Derzhavinsk [Imeni Gastello]
51°09'N 66°20'E
During the early days of the Great Patriotic War, the commander of a bomber squadron, Captain Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello, began to carry out combat missions. The aircraft of his squadron, under the 207th long-range bombardment regiment of the 3rd bomber air corps of long-range bombardment aviation, accomplished several combat missions. Gastello made only three satisfactory sorties. On the third flight, the airplane was damaged and hardly flew, and the navigator was badly injured, but Gastello knew how to fly so far to the airfield and to somehow land.
By the fifth day of of the Great Patriotic War almost all Soviet aviation from the boundary to Smolensk had ceased to exist. To cover the Western Front, commanders threw everything which could contribute to stopping the Germans into battle. As a result, long-range aviation was directed to bomb tank column. This was not their usual mission, and they had not trained for it, hence there were heavy losses.
On 26 June 1941 a heavy bomber under the command of Captain Gastello delivered bomb attacks on the mechanized column of enemy on a major railway station on the Molodechno - Radoshkovichi route. After delivering one bomb load on the enemy tanks, Gastello's aircraft returned to base for refueling, conversely. On the way, the aircraft was hit in the fuel tank by antiaircraft gun projectiles and caught fire. Gastello directed the burning aircraft at German trains tanks and fuel, and the crash inflicted major damage on the enemy.
Gastello was nominated Hero of the Soviet Union, one of the first in the period of war awarded this title. The Hero of the Soviet Union was the first of the two highest awards in the Soviet period (the other one was Hero of Socialist Labor). It was established on April 16, 1934 by the Central Executive Committee of USSR. According to the statute, it was awarded for "personal or collective merits before the state, connected with performing an act of heroism." Starting July 29, 1936, the Heroes also received an Order of Lenin. It included the Order of Lenin (the highest Soviet award) and, as the sign of excellence, the Gold Star medal with the certificate of the heroic deed (gramota) from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (highest executive body of the land). Since the number of Heroes increased, on August 1, 1939, they were also decorated with the Gold Star, to differentiate them from the holders of the Order of Lenin. Around 12,600 people became Hero of the Soviet Union until 1991. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this title was succeeded in Russia by the title Hero of Russia. The 3 crewmembers of the plane -- Lieutenants A.A. Burdenyuk, G.N. Skorobogatyy and Senior Sergeant A.A. Kalinin -- were awarded with the Order of The Great Patriotic War 1st class.
For Russia, Gastello is a legendary name. The heroic deed of Gastello became well-known, commemorated in a song by Aram Ilyich Khachaturian ["Captain Gastello"], as well as the strategic bomber base named after [ie imeni] Gastello. By the order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR the captain of N.F. Gastello is forever enrolled in the lists of one of the aviation regiments. Monuments to him were established in Moscow, Minsk, into the Radoshkovichi Molodechnenskeyeo region of Minsk region, and in the territory of the Voroshilovgrad highest military air school of navigators. On the building of the Moscow school #270, there was established memorial board. His name was applied to kolkhozes, state farms, factories, plants, streets, pioneer guards, mine #30 in Kizel city the Perm province, and motor ships.
It is possible to say with some confidence that Gastello did not consciously direct the aircraft to the tank column. The burning machine fell downward and it was completely unguided. The fact that it fell onto the German column was only a matter of chance. To leave the falling machine from such low altitude is practically impossible. Parachutes also will not help. Even if by some means it will be possible to leave the burning machine and to satisfactorily go down by the parachute, then they will be immediately gripped by Germans.
At START I entry into force (EIF), the Russians declared two ICBM bases in Kazakstan with a total of 104 SS 18 heavy ICBM silos and sixty-nine deployed SS 18 ICBMs; fifty-three at Derzhavinsk, with thirty-one deployed ICBMs; and fifty-two silos at Zhangiz Tobe, with thirty-eight deployed ICBMs.
In accordance with an agreement dated 13 Dec 93 as amended 1 Jul 95, between the Department of Defense (DoD) of the United States and the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Defense Special Weapons Agency (DSWA) competitively awarded a firm-fixed-price contract for Phase II (the dismantlement) of Unified Fill Facilities (UFF) and Nuclear Weapons Storage Areas (NWSA) located in Kazakhstan. Locations of the two UFFs are the SS-18 ICBM bases at Derzhavinsk and Zhangis-Tobe, and locations of the NWSAs are Derzhavinsk, Zhangis-Tobe, and Chagian-Aerodome, and also incineration of liquid propellants stored at Sary Ozek. Tasks include neutralization and dismantlement of the UFFs, decontamination and deactivation of the NWSA.
Headworks and silo cover of an SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile silo at Derzhavinsk, Kazakhstan were blown prior to the commencement of silo dismantlement. The Cooperative Threat Reduction program provided equipment and services that were used to dismantle all SS-18 silos in Kazakhstan.
In February 1996 a joint venture including ABB, the international electrical engineering company, has received a historic contract to demolish missile silos in the Republic of Kazakstan which previously housed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) of the former Soviet Union. The three-year, US$ 31 million contract was awarded by the US Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) to the 50/50 joint venture comprising ABB and Brown & Root, a division of Halliburton Company of the USA. The project is funded under the Strategic Offensive Arms Elimination (SOAE) program, which is part of the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program. CTR assistance to Kazakstan, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus helps these countries dismantle weapons systems and deal with related problems. SOAE assistance helps Kazakstan meet the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1) to eliminate SS-18 ICBM silos and launch control facilities. With the nuclear missiles already returned to Russia, the joint venture eliminated 148 launch, control, testing and training silos at four missile fields in Kazakstan - Zhangis-Tobe, Derzhavinsk, Balapan and Leninsk. The project includes the elimination of the ICBM silos and launch control complexes, the salvage and disposal of all equipment and materials, the environmental clean-up of the sites and preparation for their return to civilian use.
The SS-18 ICBM silos and associated structures in the Republic of Kazakhstan, at the Leninsk, Derzhavinsk, and Zhangiz Tobe missile bases, and the test silos at Balapan, were dismantled under the provisions of the START I treaty of 1991. Upon abandoning the bases, the Russian military destroyed the silos with explosives. The blasts destroyed the headworks structure, and left craters 6 meters deep and up to 25 meters across at each silo.
In dismantling the sites, the remaining above ground and near-surface structures were demolished, with the rubble pushed into the empty silo tubes or adjacent pits. A reinforced concrete cap was placed over the filled silo tube. Additional building rubble was then pushed into the crater, over the cap. The rubble was covered with clean earth and topsoil. Metal and concrete were salvaged for recycling or for use in the surrounding communities. Once a site was cleared of all structures, it was graded to match the topography of the surrounding countryside. The reclamation process was completed by the acceptance of a finished site by the local, regional and state authorities. These authorities may then sell or rent the land to the local community, who will use the land for farming or pasture.
