Anadyr, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russian FederationA CHANCE MEETING WITH A CHUKCHI POLITICIAN AND HIS VENEZUELAN GRANDSON
Alex was keen to take us on a picnic or barbeque to Mikhail Hill, some five kilometers west of Anadyr city. Like most people who live in cold climates, he was enthusiastic about taking advantage of the warmer weather to spend some time outdoors. It was as he explained, very popular for groups of young people and also families to go on picnics in summer. In winter people used the steep slope as a ski run.
You would think as Australians we would like it too. After all, our people pride themselves for being outside Aussies who love nothing more than "throwing a shrimp on a barbeque"! But in reality Alan and I are so spoilt with warm weather for much of the year that unless conditions are ideal (aka perfect), we wouldn't dream of going out on a picnic and having to share it with mosquitoes, flies and for where we live often very windy weather.
To us, the day was not looking particularly good. Scuddy clouds belied a windy and showery day. And it was cold. Well, by Australian standards of course. It was probably around 10 degrees C. Perhaps we could just visit Mikhail Hill? But Alex would not be deterred. We had to go shopping for our picnic food there and then.
Earlier that morning, we were supposed to be interviewed by Igor's journalist who had failed to turn up the day before. Apologising profusely, she had left a message to say she would meet us at the hotel at 10:00 am. We waited for her for half an hour before deciding to leave for Mikhail Hill.
In the foyer of the hotel we met by chance a friendly older Chukchi man accompanied by a dark haired young man who looked neither Chukchi nor Russian. The older man was apparently a well known local politician and the young man was his grandson. Interestingly, the young man who was part Chukchi and part Venezuelan, lived permanently in Venezuela. He had travelled to Chukotka for a visit with his extended family.
What a blast meeting a Venezuelan-Chukchi man in Anadyr! The couple were however almost as surprised to meet us, being people from Australia as we were to meet them. We had always wanted to visit Venezuela and it was a good opportunity for an interesting and lively discussion before we all departed our various ways. The chances of a Chukchi meeting and marrying a Venezuelan person did seem quite extraordinary.
And having talked for such a long time, suddenly the picnic didn't seem like such a marvellous idea. We would go for a walk around the site instead.
EXCURSION TO MIKHAIL HILL - A COUPLE OF CULTURAL SHOCKS....
Vassily picked us up in his van for our short drive to Mikhail Hill. As we drove along the dusty road through the tundra, he talked to us about his life in the navy. For Alan and I who had lived through the Cold War on the "other side", it did seem a rather bizarre situation as "westerners" to be conversing with a man who was once part of the Russian military. We smiled to ourselves at the paradoxical circumstances. "Who would have thought......?"
Just as we left Anadyr, we spotted a number of beautiful blue cranes, very much like those we have back home. When we made reference to how much we liked these birds, Alex told us that his family had one visit them recently in the grounds of their apartment. "How lovely" we remarked absently. "My father shot it" Alex simply stated. Looking at our horrified faces, he added "Well, we eat them you know..." Once again, we realised it was taking us a long time to come to grips with a completely different culture. Alex was a modern, educated young man. And in this day and age, we didn't expect him to regard beautiful wild bird life as food. It was however yet another example of our closed thinking and a reminder of our "sanitised" approach to killing animals for food.
Our astonishment for the day did not finish there. As we drove out of town, we passed Anadyr's local tip. A large above ground affair, it was piled with plastic bags which in the fierce wind, were blowing all over the local terrain. It was truly shocking watching as literally thousands of plastic bags took to the skies. And again, we forgot about the difficulties of living in Chukotka. Because of the permafrost it is impossible to dig huge pits as we do back home to bury household waste as landfill. Alan must have read my thoughts. "I wonder how they bury the dead?" he whispered.
Mikhail Hill was yet another shock. As we drove through the dangling razor wired entrance, Vassily turned to us "What do you think about our environmentally beautiful landscape?" he asked bitterly. Alex remained silent.
Mikhail Hill is situated right above the Anadyr River with stunning views of the estuary and the shoreline back toward the city of Anadyr. A strategic military and communications base for many years, it was literally strewn with decaying old buildings, fuel storage tanks and ancient military rubbish.
Even the enormous satellite dish was falling apart. Everything was just left as it had been abandoned; a rotting real life museum.
