Moscow bomb shelters - is it safe in the capital?

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

According to statistics, slightly less than 12 million people live in Moscow. About 3 million tourists visit the capital of Russia every day. The question arises how safe it is to walk along the white stone street these days. If a war breaks out, where will so many people flee? The Ministry of Emergency Situations is confident that Moscow's bomb shelters will be able to accommodate all residents and guests of the capital. It is worth figuring out where the nearest shelters are, how they are organized and what has changed since the Great Patriotic War.

Metro in the capital

It's easy to guess that the 14 lines of the Moscow metro, with a length of more than 300 kilometers, are the most accessible for ordinary residents of the Moscow bomb shelter.

Back in 1935, the first line of the metro was opened. Two years later, the country's leadership took care of the construction of special shelters for themselves and members of the NKVD. The first was located near the station "Kirovskaya", the second on Soviet Square.

In the autumn of 41, the capital almost lost strategically important facilities, including the subway. It seemed that Moscow could not be saved - the capital was hastily left by residents and the military. On October 16, by order of the commander-in-chief, they were to dismantle and blow up the subway.

BAt the last moment, Stalin changed his mind, and Moscow's bomb shelters, like the city itself, were saved.

Interestingly, during air attacks, the metropolitan dungeon turned into a real city. It opened shops and hairdressers. And at the metro station "Kurskaya" you could visit the library.

Availability of secret objects

It turns out that today any guest of the capital can visit such military facilities as Moscow bomb shelters. Photos, however, according to the rules for using the subway, can not be taken. However, modern equipment allows you to discreetly and safely capture an underground shelter on your phone.

That's why it's impossible to find a complete list of hideouts. Moreover, many bomb shelters have been classified since the war. For example, such an air defense shelter was only discovered in 2004. Then the journalists dubbed the found "subway" - "Metro-2".

Hideouts these days

Contemporaries, of course, are more interested in whether Moscow's bomb shelters can receive all residents and guests of the capital and how safe it is to wait out an air attack underground.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations is confident that there are enough subways in the capital that can protect Muscovites. Moreover, the ministry, as agreed, is ready to arrange demonstrative excursions. This fall, bloggers studied the bomb shelter on Altufyevskoye Highway and came to the conclusion that the shelter was ready for the start of a sudden war. The doors are heavy and hermetic, the beds are in order, there is a first aid kit and anti-radiation suits.

According to general calculations, about 2 million people will be able to hide in the subway. 8 thousand will be saved by the basement under the Moscow City DC. There are also about 1,200 bunkers in the center of the capital. However, there is no exact data on how many underground shelters exist in our time. This is a military secret. Therefore, one has to take the word of the Ministry of Emergency Situations that in case of war everyone can be saved.

How to find the nearest bomb shelter?

Despite the secrecy, it will not be difficult to partially find Moscow's bomb shelters. The addresses of most of them are on the map of the metropolitan metro.

In addition, you can hide from bombs in almost any basement of a modern high-rise building. And the houses themselves have recently been built "bomb-proof": with plastic windows and safe doors.

According to unofficial data, more than a hundred more objects intended for bomb shelters are currently under construction.

Remarkably, the rules for using underground shelters have not changed much since the war. Shelters are for humans only. You can not smoke, drink alcohol and behave aggressively in them. Assistance and assistance should be provided to children, pensioners and the disabled. In addition, current regulations prohibit the use of cell phones and cameras underground.