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The Lost Depths of Party Legends: The Bunker Under Stalin's Dacha (Object 31)

We may not admit this, refuse this thought, but we are all, to one degree or another, interested in mysteries and secrets. Unresolved paradigms and unanswered questions drive scientific and technological progress, giving rise to innovation, and the mystery of the people around us warms up a spark of curiosity and interest within us. And the more darkness accumulates around the mystery, the more interesting it is to find out the real state of affairs.

In the modern Russian Empire (I like the way it sounds), perhaps the most intriguing theme is the theme of Soviet underground structures. Any inexperienced researcher who decides to independently figure out this issue, having plunged into the Internet, will simply get lost among a mixture of countless party legends and real facts, supported by historical documentation. Today we will try to shed light on one of these legends and find ourselves in a place where no human has set foot for more than 30 years.

1.

How often do you hear the phrase "Stalin's Bunker"? Almost every fortification that opens its doors to visitors as a museum is in a hurry to hang the label: "We are the bunker of Joseph Vissarionovich!" Stalin became a kind of "brand", hiding gaps in the knowledge of ordinary people about the history of underground construction, despite the keen interest in this topic. If you look at it, the defense objects that really have a direct relationship to such a significant historical figure can be counted on one hand. This bunker is one of them.

2.

Looking ahead, I would like to say that the sensations when you are the first who in the last 30 years steps along the marble corridor of the bunker, along which Stalin REALLY walked in the Soviet years, cannot be conveyed in any words. But first things first.

After reading that no one has appeared inside the object for more than 30 years, you will probably ask the question: “Why? How so? Is the bunker so heavily guarded? " - Guarded, but that's not the point. For many, many years, the structure with the code name "Object 31" has been under a giant column of water. Only one mine, 12 meters deep, is half flooded.

3.

There are several versions of why the bunker is in such a state: according to one of them, in 1989, leaving the state building, officers of the 9th KGB department deliberately flooded the underground facility due to its secrecy. According to another version, this work was gradually carried out for them by groundwater. One way or another, by the mid-2000s, when the state dacha went into long-term conservation, the protective structure had already been flooded.

4.

Our team, inspired by experiences and memories with mine pumping out on the territory of Moscow State University, decided to try her luck with Stalin's Bunker.

From taking the pump and coming to the bunker, doubts about the nature of the groundwater of Object 31 stopped us for a long time. The fact is that the bunker was located in the immediate vicinity of a large reservoir, and it seemed quite real, and no one wanted to accidentally drain the whole lake.

5.

However, if you don't try, you won't know! At some point, all doubts were shattered by this phrase to smithereens. A decision was made: we will try to pump out the water from Stalin's Bunker!

6.

We arrived at the facility, installed a borehole pump in the mine, which worked 24 hours a day from the moment of launch, and began to wait. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge, about three days passed imperceptibly until it became clear that the capacity of one pump was not enough. During this time, only two flights of stairs were pumped out, and depth measurements showed that another 4.5 meters needed to be pumped. Meanwhile, as the depth increased, the pump performance dropped sharply, and the water began to decrease less and less. At some point, it even seemed to us that she would rather arrive than leave.

7.

Despite the fact that part of the case had already been done, it would have been frivolous to stop there, so I had to bring a motor pump and connect it to the case. Working in parallel with the borehole pump, it provided a much more solid performance.

8.

But everywhere there are drawbacks, and the work of the motor pump brought us additional difficulties. Firstly, during its launch, it is necessary to straighten all the fire hoses, which is already difficult in itself. There were no such problems with a plastic pipe from a borehole pump. Secondly, refueling the motor-pump with gasoline became a serious headache (literally and figuratively). Since it worked out the fuel in 2 hours, it was necessary to go down into the barrel, refuel it and start it up. The flooded trunk was essentially a glass without air circulation, at the bottom of which a life-threatening gas was released and stagnated by a motor pump.

<

p style = "text-align: center;"> After a couple of times several people in the trunk felt sick, it was decided to create fresh air ventilation.
Starting to faint from carbon monoxide is a special feeling. The head begins to spin, it becomes difficult to climb up the trunk, it staggers from side to side. The back of the head becomes heavy, hearing dulls, instead of surrounding sounds, you begin to hear your own pulse. In general, I do not recommend it to anyone.
A small fan was installed outside, blowing fresh air to the motor pump, to the bottom of the barrel.

After installing the supply ventilation, working with the motor pump in the barrel became much more pleasant. It was possible to bring the end of the corrugated tube to the face, which gave out a stream of cold air. I would never have thought that you can drink fresh air as greedily as you drink cool water during a period of prolonged thirst.

