RUSSIA: VALDAI: NUCLEAR MISSILE BASE TURNED INTO A MUSEUM скачать в хорошем качестве

RUSSIA: VALDAI: NUCLEAR MISSILE BASE TURNED INTO A MUSEUM

(23 Jun 1997) Russian/Nat It was once the Soviet Union's largest nuclear missile base, capable of destroying major cities in the West. Then disarmament stripped rocket base number 6, Valdai division, of its deadly weapons and launch silos. But one silo was preserved and along with the nuclear control centre has been turned into a museum to the Cold War. It's the height of the Cold War and at the Soviet Union's biggest nuclear weapons base, 460 kilometres north of Moscow, guards have been alerted by an intruder. Even if trespassers had managed to scale the complicated network of electric fences without coming to harm, they would have probably been shot on sight. As the core of the country's first strike capability for decades it was a no-go area for everyone except authorised personnel. Now following nuclear disarmament even foreigners are welcomed to what is believed to be the first Cold War museum located in a former front line position. Anyone who can afford the two-hundred U-S dollar entrance fee can descend 40 metres underground to the central control room and press a launch button which would have once prompted the start of Armageddon. Three officers from the elite Rocket regiment would have sat here, round the clock, ready for the order to launch any or all of the 110 Satan missiles located in the vicinity. Each missile carried ten nuclear warheads targetted at NATO countries. Major Alexander Finyunov worked here for 26 years. Now he conducts tours around the base. He believes the museum is a monument to human achievement. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) "We have to preserve it because there's not too many places like this in the world. The whole country was working to create this. The labour of millions of people went into this - the whole of the Soviet Union not only Russia - it was the pinnacle of our industrial achievement." SUPER CAPTION: Major Alexander Finyov, Retired missile unit officer The base is located far from civilisation, in the middle of a national park. As the place was being disarmed and the silos destroyed under the provisions of the START II treaty, the park director Alexander Glazov hit upon the idea of setting up the Cold War museum. In 1994 the Ministry of Defence handed over to Glazov one of the silos and the command centre. He believes it will not only be a history lesson for future generations but also a deterrent. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) "I want it to show how wrong it was to build all this for the high-tech destruction of people. Too much money and effort was spent on destroying each other. Thank God the Cold War has ended and my only wish is that there won't be any more wars - cold or hot." SUPER CAPTION: Alexander Glazov, Head of Valdai National Park But the base is rundown - water seeps through its underground tunnels, pipes are rusting and the Ministry of Defence has removed a lot of the top secret equipment. Although the government gives it financial help it's not enough to restore the base to its former glory. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) "It's very expensive to maintain, it uses a lot of energy. This museum has to be treated the way you treat the Hermitage, the Tretyakov and the Russian Museum. There they have art but here we have technical art. SUPER CAPTION: Alexander Glazov, Head of Valdai National Park Few Russians have visited this hands-on museum and the number of foreign tourists has so far been negligable. What was once a top military secret in the Soviet Union is now one of Russia's best kept tourist secrets. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...