 25 minute video of Felicity Barr's interview of Nadezhda Kutepova.
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has generic name (help)Mecca, like Medina, is closed to non-Muslims