By the beginning of the second week of round-the-clock duty under one of the dry flights of stairs, a corridor to the object finally appeared. At first it was barely noticeable, the water's edge barely receded from the ceiling of the walker. But we already knew for certain that we had reached the level of the bunker itself. Therefore, the pumping went much slower. Now we pumped out not only the trunk (or rather the trunks), but the entire area of the structure. This fascinating process was followed by the entire second week.

9.

At the time of pumping out, we knew for certain about the existence of two entrances to the facility: cargo and emergency. However, it could be assumed that this defensive structure should have other entrances. Their locations remained unknown for some time, and an inspection of the dacha with its surroundings at first did not give results, but soon two more exits were nevertheless found. However, it's time to tell you about the configuration of the object itself.

10.

Object 31 is a buried gas bomb shelter built on the territory of one of the party dachas. Bunker with a total area of 297.6 sq.m. located at a depth of 12 meters, has 5 exits to the surface:

1. Freestanding cargo entrance with ladder and trunk;

2. The main entrance, which is an elevator shaft located in the main building of the manor complex (concreted);

3. An emergency entrance, which is a staircase located in one of the buildings of the manor complex;

4. Emergency freestanding, which is a fire escape;

5. Lining of the water supply manifold, which is also an emergency exit.

The funniest of these exits is the fifth. We will start with it.

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First, you walk along the corridor connecting the buildings of the state dacha, then, somewhere in the middle of the corridor, you need to find such a hatch:

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This hatch leads to the plumbing system underneath the complex.

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In one place, part of the collector goes to a level below, we go there!

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A few tens of meters along a tight sewer with brickwork, and we see light at the end of the tunnel ...

15.

As it turned out, this is an open hatch on the street. And to us - further, around the corner.

16.

Immediately around the bend, we see such a hatch in the floor:

17.

We dive into it, and find ourselves in a technical room, from which you can further get into the object itself.

18.

Another interesting entrance is the emergency one from the outbuilding. It is not surprising that we could not find it for a long time, because unlike the hatch, which at least could be seen, this entrance was just a hole in the floor, covered with wooden pallets, on top of which linoleum was laid!

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And behind a hole in the floor was a staircase like this:

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Going down to the very bottom, you run into the smooth surface of the water. She won't be here soon.

23.

But the existence of the main entrance became known only when we completely drained the bunker.

At the end of the second week, when it was already in the bag, the motor jammed the motor. One borehole pump would pump the remaining water for a very long time, so I had to rent another motor pump, reconnect the hoses, and two days later, the bunker was almost completely drained! At the bottom of the trunk it was now possible to move in boots, and we solemnly headed for the walker.

24.

View from the walker towards the cargo trunk:

25.

Walker towards the bunker:

26.

Having completely passed the underwater development, you find yourself in the corridor connecting the technical blocks of the facility. If you go through this entire corridor, you will run into an emergency freestanding exit (No. 4).

27.

It is interesting that the facility has hermetically sealed doors for every taste and color. If in the cargo trunk we are met by a more or less massive door with a rotary steering wheel, then a thin transom door was installed in the emergency exit. It is believed that the security doors in the facility were replaced during its operation.

28.

Upward view of the emergency mine.

29.

In fairness, the thin transom door is not the only one separating the object from the shaft. There is also this one:

30.

Reverse view (towards the mine):

31.

The property is on one level, although the ceiling height in some rooms is approximately 3.5 meters. In some places, the premises are divided horizontally, and technical rooms are located on a higher level, which can be accessed through hatches using special staircases. Here is an example of one such hatch:

32.

In the middle of the corridor connecting the two shafts, there are several passages. The first is fenced with a massive double hermetic door (one is ajar, the second is the base on which the first rests).

33.

Back side view of this wonderful construction:

34.

The diesel power station is located behind this double door. Unfortunately, the diesel power station itself was not inside. There are two options: either at some point before the object was flooded, they managed to pull it apart into ferrous metal, or the 9th KGB department, leaving the bunker, took with it a whole diesel generator.

35.

This table, apparently, after the object was completely submerged under the water, floated to the ceiling, and when we pumped out all the water, I decided to be deployed on the remains of a diesel engine in such an interesting position:

36.

Returning to the corridor, we want to go to the next opening. Behind it there is a room with FVU filtering and ventilation units.

37.

It is especially clear from the HLF how long the place was diving!

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In the vicinity of the DES and the FVU, there is a small room of the former switchboard and distribution room.

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43.

Having passed the technical block through and through (in any of the aforementioned premises), we find ourselves in the second corridor, located parallel to the first. It also connects several mines to each other, but unlike the first, it has an exit to the residential blocks of the object.

