Closed city


A closed city or closed town is a settlement where travel or residency restrictions are applied. Historically, the construction of closed cities became increasingly common in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, they remain widespread in Russia and some of the other post-Soviet countries. In modern Russia, closed cities are designated as "closed administrative–territorial formations".

Structure and operations

Closed cities are sometimes represented only on classified maps that are not available to the general public.
Sometimes, closed cities are 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. People not living in a closed city were subject to document checks and security checkpoints, and explicit permission was required for them to visit. 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 may be 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.

In the Soviet Union

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.
  1. The first category comprised relatively small communities with sensitive military, industrial, or scientific facilities, such as arms plants or nuclear research sites. Examples are the modern towns of Ozyorsk with a plutonium production plant, and Sillamäe, the site of a uranium enrichment facility. Even Soviet citizens were not allowed access to these places without proper authorization. In addition to this, some bigger cities were closed for unauthorized access to foreigners, while they were freely accessible to Soviet citizens. These included cities like Perm, a center for Soviet artillery, munitions, and also aircraft engines production, and Vladivostok, the headquarters and primary base of the Soviet Pacific Fleet.
  2. The second category consisted of border cities, which were closed for security purposes. Comparable closed areas existed elsewhere in the Eastern bloc; a substantial area along the inner German border and the border between West Germany and Czechoslovakia was placed under similar restrictions. Citizens were required to have special permits to enter such areas.
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.
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.

In post-Soviet countries

Russia

Russia has the largest number of closed cities globally. The policy governing these cities underwent significant changes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The adoption of a new constitution for the Russian Federation in 1993 prompted substantial reforms to the status of closed cities, which were subsequently renamed "closed administrative-territorial formations". Municipally, all such entities have the status of urban okrugs, as mandated by federal law.
There are 44 publicly acknowledged closed cities in Russia with a total population of approximately 1.5 million people. Seventy-five percent are administered by the Russian Ministry of Defense, with the remainder under the administration of Rosatom. It is believed that about 15 additional closed cities exist, but their names and locations have not been publicly disclosed by the Russian government.
Some Russian closed cities are open to foreign investment, but entry for foreigners requires a permit. An example of international cooperation in these cities is the Nuclear Cities Initiative, 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 was restricted without exception in the northern cities of Norilsk, Talnakh, Kayerkan, Dudinka, and Igarka. Russian and Belarusian citizens visiting these cities are not required to have permits; however, local courts have been known to deport Belarusian citizens.
The number of closed cities in Russia is defined by government decree. The reasons for restrictions vary. These cities include:
Altai Krai
  • Sibirsky
Amur Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Astrakhan Oblast
Republic of Bashkortostan
  • Mezhgoryeformerly known as Ufa-105 and Beloretsk-15, home to the 129th Directorate of strategic subjects' technical supply and maintenance.
Chelyabinsk Oblast
File:SnezhinskHousesPobedaStreet.jpg|thumb|A street in Snezhinsk, a closed town in Russia's Chelyabinsk Oblast, 2006
  • Lokomotivny
  • Ozyorskformerly known as Chelyabinsk-65 and Chelyabinsk-40, nuclear material processing and recycling plant.
  • Snezhinskformerly known as Chelyabinsk-70, site of one of the two major Russian Federal Nuclear Centers.
  • Tryokhgornyformerly known as Zlatoust-36, site of development of parts and machinery for atomic stations and weaponry.
Kamchatka Krai
  • Vilyuchinskformerly known as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky-50, base of a squadron of submarines from the Russian Pacific Fleet, also involved in the production of nuclear submarines.
Kirov Oblast
  • Pervomayskyformerly known as Yurya-2.
Krasnoyarsk Krai
  • Dikson
  • Solnechnyformerly known as Uzhur-4.
  • Zelenogorskformerly known as Krasnoyarsk-45.
  • Zheleznogorskformerly known as Krasnoyarsk-26.
Moscow Oblast
  • Krasnoznamenskformerly known as Golitsyno-2.
  • Molodyozhnyformerly known as Naro-Fominsk-5.
  • Vlasikhaformerly known as Gorky-2.
  • Voskhodformerly known as Novopetrovsk-2.
  • Zvyozdny gorodokformerly known as Shchyolkovo-14.
Murmansk Oblast
File:Дом-радуга.jpg|thumb|A view of Snezhnogorsk, a closed town in Russia's Murmansk Oblast, 2008
  • Alexandrovskclosed administrative-territorial formation, includes the towns of Gadzhiyevo, Polyarny, and Snezhnogorsk
  • Ostrovnoy
  • Severomorsk
  • Snezhnogorsk
  • Vidyayevo
  • Zaozyorsk
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
File:SarovskyMonasteryUspenskySobor.jpg|thumb|A view of the Sarov Monastery in 1904 in Sarov, which was a regular city in the Russian Empire at the time. It became a closed city in the Soviet Union in 1946, and has remained a closed city in the Russian Federation since 1991.
  • Sarovformerly known as Arzamas-16
Orenburg Oblast
  • Komarovsky
Penza Oblast
  • Zarechnyformerly known as Penza-19
Perm Krai
File:Cultural center in closed town Zvezdniy.jpg|thumb|A cultural centre in Zvyozdny, a closed "urban-type settlement" in Russia's Perm Krai, 2010
  • Zvyozdnyformerly known as Perm-76.
Primorsky Krai
  • Fokinoformerly known as Shkotovo-17.
Pskov Oblast
  • Smuravyevo
Saratov Oblast
  • Mikhaylovsky
  • Shikhany
  • Svetly
Sverdlovsk Oblast
  • Lesnoyformerly known as Sverdlovsk-45
  • Novouralskformerly known as Sverdlovsk-44
  • Svobodny
  • Uralsky
Tomsk Oblast
File:Seversk Kurchatova.jpg|thumb|A view of Seversk, a closed city in Russia's Tomsk Oblast, 2006
  • Severskformerly known as Tomsk-7
Tver Oblast
  • Ozyorny
  • Solnechny
Vladimir Oblast
  • Raduzhny
Zabaykalsky Krai
  • Gornyformerly known as Chita-46.

    Non-ZATO restricted territories

There is a list of territories within Russia that do not have closed-city status but require special permits for foreigners to visit. The largest locality within such territory is the city of Norilsk.

Estonia

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.
Tartu, home to Raadi Airfield, was partially closed. Foreign academics could visit the University of Tartu, but had to sleep elsewhere.