The city of Krasnoznamensk is located 41 km west of the capital and is recognized as a closed administrative-territorial entity (ZATO). The city received this status due to the fact that on its territory there is a MCC (flight control center) - Korolevsky’s backup, as well as a control center for military satellites.
It is convenient to get to Moscow from here by personal and public transport along the Minsk Highway (minibuses go to the metro stations “Park Pobedy” and “Yugo-Zapadnaya”). You can also access the city via the Kievskoye or Mozhaiskoye highways.
History of the city's development
The city of Krasnoznamensk began during wartime, when a location for a direction-finding base was chosen here, and later a radio acceptance center was installed, around which a couple of houses for the center’s employees and the minimum infrastructure necessary for life were built. Then this settlement was called Golitsyno-2.
To the first control center for long-range aviation communications troops, a control center for strategic missile forces and an automated control system (ACS) for spacecraft were added. The improvement of technology and the emergence of new high-precision instruments determined the development of the settlement, accompanied by an influx of qualified personnel and personnel serving the needs of the settlement.
Time to go home
We took a walk along one of our favorite walking routes in our compact but beautiful city of Krasnoznamensk, Moscow region. Of course, in the summer, when everything around is green and blooming, when the sun is warm, everything looks much more beautiful, brighter and more fun.
Thank you for visiting my city with me a little. I'm sure that if you come here and take a walk, you will also really like everything.
If you liked our city, then share this article with your friends. Let them visit us too (even if only virtually). Let me end my walk here and return home.
All the best. Best regards, Armen.
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Features of accommodation
Krasnoznamensk is a young city (received its status in 1981), and the average age of residents (36 years) corresponds to it. The fact is that the city is implementing the “Young Family” state program (family members must be no more than 35 years old), which ensures the arrival of young and energetic enthusiasts to the city.
Krasnoznamensk is also being replenished with settlers from the Baikonur and Plesetsk cosmodromes (another state program is being implemented to provide these military personnel with housing).
Non-military secrets of the “secret city”
On spring, still cold mornings, a thick fog creeps into Krasnoznamensk near Moscow. It hides the fence and gates that separate the city from the rest of the world, the checkpoints, the police and the military checking everyone who enters or drives into the awakening streets. In the chilly darkness, as if in milk, people and cars move slowly. The city of Krasnoznamensk, Moscow region, is officially listed as a city with seven seals.
By decree of the Russian government, it is included in the list of closed administrative-territorial entities. Such formations are colloquially called “mailboxes.” According to the same decree, the city turns out to be locked twice - it itself is closed, and even located on the territory of a closed administrative entity, or for short - ZATO. There are only a few such secret points on the map of the Moscow region. Krasnoznamensk is the largest.
BUT they came up with it a long time ago. The first known “secret city” in our country was called Sarov.
But he also responded to another name - Arzamas-16. Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria made the city a secret. With his light hand, ZATOs began to spread across the map of their homeland. With double names, an incomprehensible postal address and a secret scientific life. It was in them that atomic bombs and other big state secrets were born. Living in “mailboxes” was good from an everyday point of view, because the word “shortage” did not exist for such points. But it was almost impossible to enter, exit or go abroad. In total, there were several dozen “boxes” in the country. At first their master was the Gulag. Then they were divided by the Minsredmash (nuclear department), the Minsobschemash (rocket and space department) and the Ministry of Defense. The latter owns most of the locked “cities of happiness”. Specifically for Krasnoznamensk, this is space in military uniform.
Perhaps, due to such closedness, Krasnoznamensk makes an exceptionally blissful impression on visitors. Quiet streets, a lot of greenery, clean air rare for the Moscow region, leisurely pedestrians and bird trills that drown out the roar of cars even during the day. But this idyll is deceptive. In fact, Krasnoznamensk today is almost a front-line city. The front line runs along an ordinary street with an original name - Krasnoznamennaya and divides one house in two, fitting centimeters between two entrances similar to twins. Deputies go up the steps on the right, and the city administration goes up the steps on the left.
Not Paris, but mass is worth it
Not long ago, speaking to the residents of Krasnoznamensk and summing up the results of the past year, the head of the city, Alexei Nikolaev, was unexpectedly very frank:
“We’ll have another year to live together.” It was difficult, perhaps the most difficult of all during my work as head...
Nikolaev did not mean the ordinary difficulties of the city’s economy, although there were more than enough of them. It was about something else. The head delicately called the problem “an unpredictable, acute struggle for power within the newly elected Council of Deputies of the city.”
I must say that in our country, as it happens, people don’t like the authorities. Any - big or small. Good or bad. There are always those who will point a finger at it and throw a stone, regardless of whether the government has earned such treatment or not. Theoretically, this situation is normal. The authorities must always remember that, in principle, there are no irreplaceable people. Knowledge about the existing opposition disciplines the authorities and does not allow them to relax. But theory and practice are not always compatible.
