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Report - - Object 1180 Soviet Command Bunker, Șoldănești, Moldova - October 2022 | European and International Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Object 1180 Soviet Command Bunker, Șoldănești, Moldova - October 2022

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Bertie Bollockbrains

There is no pain
Regular User
The Cold War was a time of intense war-preparations by the two opposing blocs NATO and the Warsaw Pact, including for a potential nuclear war. The building of massive underground bunkers was an essential part of these developments, with Object No.1180 being an example of a Soviet bunker building during the last decade of the Cold War.

Object 1180 was designed to be the command post of the Soviet Supreme Command of the South-west Forces. An identical command post, for the Soviet Supreme Command of Western Forces and with the designation of Object No.1181, exists in Belarus and allegedly there is another one located in Azerbaijan but nobody seems to know exactly where it is. For reference Object 1181 is said to be located in the Western part of Belarus, at 100 km from the city of Grodno and at 30km from the border with Poland. Since it is covered by a camoflage hanger, I have not yet been able to locate it yet on Google maps.

Object 1180 was built between 1985 and 1991 and consists of two blocks of a cylindrical shape, designated Unit A and Unit B, each with a diameter of 36 metres and a depth of about 60 metres divided into 12 floors. Both cylindrical blocks were capped with 3 metres of reinforced concrete with granite fragments as coarse aggregate. Two tunnels interlink the two units. Rooms are separated with metal insulated walls filled with reinforced concrete, while some less important walls were filled with glass wool. Unit A was intended to be used as the command point while Unit B should have been the support and technical unit. The cost of construction in the mid 1980s was almost 32 million Rubles (if converted to modern currency would be about 55 million Euros). With the collapse of the USSR, construction stopped and Object 1180 was abandoned at 95% completion.

Today access is only possible to Unit A as Unit B seems to be occupied by an private company slowly dismantling it for scrap metal. Unit A is today flooded below the sixth floor. With the access stairways now all collapsed and/or looted, easy entry is only possible onto the top two floors. Ropes and a minor deathwish would allow access to floors 3 to 6. Scuba, ropes and a major deathwish for the rest.

1. The two units are about 50 metres apart
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2. The two units each consist of twelve floors, capped by 3m of concrete and are interconnected by two tunnels
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3. The floor plans are different for each unit and but for each unit the floor plan is identical for each level. Note the lift shaft on one side and a staircase on the other
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REPORT

4. A 1.5km access road leads to the site
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5. And passes the skeletons of two administartion buildings, never completed and now reclaimed by the forest
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6.
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7. We first see Unit A. Note that its 3m concrete cap has been mostly removed
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8. On one side, the cap is entirely gone
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9.
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10.
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11. On either side of the unit was this space, one for the lift and the other to accomodate the staircase
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12. This is 60m deep
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13. The staircase has recently collapsed (within the last 3 years) - I doubt I would had trusted it anyways
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14. The unit is flooded from the 6th level
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15. Entry is possible for the first two levels only - not for the faint hearted it involves jumping over that 60m drop at it's narrowest point!
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16.
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17.
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18.
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19.
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20. We wandered over to Unit B, but a private company was slowly dismantling it and we were shouted away. Note how large these units are in comparison with the vehicles!
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21. A much smaller third unit was nearby, but again we were very aggressively shouted away
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Thanks for reading. The identical Object 1181 in Belarus is very much on my to-do list (once I have located it). I am aware that Russian explorers have recently been in.

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CantClimbTom

Enthusiastic Idiot and prolific BS talker
28DL Full Member
I'm known to talk nonsense - so take with a pinch of salt
Is the bunker in Belarus not object 1161 rather than 1181 or am I getting my bunkers mixed up?
"Gorbachev bunker” Rumoured to be underneath a building (Hangar?) in a Forest near Svisloch, possible decoy, building now gone but 2 big circles just visible


Google keeps trying to translate the from German to English so you have to manually tell it to go from Russian to English and it works


The bunker - or rather, its remains - is located in the Grodno region, Svisloch district, not far from the village of Khrustovo. To get to it, you need to walk from the village (locals will tell you) about four kilometers along a country road.
... ... <text removed> ... ...
In fact, the shelter is two shafts (barrels) of gigantic size: 61 and 62 meters deep. These are ten floors of different rooms. One mine was created for technical needs.

Since almost all work was completed before the site was abandoned, the structure of the shelter is well understood. The entrance to the blocks (they are also mines) began with several special zones. This is both just protection against the penetration of strangers, and areas where it was necessary to undergo sanitization and change clothes. And only after that it was possible to get into residential and utility rooms.

But it was not necessary to implement all of the above (although technically almost everything was prepared). The construction of the bunker was completed in 1992 due to the collapse of the USSR - the need for it simply disappeared. In subsequent years, the object was completely plundered - both by criminal elements and local residents. About ten years ago, the entrances to the mines were filled with concrete, the hangar above the bunker was blown up, the ground was leveled and planted with trees. However, some elements of the object are still found here and there.

Despite the fact that the “Object 1161” was, as it were, isolated and closed, daredevils who love abandoned places found an entrance to it. This is a gap between two concrete slabs, which, if desired, can be found by studying the information on the network.

We warn you against traveling underground. Many of the metal ladders to climb down are already rotten and are constantly falling off, and some parts of the bunker are flooded with water. Something can collapse and close the last exit to the street at any moment - such a journey is associated with huge risks, not only to health, but also to life. Be careful!

Your 1180 explore is amazing! Huge respect
 
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Bertie Bollockbrains

There is no pain
Regular User
@CantClimbTom Good stuff! You most definitely have found the identical bunker in Belarus. From the description you found it is an exact mirror of this one. And yes I see that the decoy covering hanger has been removed. My bad, I had it as Object 1181 when it is in fact Object 1161.

On Google maps with the co-ordinates highlighted:
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You tube video of Russian explorers going in linked here

Nearest airport is Warsaw in Poland at about 200km away. From Minsk airport its 350km. Practicalities, the free visa on arrival for Belarus is only issued at Minsk Airport. For a land border it would have to be a pre-paid visa from the London embassy and costs over £50. But the real spanner in the works is that the FCO recommends against travel to Belarus at this moment in time and that is likely to be the way for some time. Travel insurance would be impossible for starters. This may have to wait.
 
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CantClimbTom

Enthusiastic Idiot and prolific BS talker
28DL Full Member
I was looking at same stuff, the way to get there, the FCO recommendation (and so travel insurance void) etc etc.
Looks like an epic trip one day, would want sone old rope in case of missing stairs an "spicy" initial access and an gas meter (low O2?). One for the future, probably back to back with somewhere in Poland while there. A pipe dream currently... :(

I'm wondering if the purpose of the hangar although increasing it's profile to satellite etc maybe was to mask the construction, so it wouldn't be known the purpose of the site rather than to hide it as such
 

Bertie Bollockbrains

There is no pain
Regular User
Good photos from 2018 here. A way down to the level of flooded bits is possible, but you are right this would require ropes. The staircase looks dodgy putting it mildly and I assume the drop is just like the Moldova bunker in that it is 60m.
 

AlternativeAdventuring

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
This is super cool. I'm massively into Soviet Era places but I'd never do that drop.... nice to see something I have not seen before though!
 

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