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Leisure
Travel & Tourism
Defunct Soviet missile base offers a glimpse of Cold War
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The underground base, lying deep in a Lithuanian forest, was home to four ballistic missiles, each of which were dozens of times more powerful than the atom bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
An incredible power
The base was home to four R12-class ballistic missiles -- known to the West as the SS-4. Each had an explosive power of one to two megatonnes, dozens of times more powerful than the atom bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945, the site's guide explained.
The missiles' range was around 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles), enabling the Soviets to strike from Plokstine at almost any nation in Europe. The targets were adapted every three or four years, in line with political tensions.
"The only really critical moment was during the events in Prague in 1968," said former Red Army officer Ricardas Valeckas, referring to the East-West tensions over the Warsaw Pact's military clampdown on reform-minded communists in Czechoslovakia. "The level of alert was raised, and we were on duty, waiting for the signal."
Hiding from the West
Valeckas worked at the base from 1964 to 1978 and was the only Lithuanian with access to its heart.
Plokstine was in a high-security zone, ringed by a 1,700-volt electric fence, and restrictions were regularly imposed on local residents.
"Sometimes they ordered people to close their curtains and switch off the lights but we knew that missiles were being delivered because the ground would vibrate," said Valeckas' wife Regina, who is from the region. "In any case, people used to peek through the window.
In fact, the locals were more aware of what was going on than the soldiers," she said, laughing.
Keeping the base secret from NATO was also a tall order, because Western spy satellites regularly scanned Soviet territory.
"When we held exercises or were doing maintenance work -- like cleaning the nose-cones of the missiles -- we kept an eye on the satellites' orbit times,” said Valeckas. “And sometimes we put things on hold until they had gone past."
He said he was always convinced that the missiles would never be used, even though the Soviets insisted the base was a crucial link in the bloc's defensive chain.
For Valeckas, Moscow's bombastic language about keeping pace with the West was in stark contrast with the daily lot of ordinary Soviet citizens.
"We were completely aware of how we were lagging behind technologically,” he said. “They wanted us to overtake America and we didn't even have toilet paper!"
Marielle Vitureau/AFP/Expatica
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