The fight for a hated but always coveted seat can proceed within the bounds of decency when opponents manage to prove that the current government is bad. And if you are weak with arguments, then the struggle can go in a different way. Like, for example, in Krasnoznamensk. Here they are fighting desperately with the head of the city, using all the methods known in a certain environment. This is understandable - power in a closed city, in which there is still a lot to take and share, is not cheap.
For clarity, it is enough to give just a few numbers. Alexey Vitalievich Nikolaev has been leading the city administration for 118 months. During this period, he experienced 329 different commissions. A total of 9 criminal cases have already been opened against him, which are invariably dismissed with the standard wording for such cases - “for lack of corpus delicti.” During the same time, Nikolaev won 126 ships.
Any person by nature is not iron. Some people can hold out longer in difficult circumstances, others less. But sooner or later, everyone has a moment when it seems that there is no more strength left to resist. Nikolaev also had such a moment. Alexey Vitalievich personally wrote a letter of resignation “on his own.” The opponents did not have time to celebrate the long-awaited victory. The momentary weakness passed - the head of the city changed his mind and withdrew his resignation. Then the war broke out with renewed vigor. So far, the ordinary residents of Krasnoznamensk can easily be called the losing side in it.
The court is authorized to declare
September 16 last year turned out to be an incredibly hot day. It wasn't about global warming. It’s just that after the head of the city announced his resignation, a seat at the main table of the city seemed free. And on September 16, the new Council of Deputies of the city urgently accepts such a number of documents that in previous times it was difficult to collect in a year.
The first document called for early elections of the city mayor. Within minutes, businessman Vladimir Kostin became chairman of the Council of Deputies.
By the way, it was on the 16th, day after day, that fateful decisions for the city were published in a local, little-known and irregularly published advertising press. Fantastic efficiency...
Two months later, the Odintsovo City Court wrote in its decision that the head of the city of Nikolaev should be reinstated in office from September 16, and declared the hasty creativity of the deputies illegal.
In general, this period, from September to December last year, can be called extremely active. But this activity had nothing to do with the citizens of the city. What kind of residents can we even talk about when the issue of power is at stake?
Kostin periodically tried to head the Council in violation of the city charter, according to which the head of the Council and the head of the city are one person, wrote papers and filed lawsuits. What was actually hidden behind the imitation of vigorous activity?
During this period, the Council of Deputies did not hold a single meeting and did not make a single decision that the city really needed. Let us remind you that we are talking about the end of the year, when papers are accepted, according to which the city then lives for the whole year.
As a result, Krasnoznamensk was left without vital documents for 2006. No decisions were made on establishing a property tax for individuals, on a single tax on imputed income for certain types of activities, or on a land tax in the city. Absolutely necessary documents on the budget, social guarantees, the new edition of the city charter and many other documents have not appeared, in the absence of which life in any populated area of the country stops. Even the Odintsovo court wrote about “destabilization of local self-government” in its decision. In the end, it turned out that Kostin and his comrades successfully fought not with the head of the city, but with ordinary residents of Krasnoznamensk. He defeated them.
A machine gun as a sign of a deputy
From the day after September 16 until now, Deputy Kostin has been listed as a deputy, but does not work. However, what is considered the work of a deputy? One can, for example, consider setting tariffs for the services of municipal enterprises as a parliamentary job. For our life today, the question is very important and painful. Literally everyone cares. Kostin does not participate in such meetings.
But he is an iconic figure, it’s hard not to notice. The fact is that the deputy moves around closed Krasnoznamensk only accompanied by police officers armed with automatic weapons. The deputy entered into an agreement with the 2nd police department of the Private Security Directorate at the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate.
By the way, according to our law, ordinary citizens, even if they are not poor, are not supposed to be protected. Therefore, the contract for the protection of the deputy’s body states that the police with a machine gun guard the “deputy’s cargo.” Which one is not specified. The entry of an armed police squad into a closed and guarded city is already nonsense. But it looks beautiful. Especially in the building of the local Council of Deputies, where they have their own police. By the way, such a service costs from 90-100 thousand rubles. It turns out that the movement of a dear, in the literal sense of the word, deputy with machine gunners was authorized by the Krasnoznamensk police?
Last December, the deputy finally used uniformed machine gunners for their intended purpose. At the local city market, he, with decent accompaniment, resolved an issue with the market administration in favor of a certain citizen Prus, officially considered an “entrepreneur without the formation of a legal entity.” When the head of the city finally tried to formally ask the head of the private security service at the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate - on what basis was a squad allocated for escorting an individual on official transport and who pays them the money, he received a fantastic answer. It turns out that the agreement is completely legal, moreover, it was agreed upon with the FSB, and with the local police, and with... the city administration! We won’t talk about the police, but everyone else learned about this agreement only from the response of the head of the military district.
