Throwback to when I visited Ukraine in 2019. Apologies that I don’t know much about the history of the bunker, but I have put as much information as I can down below.
During the cold war, Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union, and under the streets of Kyiv, many bunkers were made to combat the threat of nuclear attack from the West. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the independence of Ukraine in 1991, many of these bunkers were abandoned and fell into disrepair. The bunker we found was located beneath a residential area in the centre of Kyiv and was now being used to store archives of original documents, as well as old posters and other objects left over from Cold War Ukraine. It is now owned by a government agency (located above the main entrance of the bunker) to store documents to be used in future research.
We entered through one of the air locks, with its old filtration systems left to rust and decay. There were even stalactites growing down from the ceiling. Once we were through the air lock, the bunker was in much better condition. There were shelves with stacks of beautifully hand drawn posters featuring information such as correct gas mask usage (featuring the iconic yet terrifying Soviet GP-5) and the use of CBRN gear in combat. Many electrical generators and transformers remained; however, most of the wiring seemed to have been stripped, and I doubt any of it remains functional.
Overall a fantastic discovery and all the artefacts brought out my inner geek about the cold war. Enjoy the photos! (sorry they are a bit blurry, but they are actually stills from video footage I took)
Old dosimeter for measuring radiation levels
During the cold war, Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union, and under the streets of Kyiv, many bunkers were made to combat the threat of nuclear attack from the West. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the independence of Ukraine in 1991, many of these bunkers were abandoned and fell into disrepair. The bunker we found was located beneath a residential area in the centre of Kyiv and was now being used to store archives of original documents, as well as old posters and other objects left over from Cold War Ukraine. It is now owned by a government agency (located above the main entrance of the bunker) to store documents to be used in future research.
We entered through one of the air locks, with its old filtration systems left to rust and decay. There were even stalactites growing down from the ceiling. Once we were through the air lock, the bunker was in much better condition. There were shelves with stacks of beautifully hand drawn posters featuring information such as correct gas mask usage (featuring the iconic yet terrifying Soviet GP-5) and the use of CBRN gear in combat. Many electrical generators and transformers remained; however, most of the wiring seemed to have been stripped, and I doubt any of it remains functional.
Overall a fantastic discovery and all the artefacts brought out my inner geek about the cold war. Enjoy the photos! (sorry they are a bit blurry, but they are actually stills from video footage I took)
Old dosimeter for measuring radiation levels
