The Latin maxim that weapons keep peace will seem blasphemous to many. And you can really argue with her. Unfortunately, it’s definitely impossible to argue with the fact that it’s better with a weapon than without it. The USA and the USSR in the second half of the 20th century were actually at war. Both states competed fiercely in everything from sports to space flights. Both blocks behaved like a pair of cowardly rabbits, wearing wolf masks and imagining themselves to be predators. An important part of this "mask" for the USSR were numerous closed cities.
1. Arzamas-16
Perhaps the most famous closed city of the Soviet Union today. The real name is Sarov. The village was turned into a ZATO in 1947. This is where Soviet nuclear weapons have been developed since 1943. It was here that the famous "Tsar Bomba" was subsequently created. Initially, ZATO was called Arzamas-75, but the number 75 almost completely coincided with the value of the mileage from Sarov to Arzamas, which violated secrecy. Therefore, 75 was changed to 16. Today Sarov hosts the Federal Nuclear Center of Russia.
2. Zagorsk-6
Closed city built in 1959. Located near Sergiev Posad. The local scientific center dealt with the issues of biological and viral weapons, the creation of offensive and defensive means. First of all, they worked here with hemorrhagic fevers. And yes, the Soviet Union had its own biological laboratories, like any other large country. This is because the activities of such scientific institutions are always ambivalent. Alas, without it in any way.
3. Sverdlovsk-44
Today it is the city of Novouralsk. This ZATO is known primarily due to the fact that it was one of the objects of the Soviet nuclear program. True, nothing was developed in Sverdlovsk-44. Here they enriched uranium. The necessary industrial facilities began to be built here in 1946. In 1949, it was in Sverdlovsk-44 that the filling for the first Soviet nuclear bomb was made. Since the 1970s, some of the products of this ZATO have been exported, among other things. Since the 1990s, the local plant has been retrained as a producer of low-enriched uranium, most of which is exported after the collapse of the USSR.
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4. "Peaceful"
A closed city in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia. It is here that the Soviet and Russian Plesetsk cosmodrome, built in 1966, is located. It was created mainly for military purposes. Satellites are launched into space from Plesetsk to this day. An interesting fact: the so-called "Petrozavodsk phenomenon" or "Petrozavodsk miracle" is associated with the work of the cosmodrome. A light phenomenon that occurred on September 20, 1977 and was perceived by a number of Soviet and Finnish citizens as an alien phenomenon... In fact, it was an unsuccessful launch of a ballistic missile. But it became known about it only in the late 1980s, when Plesetsk was declassified.
5. Mezhhirya
What exactly is in Mezhhirya is not known. The city was partially secret during the years of the USSR, however, it acquired the status of ZATO only in 1995 after the collapse of the country of the Soviets. This serves as additional confirmation that for decades there was something truly special in two secret military units in Mezhhirya. American intelligence on this score voices two assumptions. First, since Soviet times, there have been government bomb shelters in Mezhgorye in case of a nuclear war. Secondly, there is one of the control centers of the Perimeter automatic nuclear retaliatory strike system. However, it is possible that both assumptions are false.
In continuation of the topic, read about why during the Second World War dozens of balloons hung over the cities.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/020622/63173/