Then events developed very interestingly.
Service days and nights
Colonel Blagov, head of the Internal Affairs Directorate at the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate, eventually responded to the head of the city that due to the conflict situation that had arisen, his department had decided to terminate the contract with the deputy “from 21.00. November 30, 2005." And two weeks later, on behalf of the criminal police service of the Krasnoznamensk City Internal Affairs Directorate, the senior investigator of the investigation department, Vorobyova, issued an order to the 2nd department of the Criminal Investigation Department at the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate (which is headed by the same Alexander Blagov) to organize armed security for a resident of Krasnoznamensk, citizen Kostin.
An interesting picture emerges. According to current legislation, the powers of the investigator are defined very strictly. The investigator can only entrust what is included in the concept of operational investigative actions. The protection of individuals does not fall under this concept.
Probably, such increased attention of the police to individual citizens of the city could be attributed to the low workload of the local police. But it won't work.
The officially closed city is rapidly approaching its open neighbors in terms of crime. One of the sore problems of the secret city, oddly enough, is its complete openness to illegal migration. Guest workers at a secret facility or appear out of nowhere in large numbers without any documents at all - through a hole in the fence. Or they officially register here as... beloved relatives. “Nephews” come not only one at a time, but also in solid groups. Those who are supposed to do the required and obligatory verification of the authenticity of kinship in such cases seem to forget. But there is no one to ask whether visitors are not specifically checked or on purpose. Local police reports are smooth and streamlined. Essentially - none. But following illegal migration, crimes committed by visitors, including drugs, never seen here before, have also moved into the closed city.
There is no mystery in the current situation around and inside the secret facility. The mystery is different - why does everyone, including those tasked with strictly monitoring our state secrets, know about this, but pretend that everything is quiet in the closed city?
Despite all the decisions of numerous courts, the attempts of the bailiff to obtain from the deputy Kostin, protected by the police, the keys to the local Duma and a safe with important documents, did not lead to anything. And this has been going on for almost six months.
There is, of course, logic in the deputy’s actions. If it was not possible to remove power, then you can starve it out. For example, if you don’t let your colleagues work, the authorities will still be to blame in the eyes of the local population. The deputy and some of his comrades simply do not attend meetings. And the deputy corps in Krasnoznamensk is so small that even a few people can make sure that there is never a quorum for making any decisions.
The war in Krasnoznamensk will escalate until the closed city ceases to look like a black sheep in the eyes of some. He will not irritate with his wealth - solid and only state-owned plots of land, forests not poisoned or cut down for cottages, a population uncorrupted by drugs...
Nuances when choosing real estate in Krasnoznamensk
If you are considering new buildings in Krasnoznamensk for purchase, we draw your attention to the following facts: since this is a closed city, this means that when entering and leaving the territory(s), in the city itself you may be required to have a pass. A special permit is also required to purchase an apartment in this city.
There is no need to explain for a long time that this is why the city has a minimal crime rate, there are no riotous guest workers, guest thieves and juvenile hooligans.
In addition, Krasnoznamensk is a city predominantly of military engineers, therefore, there are no interruptions in water, electricity, telecommunications, engineering networks in the city - everything works properly.
In general, this city is closely connected with space and the space forces. Even the names of new buildings in Krasnoznamensk are an example of this: the residential complex “Cosmos” or the residential complex “Space Harbor”! Or trading.
Walk around Krasnoznamensk
And so, dear reader, we (my family and I) have developed routes for ourselves for outdoor walks in our city. We will now walk along one of these routes to see and understand how beautiful and wonderful places there are for a walk in Krasnoznamensk.
If we turn immediately to the right from the central checkpoint, we can go out onto a path along which we can walk to the bike track and one of the city’s ponds.
Immediately after the track we come out to a small area and can see the cycle track.
We often come here on bicycles and ride both on the site and on the bike track.
And immediately behind the site you can see a pond, which is surrounded by an asphalt path. In summer, many townspeople go here to swim.
Next to the pond, under the shade of trees, there are small cozy gazebos with barbecues, where people come to relax, barbecue and enjoy nature.
A little further from the gazebos there are such interesting cobweb sports grounds. My kids enjoy climbing on them.
We also have a street open library here (bookcrossing). Here anyone can take any book, read it and return it on the spot, or even bring their own book.
Then if we cross the road, we will come to the second pond of our city (I really don’t know which of them is actually considered the first and which the second, but we determined it that way for ourselves).
Ducks live in this pond.
And on the shore of the pond there are such wonderful artificial palm trees.
Right next to the pond there is such a wonderful sports ground with many different bars, horizontal bars, stairs, etc. As they say, for every taste.