If the rusting military building ruins and decaying garbage were not bad enough, to our horror Mikhail Hill was covered in the leftover rubbish of local visitors. This was even more of a shock. After all, didn't Alex say that Anadyr families loved to picnic here? How could people enjoy visiting a place covered with smashed glass bottles, old food cans and plastic containers? It seemed such a simple task to at least collect the rubbish and place it in a central location. Couldn't the locals band together even if the local government could not for some reason, clean the place up?
But it was obviously not such an easy task and even Alex could not give us an answer. But we could see it clearly troubled him.
Before we left, Alex asked us if we would like to climb up the communications tower. Looking at the enormous height of the tower (at least 60 meters), we declined saying we would prefer to look around the hill environs and especially at the local tundra vegetation. And looking up at the swaying rusty tower to where he climbed, we were very pleased to have made our decision. Just look at the tiny dots in the photo - which are the two of us below the tower!
It was with some relief that we saw Alex finally climb down from the tower. Other than admire the lovely views of the river and estuary, there was not a lot to do at Mikhail Hill. Cold, wind blown and quite frankly depressed by what we had witnessed, we were pleased to climb back into the warm of Vassily's large van and depart for Anadyr.
AFTERNOON VISIT TO GUDYM, ONCE HOME OF "THE MOTHER OF KUZKINA"
Lunch at Ice Tables Restaurant
Over lunch at the quirky Ice Tables Cafe in Anadyr, we discussed what we may do that afternoon. Designated as free time, we were keen to ask about visiting the old towns of Gudym, home to rocket launchers and the famous silos which once housed nuclear warheads during the Cold War era.
This was our second visit to Anadyr and we had seen most of the city sights and attractions. We had read widely about Gudym and seen photos of the silos in on-line blogs. It looked eerie and forbidding even in the photographs. But on a dull, freezing cold and windy afternoon with little else to do, we decided our best course of action was to visit the abandoned nuclear missile site. The trip involved a ferry crossing back across the estuary and another ten kilometers or so drive to Gudym; a longish trip considering we had to return back to Anadyr for the evening.
But as foreigners who had lived through the Cold War, the story of Gudym was particularly fascinating, if rather chilling. We decided it was well worth the effort. It was unlikely we would be visiting Anadyr again in the near future.
Briefing on Gudym
Gudym 1 and Gudym II were top secret Soviet towns built near Anadyr, Chukotka in the late 1950's as militarily strategic nuclear missile sites for possible attack against the USA, just 200 kilometers away. So secret were they that even many of those who worked there during the time were unaware of their strategic significance. Theoretically, neither town existed. Even the houses and schools in the towns were designated with Moscow addresses.
The purpose of Gudym I was for the storage and maintenance of medium range RSD-10 "Pioneer" nuclear warheads. Gudym II housed rocket launching sites with the capability to deploy ballistic missiles into Alaska, Washington State, California and parts of South Dakota. The main target however was Kitsap: America's third largest naval base located near Seattle. Unlike the warheads, the missiles were not kept in silos, but in MAZ-547 Transport Erector Launchers.
Both Gudym I and Gudym II were heavily protected by a tank battallion, infantry and CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) Units, as well as an aircraft regiment based at the military Ugolnye Airport. Otherwise known as the "Base of Death", the towns of Gudym were no joke. They were built "war ready" and on continual "red alert"; being able at any time to launch nuclear missiles directly at the USA.
There is an interesting story to the foundation of Gudym. In the early days of the Cold War, the impetus to build the towns was the result of the Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev pounding his shoe on a table at a UN meeting and threatening the US with the famous words "We even have missiles in Chukotka!" (One could well wonder about the so called "secrecy"....)
Throughout the Cold War the ridiculous arm muscling continued. As a showing of might between the two countries, American's dubbed its most powerful nuclear weapon "The Father of all Bombs".
Russia was not to be deterred in this crazy push and shove process. A common threatening idiom in Russia is to "Show you Kuzkin's mother" (Kuzkin according to legend was apparently a very unpleasant woman). The American bomb was cynically referred to by Russians as "Kuzkin's Otets". Translated it means "Kuzkin's Father". As a signal of threat to the US, Gudym's most powerful nuclear warhead was later referred to by Krushchev as "The Mother of Kuzkina". It could almost have been absurdly funny, had it not been such a frighteningly dire matter, especially as it was housed in such close proximity to the US at Gudym....
