Operational Sites and Bases
Missile Sites
Strategic or Tactical Missile Site
Soviet Army Missile base in Zeltiņi
Full name of site:
Soviet Army Missile base in Zeltiņi
Location:
Zeltiņu pagasts, Letland
Operational period:
1961
to
1989
Primary user:
Soviet Strategic Missile Forces
Description:
The former Soviet Army Missile Base is located in Medņukalni, Zeltiņi parish, Alūksne municipality. This nuclear missile base was a particularly secret military facility of the Soviet Army, and it operated in Zeltiņi, Alūksne municipality, from 1961 to 1989. The facility housed P-12 (8K63) and P12Y (8K63Y) surface-to-surface medium-range ballistic missiles with 4 launch pads. Their travel distance was 2,200 kilometres. During this period the army used barbed-wire to secure an area of about 300 ha less than a kilometre from the Sinole-Silakrogs P34 national regional highway. The living and top-secret areas have remained a legacy even today. Concrete roads lead to places hidden from the eye at that time: hangars, launch pads and bomb shelters. Various structures for the maintenance and servicing of nuclear missiles are located on an area of dozens of hectares. Facilities providing the area with the autonomous supply of power, water and heat were destroyed with the withdrawal of the army.
Ownership:
Alūksne Municipality
Valuation of authenticity and integrity:
All military equipment has been removed. After the army left, some of the equipment was handed over to the local municipality. Tourists visiting the base can choose between the core exhibit about the history of the missile base, which is located in the Zeltiņi Museum, and a tourist route in the base area.
Status and access:
Access: Partial. Visitors currently have access to 20 ha of the former territory of the missile base, the south-western part of which is a tourist attraction.