In the middle of the 20th century, the USSR began to produce massively atomic weapons and conduct research in the field of theoretical physics. By a government decree, special closed cities were created that worked exclusively for the military industry. In total, there were about 100 closed objects in the USSR.
Sarov is the record holder for the number of titles
The city of Sarov is located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. He was widely known in the Russian Empire, since the famous Orthodox Saint Seraphim of Sarov lived in the Sarov Monastery. After the revolution, the economy of the monastery was confiscated, and in 1946 the city received the status of a closed one. This was due to the beginning of work on the creation of an atomic bomb codenamed "KB-11". For conspiracy purposes, the name "Sarov" was no longer used. In the documents, the city was called Gorky, Kremlin, Arzamas-16, Base-112, Moscow-2. Now the former name has returned to Sarov, but free access to it is still limited.
It is difficult to get to Sarov even now. To issue a pass, you must have an invitation from close relatives living there, or work partners.
Protvino - the birthplace of the Soviet proton accelerator
The town of Protvino near Moscow was created in 1960. It was planned to build a proton accelerator on its territory and study the physics of elementary particles. The best theoretical physicists from the USSR and other countries were gathered here. The standard of living in Protvino was much better than in other settlements. The best houses were built for scientists, and products that were inaccessible to most Soviet citizens were brought. However, after the crisis of the 1990s, funding for the project fell sharply, research had to be curtailed, and Protvino turned into an ordinary city near Moscow.
Gudym - the base of atomic weapons
The Chukotka village of Gudym was founded in 1958. It was a military settlement guarding an underground nuclear weapons base located here. The location of the village was strictly classified, and in the documents it was designated as Anadyr-1 or Magadan-11. The base was a vast space with several galleries with different access levels. The doors and walls were protected from nuclear attack. The village was armed with 3 combat missiles aimed at American radar stations and the base of nuclear submarines. In 1998, the settlement was disbanded, and the servicemen were transferred to other cities.
Some cities in the USSR had the status of conditionally closed - only foreigners were prohibited from accessing them. Among them were Kronstadt, Dubna, Zelenograd, Magadan, Perm, Saratov, Ufa, Krasnoyarsk.
Lermontov - uranium ore mining site
The city of Lermontov is located in the Stavropol Territory. It was built in 1953 for the needs of the military industry. On the territory of Lermontov, a rich deposit of uranium ore was discovered, which is used in the nuclear industry. The city-forming enterprise was the Mining and Chemical Ore Administration of the USSR Ministry of Medium Machine Building. As a closed settlement, the city existed for only 14 years. In 1967, Lermontov became an ordinary city of regional subordination. The Mining and Chemical Ore Administration was reorganized into the Hydrometallurgical Plant. The resort infrastructure also began to develop in the city - Lermontov himself is located in the zone of the Caucasian Mineral Waters.