Look how beautiful it is, whether the roots of plants, or some kind of special mold, has sprouted right on the walls! Botanists are invited to an expert meeting, what is this underwater monster?

44.

Unfortunately, unlike the technical block, the living quarters turned out to be completely empty, although we hoped to see at least some interior items in them.

45.

46.

The only thing that is more or less preserved in the residential part is the interiors of the bathrooms:

47.

Remains of a fire hydrant:

48.

We have just seen the whole object, but our journey does not end there, because I want to show you perhaps the most fantastic thing that could be found here!

Behind this pressurized door is an underwater tunnel leading to the same emergency exit found under the linoleum (no. 3).

49.

Do you see what beautiful tiles the walls of this walker are paved with?

50.

Despite the fact that the tile has almost died from corrosion and mold, it all looks very monumental.

51.

After going through the entire underwater working through, we come to the mine leading to the outbuilding.

52.

This time it is completely drained!

53.

How do you like the tiles? But what if I said that the main corridor leading from the central mansion of the dacha to the facility is paved with huge marble slabs? What do you say to that?

54.

This can only be seen once in a lifetime. No words will convey those emotions when you stand in this corridor and imagine how once, more than 80 years ago, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin walked along this very corridor, smoking Herzegovina Flor.

55.

Pay attention to the light bulb! Having been under very high water pressure for more than 30 years, it is almost completely filled with liquid! However, after pumping out, water is in no hurry to flow out of it!

56.

The marble corridors are fantastically beautiful. For a very long time I could not stop photographing these beautiful walkers.

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59.

After going through the corridor, we find ourselves in front of such a relief metal door, which shocks no less than the corridor itself.

60.

The button to the left of this door makes it easy to guess what is behind the door.

61.

And there is an elevator shaft, resting against a blockage in the floor of the main mansion of the party dacha.

<

p style = "text-align: center;"> 62.
As a bonus, I would like to show you some photos of Stalin's Dacha itself and move on to the afterword.

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Afterword.

- Nobody initially believed in the success of this venture;

- 17 days were spent;

- 584 liters of gasoline were spent;

- More than 1,500 cubic meters of water was pumped out;

- The sensations when you find yourself in some place for the first time in the last 30 years, you discover something new that no one from ordinary mortals has seen before you, cannot be compared with anything.

PS Since a fairly large amount of time has passed since the pumping out of water, the bunker is currently in completely submerged condition. We kindly ask you - no need to go and check it yourself, just take our word for it. This is indeed the case.

PPS The State Dacha Security Service has nothing to do with the material outlined above.

PPPS If you have access to the urban3p forum, I strongly advise you to read materials from one of the participants our friendly team! They describe in more detail the history of the estate complex, and also tell various curious cases that happened to us during the pumping out.

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13 Responses

    1. Добрый день у меня есть продолжение этой замечательной истории. Как с вами можно связаться?

  1. I am overwhelmed by the amount of work! You are great! It was very interesting.

  2. Well done, it is necessary to restore and there will be a gorgeous museum.

  3. This is the story! Thanks for the great photos and the work done! This is a great bedtime story 🙂 but how to get into the closed urban 3p blog?

    How abandoned buildings beckon me, how I want to explore! Although he is a researcher, but the subtle world is a completely different matter)

    1. To get into the closed community of urban trip, you can find any interesting abandoned place, shoot it and publish a post in the vivarium, if the post likes the community, you will be given an invitation to the site

  4. Я одного не понимаю. Вот КАК??? СКАЖИТЕ МНЕ КАК??? ВСЕ ЭТО МОЖНО БЫЛО БРОСИТЬ!!!??? Ну бля это же капитальный особняк, здоровенный ,всем оснащенный. С бассейном. Он при минимальном обслуживании легко простоит 200-300 лет. Станет памятником культуры, истории, архитектуры. Нет мозгов или финансов содержать самим ну продайте, сдайте, заселите туда какой-нибудь санаторий, отдайте в коммерческую недвижимость, сделайте музей…. ИСПОЛЬЗУЙТЕ!!! Но нет. Все бросили, и выкинули на помойку как одноразовую салфетку. Все в труху. Я не могу понять это.

    Сотни тысяч человекочасов труда, ущедшие на постройку этого особняка просто выкинуты. У народа который так относится к собственному труду не может быть благополучного будущего. Просто не может. Никогда.

    1. Выставлена на аукцион за 403,49 миллиона рублей . Торги состоятся 3 ноября.

  5. Фантастическая работа проделана! Объект уникальный и очень интересный! Огромное спасибо!

  6. Не знаю с чем сравнить свои чувства) одно временно и страшно и интересно было. А фотографии как будто из фильма ужасов или фантастики. Отличная работа👍

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