At first, Gudym was known as Anadyr I (also Magadan II and Object C), but later called Gudym after the colonel who was in charge of the development. Bizarrely, after its completion, the colonel without an apparent reason, shot himself.
The towns of Gudym once housed around 5,000 people; a top secret micro city equipped with all facilities, including schools, hospitals and shopping malls. The military and their families who served at Guydym were apparently very well paid and even during times of crises, the shopping malls of Gudym were renown for always being well stocked with food goods and other supplies.
The towns of Gudym operated until 1987, when the Intermediate-Range Nuclear (INF) Forces Treaty dictated a removal of all nuclear weapons. And in 2007, the town was completely abandoned by the military and the residents relocated to western parts of Russia.
An interesting but sad tale describes a woman resident who refused to leave. A mathematics teacher, she stayed on in Gudym long after it was abandoned, finally becoming totally insane.
The towns were completely destroyed by explosive devices in May 2018; a bombsite of a once thriving, top secret micro metropolis. It is estimated that some fifteen secret towns still exist in Russia; all extremely sensitive and not surprisingly strictly closed to foreigners.
While we were assured by Anadyr locals that it was fine to visit the site now it has been destroyed, we couldn't help but feel uneasy about our expedition to Gudym, especially as we would be travelling alone.
Note: Photos above from Russia Beyond can be found at https://www.rbth.com/history/326274-soviet-town-threatened-usa
Across the Estuary
Our hire car journey to Gudym took us yet again over the estuary. As we travelled by ferry to Ugolnye Kopi, we noted the Anadyr Wind Farm on the distant shores of Observatisii Cape. And on a blustery afternoon, the giant mill blades were working overtime.
Interestingly, Anadyr Station is one of the few wind energy farms in Russia, supplying electricity for Ugolnye Kopi township and also the local airport. While wind mills do not contribute more than 1% of the total installed capacity of energy plants in Chukotka, they do signal the beginning of alternative energy plants in Russia. It is also interesting to note that wind farms and solar power plants are considered to have enormous potential for the isolated power systems of Siberia and Far East Russia, especially given the colossal costs associated with the transportation of fossil fuels.
Through Ugolnye Kopi
As we entered Ugolnye instead of turning right as usual to the airport, we travelled straight ahead and through the old town which once housed the many families of the military personnel working at the airport.
On our drive through the town, our driver stopped at what appeared to be a military monument. It was in fact a MiG fighter aircraft mounted on a platform with a plague proudly displaying "To the Pioneers and Defenders of the Sky".
Between 1959 to 1985, over 10,500 Russian MiG aircraft were built. Developed with state of the art technology of the time, the MiG otherwise (bizarrely) known as "Fish Beds" were considered the elite of fighting aircraft. With the ability to launch both bombs and nuclear missiles, they were unsurpassed in their capabilities. Even today, with the availability of much more sophisticated electronics, modern fighters are no faster nor considered easier to manoeuvre.
For us "Cold War Survivors" it was rather surreal to actually stand right beside one of these famous fighter aircraft which once were the "staple" of the Soviet and Russian Air Forces. They were especially memorable for Alan and I who remembered so vividly not only the awfulness of the Vietnam war, but also where MiG fighters were used in air force combat confrontation with the US and their allies.
While we had driven many times to Ugolnye Kopi Aiport, we had not driven through the township. Now largely abandoned, it lies - like most other lost cities in far eastern Russia - a sadly dejected, decaying mass of rotting timber and concrete cancer remains. And if we thought Mikhail Hill was depressing, it was nothing compared with Ugolnye town. Row after row of Soviet apartments stood horribly neglected with smashed windows and peeling exteriors. Roofs of the older houses were totally caved in. But amongst this dreadful scene of despair, we were astonished that some of the apartments were still lived in. How could anyone possibly keep sane living in a town like this, we wondered?
It was difficult to gain our bearings as we drove out of Ulgonye Kopi and the map I have drawn above of "Assumed Route to Gudym" is just a guess of our route to where the two towns of Gudym are located. Funnily enough, there is no reference to the towns on either Google or Yandex maps....
The Shock of Gudym
Our driver dropped us off about half a kilometer from the entry to Gudym I, from where we walked the rest of the way to the town.
