USSR Missile Silo (Sept. 2003)

Lithuania Diary: We arranged a trip on Friday with Jurga from the hostel, who served as driver, translator, and guide, taking us on an all day roadtrip to sites in Western Lithuania. We climbed down into an abandoned Soviet missile base, peered down into the silos, some thirty meters deep. It's deep in a forest, and it took some time to be discovered by the Lithuanians after the soviet troops abandoned it. It was stripped of anything of value, and thereafter just open for the exploring. Now they've installed fluorescent lighting and you need to get a key from the national park office, but, well, in Kenny's words, "The lack of concern for safety is refreshing."

This particular missile complex is located somewhere in the middle of Lithuania. Built in secret by the USSR, four silos here housed missiles aimed for the United States, until those missiles were removed—and allegedly shipped to Cuba, precipitating the Crisis. Abandoned, the complex was discovered by locals, who stripped away just about anything of value that could be carried off, from machinery to scrap metal. About the only thing left is a huge diesel engine block.

The whole complex is underground except for the silo lids. There are four missile silos surrounding an underground living area and control center. Here's what it looks like on the surface.

( pictures )