Today I will tell and show you a place that is legendary.

In 2010, an interesting object was discovered in the endless expanses of Altai – the unfinished UKP “Sphera” or otherwise Highly Protected Command Post (KPVZ 15V210) 35 missile division of the Strategic Missile Forces.

The peculiarity of this command post is that it (or rather similar ones put into operation) has the highest degree of security and is able to withstand a direct hit by a nuclear warhead.

Structurally, the UKP Sphere is a reinforced concrete capsule, built below surface of the earth in a special mine of large diameter.

Inside the capsules suspended amortized container with the target equipment, life support systems, combat modes, and the living rooms of the duty shift.

The whole construction area is under the shelter of a large hangar, which is supported by above-zero temperature for year-round operations.

General panorama of the complex. Left hangar with a capsule, right main technical building.

At the bottom of the picture, the upper compartment of the capsule is visible, with drives of sliding devices. (Antennas, exhaust manhole covers, air intakes, emergency manhole, etc.) In the background is the roof of the capsule, with shafts of sliding devices.

General view of the hangar in the direction of the mine and the capsule. In the background is the technical building. Concrete pads in front of the mine are a construction template for assembly-welding of individual elements of the capsule.

Protective capsule. This prickly rebar hedgehog will be monolithic with heavy-duty concrete in one pass, immediately after all construction operations are completed and the top of the capsule is closed with a roof. (It is just visible in the background.)

One of the serious problems of the Sphere is heat dissipation. Heat exchangers are laid in the thickness of the concrete. At the bottom right you can see the main gateway leading into the capsule.

The technical entrance to the gateway of the capsule is carried out in the immediate vicinity of it, through a special approach structure with high security from conventional bombardment. It is attached to the side of the main shaft (seen in the picture). Through it, maintenance and replacement of equipment is performed.

The interior of the upper area of the approach structure.

Six flights down the stairs and here it is – the main gateway of the capsule in all its glory. A tubing around the containment for cable entry into the protected volume.

Inside the gateway. Three reinforced protective-hermetic doors to prevent the passage of a shock wave of a nuclear explosion. In the background is visible the wall of the container hanging inside.

The photo shows a view of the container roof and upper depreciation belt. In the hole in the capsule (seen from above) put a compartment for sliding equipment mentioned earlier. What was in the container?

Operational duty rooms – 1st floor (counting down)

Control Equipment LSS Spheres and special hardware compartments, spare parts and accessories – 2nd floor

Residential shift rooms, ventilation and compressor stations of the cooling system – 3rd floor

DES, battery and compressor – 4th floor. (The fourth floor is completely flooded with groundwater.)

Below, on the two sides of the container, huge batteries of cylinders are mounted with a supply of compressed air for autonomous mode.

Belt vertical depreciation. Two giant double deck shock absorbers in each of the four corners of the container.

Side views in the space between the heat exchanger ring and the container. It is quite close here and after the construction is completed, the cable will snake everywhere along the walls and the ventilation ducts of the container will hang down.

For most of the hatches are located here such compartments of heat exchangers. Stainless radiators of them are almost completely cut off.

Let’s look inside the container. First floor.

The premises were thoroughly cleaned by the employees of the Ministry of Defense from the control and communications equipment during the liquidation of the facility. The working rooms of the shift (former console and special equipment) are empty compartments.

In other rooms pogrom reigns. Here, cabinets with auxiliary equipment were torn from their seats and dumped. This is the work of non-ferrous metal hunters.

Second floor. Energy management compartment. Transformer and switching equipment.

Third floor. Living sector. On the left are officers lounges. In order to sound insulation and comfort, they were made of wood. Everything around is eaten by mold.

Next floor under water.

We leave to surface.

About the former importance of the place said at least the fact that its construction continued after the Soviet Union collapsed. Worked cranes, cars took out the soil, everything went to the fact that the map of special-purpose objects of our vast Motherland should have grown another print of secrecy.

But very soon the agony of reform and cuts began.

The construction site froze and the construction battalion dispersed to other objects.

In the end, a final decision was made on the elimination of the rusty unfinished structure.

Farewell to the legend!

Sources: shmurzik.net barneos22.ru