Our first sighting of Gudym was one of total shock. It was not another abandoned township to which we were becoming accustomed in far east Russia. It was in fact a true bomb site. We knew that Gudym had been destroyed by explosives but nothing could have prepared us from such a scene of total destruction. Once a thriving city of some 5,000 people, it is now nothing more than a heap of rubble.
Sadly, the former town is situated in the prettiest of locations; nestled in a wide valley and surrounded by gently undulating tundra clad hills. Some unmelted snow was still evident in pockets surrounding the valley. Gravel roads that must have once been filled with military motor vehicles and armoured tanks, dissected the town on a grid basis. But there were no virtually houses left. Just a heap of metal and cement debris to mark where one of the most important secret cities of Russia once proudly stood. It was a sobering site.
Our real mission for the afternoon was to find the underground silos which once housed Gudym's fearsome nuclear warheads. A huge U-shaped tunnel equipped with full anti-nuclear protection, the giant multi-level facility was built adjacent to Gudym city to store and maintain Far East Russia's nuclear armaments. There are two entrances (labelled for some reason numbers 14 and 15) at each end of the tunnel which contains numerous side chambers once used for maintenance equipment, explosives, communications and even a full technical laboratory. The logistics of building and maintaining this site were awesome. After all it was built into straight permafrost soil in one of the most severe arctic climates in the world.
As we plodded up toward the silos, we were surprised by the presense of some pockets of low but relatively lush vegetation. Opportunistic growth of this kind never failed to surprise us. In such an extreme environment, just the slightest bit of shelter provided a window of opportunity for a myriad of plant species and a tiny possibility for growth. Cereal grasses, cedars already turning red for the winter, leather leaf and low lying willow species nestled in small protected hollows.
Toward the warhead silos, a number of dilapidated old wooden military buildings still stood; pathetic structures in stark contrast with their earlier glorious importance. Together with acres of ancient rusting equipment and old fuel drums, a low trolley was left by the side of some decaying water pipes; all grim reminders of a once well used top level secret facility.
A half hidden pill box bunker stood quiescent in some tall undergrowth; an eerie reminder of the lethal defence systems put in place around the silos. Wild black eyes in a jungle, we could just make out the pill box holes for the machine gun shafts. We walked into the bare shell of the building. It was even stranger to be inside imagining a cigarette filled smoke bunker, the arcane guttural conversations of the guards, and discussions most probably about the boredom of their day to day lives.
As if our comfort levels had not been sufficiently challenged, our visit to one of the entrances to the warhead silos was nothing less than mind blowing. Everything about the portal was intimidating; the magnitude, scope, darkness and deafening solitude was terrifying. We were western foreigners of a country allied with a former ideological enemy. It was not our place and perhaps we should not have been there. In such a forbidding and foreign environment, your imagination could certainly run riot.
The now empty vast tunnel was large enough to take full sized trucks. Heavily steel reinforced concrete walls still retained lagged piping, heavy gauge winches and even old light fittings. Signage under the winches read: "Do Not Stand Under the Load". Initially we had thought about walking the one kilometer length of the tunnel but after about 100 meters we decided we had seen enough. The wet, cold and damp was suffocating. And it was hard not to think about how much radioactivity we were absorbing.... It was time we agreed, to leave.
As we walked outside of the tunnel, we noted more pill boxes and a huge amount of spent ammunition lying on the ground. "What would the guards have been shooting at?" we wondered. "Surely, at the height of its function, no-one in their right mind would have entered here unlawfully?" Who knows.....
The grounds of the silos were still fringed with drooping razor wire; a stern reminder of the once massive security of the establishment. Alongside the fence in stark contrast gurgled a sparkling clear stream flowing freely into the dreamy distance of a beautiful valley.
As we walked back through the remains of the flattened township, we almost tripped over the remnants of the wires used to detonate the explosives that destroyed the place. It was no time to hang around. Goodness knows how many unexploded devices were still there in Gudym.
Our experience at Gudym had been quite surreal. The incongruous juxtapositioning of a visit by two western foreigners to one of the most secret and highly sensitive Russian military locations of the Cold War was not lost on us. As we walked back to our car, the wind suddenly dropped and the heavy clouds parted to reveal a glorious sunny sky over the magnificent Gudym Valley. Perhaps it was a message.....?
2025-05-23