If we move a little away from the pond, we will see an area with ramps where young people perform various feints and stunts on their scooters, skateboards, etc.
Infrastructure
Of course, in the city that ensured man's breakthrough into space, the means of scientific and technological progress cannot but be used.
Libraries are being computerized and provided with Internet access, and a program is being developed for the development of the city as a science city, attracting appropriate investments and high-tech technologies.
The “space” theme is played out here literally at every step. Panels on the walls of houses are dedicated to satellites, rockets and military engineers and designers, cafes and bars are called “Cosmos” and “Sputnik”, the festive decoration of the city will definitely include elements such as a star or a rocket.
Krasnoznamensk, of course, has all the necessary infrastructure (as a closed city, it was completely self-sufficient for decades): kindergartens, schools, sports clubs, a stadium, a swimming pool, museums, a city market, shops (mostly within walking distance, hypermarkets and shopping centers in the city) were built. there is almost no city).
Social facilities of Krasnoznamensk
There are 721 enterprises and institutions registered in the city, there are 4 general educational institutions, Vocational School No. 11, a children's youth sports school, a music school, 7 preschool educational institutions, a Center for the Development of Creativity for Children and Youth, an Officers' House (Garrison), and a Youth Leisure Center. The city newspaper “Impulse” is published, and the municipal television “TVR+” operates.
In 2003, the Vocational Training Center opened its doors, on the basis of which branches of several higher educational institutions operate, and the Zarya stadium, which has a heated field, was put into operation. The convenient location and structure of the municipal economy made it possible to hold competitions and festivals of regional and even Russian scale on its territory.
Krasnoznamensk has a central municipal library and four museums. The city's health care system is at a high level - a clinic for children and adults, an emergency department, and the 150th Central Military Hospital of the Space Forces of the Russian Defense Ministry.
Local government[ | ]
In accordance with the law of the Moscow region[21], the city of Krasnoznamensk was given the status of an urban district, which includes 1 settlement - the city of Krasnoznamensk.
According to the charter of the city district, the local government bodies of Krasnoznamensk include:
- head of the city district;
- Council of Deputies;
- city district administration;
- control department of the city district[22].
The Council of Deputies is a representative body of local government of the city and consists of 20 deputies elected in municipal elections for a period of 5 years. According to current legislation, the head of municipalities, elected by citizens of Russia, is a member of the Council of Deputies and heads it. In the elections on September 14, 2014, among the elected deputies were representatives of all factions of parliamentary political parties and one self-nominated candidate. For the first time in the history of the city, a representative of the LDPR, Candidate of Legal Sciences Vitaly Vladislavovich Vyshkvartsev, who is the youngest deputy, appeared on the Council of Deputies. The head of the city district is elected in municipal elections and is also the chairman of the Council of Deputies. A contract is concluded with the head of the administration of Krasnoznamensk (this is a separate official) by the Council of Deputies of the city.
On April 15, 2021, the inauguration of the Head of the Krasnoznamensk city district, Andrei Vasilyevich Ilyin, took place, replacing Mikhail Vasilyevich Sapunov in this position.
Flaws
- There are modern high-rise buildings with 20 floors, and there are houses from the Soviet heritage, the appearance of which is significantly outdated . This can be judged by the hotel in the city. A building with an old facade, windows that have not been painted for a long time, and have not even seen cosmetic repairs. On the outskirts of the city, old buildings frighten with their abandoned appearance.
- Insufficient number of attractions . The pride of the city is a park with a memorial complex to G. Titov. It represents an arch with a planet suspended from it and the monument itself. There is a park with military equipment, which children have chosen because of the opportunity to climb on an old Katyusha. The eternal flame is lit only on May 9th. A modern stadium of impressive size with artificial turf stands out for its size in a small town.
- Lack of sufficient parking spaces . In winter, the roads are poorly cleaned, and mountains of dirty snow create obstacles for driving.
- You can find work, but the wages are low . Vacancies are mainly presented for such professions as employees of communication stores, cooks, salespeople, nannies and educators. For higher salaries they go to Moscow.
Economy and infrastructure[ | ]
The city has a developed engineering infrastructure (energy, gas, heat and water supply, communications, transport, etc.), high intellectual potential, a housing market, environmental safety, and political stability. In addition to enterprises of the defense and scientific-production complexes, enterprises in the scientific, technical and innovation spheres operate successfully in the city. In order to develop innovative activities, an industrial zone with an area of about 9,000 m² has been created in the city to accommodate high-tech enterprises, although the specifics of the closed city impose some restrictions on this process. Since the beginning of 2011, a company producing plastic cards has been operating in the city[20].
About 700 enterprises and institutions, more than 1000 individual entrepreneurs are registered in Krasnoznamensk[20].
There is a distillery in the city.
