Soviet Secret Cities

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Skrunda-1 sits on the outskirts of a small settlement of the same name and was a former secret Soviet military installation. For years it was abandoned and left as a reminder of Cold War-era brutalism. Skrunda-1 was built in 1963 as a part of a series of secret Soviet cities that were built for different military uses during the Cold War. The base here became home to about 5,000 Soviet personnel. The main goal of this site with its two large radar installations was to look for missiles coming from Western Europe. Dozens of buildings among them barracks, a school, administrative centers, and factories could be found here. Once Latvia regained its independence the Soviets were asked to leave the base in 1994 but made a deal to stay for four more years. They vacated in 1998 and Skrunda-1 became a ghost town. The Latvians demolished one of the radar towers but left the rest to crumble. Today the buildings here are but mere shells although you can see original propagandistic art on the walls, pictures of Lenin and Cyrillic motivational slogans. Just recently the Latvian government has taken steps to preserve what is left. The reason being, so that it could be used for military training exercises and also for tourism.