BLAGODATNOYE AMMUNITION DEPOT SOUTH AND OTHER INSTALLATIONS NEAR BLAGODATNOYE, USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T05439A000300290024-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: April 1, 1964
• Content Type: REPORT

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ILLEGIB
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7 Pages
-y
DIA
NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION 'CENTER
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PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION REPORT
N P I C/R-225!64
April 1964
BLAGODATNOYE
AMMUNITION DEPOT SOUTH
AND OTHER INSTALLATIONS
NEAR BLAGODATNOYE, USSR
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?d 1C'R-225/64
BLAGODATNOYE AMMUNITION DEPOT SOUTH AND OTHER INSTALLATIONS
The primary purpose of this report- is to
update the description of 131agodatnoye :Ammuni-
tion Depot South 44=16N 132-1)6E). 1 he site
of the depot has been described in an earlier
report I which was hased on poor-quality
194 -arid 1956 \AI\D1 :ALL photography. The
present report, based oil 1963 KEYl1OI.1 photog-
raphy, contains a description of the changes
which hart occurred since 1456 and also re-
veals the presence of certain -objects which,
though present in 1954 arld 1956, were not readily
NEAR BLAGODAYE, USSR
SUMMARY
The munitions storage site near 131acodx3t-
nove)'SSE ,13E__(JesignatiCM : 1110% e
:Ammunition Depot South), appears essetltiall~'
the same on photography of June 1963 as it
did on photography of April 1954. Only one
-storage building has been removed and two
possible warehouses have been added in the
warehouse area during the intervening, time.
Approximately 12 buildings live been built in
the servicing arid administration area adjacent
to_ the -warehouse area. The five groups of.
hunkers ar-=_rapparently unchanged since photog-
r ipFit of hucemher 1956. The bunkers gave
the impression of being Iitt~i 4;sect at'that time,
a-condition that still prevails.
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.\ small new site has been built 1.5 nautical
miles nm) south of the depot. The site-has
no obvious association with either the depot or
grids located in the vicinity, but it is possible
that the site could be a developmental or testing
_facilit\ for munitions.
Three grids have been observed in the
general vicinity of the depot. Only Grid No 2
is visible on photography _of September 1961.
Both Grids No I and No 2 are visible on photog-
raphv of April 1962. Grid No 3 is barely
discernible on photography of June 1963 but
is probably about the same age as the other
two grids. A probable fenced area near Grid
- No 3 contains 16 possible fuel tanks.
report, but they were present at the time of
the 1454 photography. _ Also, parts of the
servicing and administration area are obscure
on the 1954 and 1956 photography so that it
is not possible to make a detailed, valid com-
parison of these areas with the same areas
observed on KEYHOLE photography of 1963.
The second purpose of the report i-s to
describe three grids, a new site, and aprobable
fenced area in the vicinity of the Blagodatnoye
Ammunition Depot South. The location of-these
installations -ind their zpatial relationship is
shown in I igu? e 1 . -
discernible at that time. V or example. three-
groups of hunkers west of the depot's ware=
house area vv`ere not illustrated In 111C' previous
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25X1'-
2 5 X 1 2
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BLAGODATNOYE AMMUNITION DEPOT SOUTH
131 a_ckiat nov'. .',n I I t 1 11 i:~~. po" ul; 131: hunks a cd Mora=~ areas, and a servicing and
to .:t i .:ppri sim.:t l S nm, - administration : rea \ rail spur from the
south at the _:nJ .hut - I~l:ah-rro~ sk-A_I_tdivostok section of, the Trans-
Ill nm s nth r>f Siberian IZailroad_ terminates at the depot
Kra, , I 'SO < ~ I inure 1 I Jcpo: nn~pt i,e~ Figures 2 and 3).
a separately fens c"l r .o.i _ rc .t, live
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AV'ar -i ouse .lre_ I in- vc; I
I . I n nn-
sists of c.n irreLUlar, tc?nce.i compo,m~i of .:ho_C
6S0 acres; it contains '?ti stc t .I r boil tin - t i
which 25 are set in rer~s. ,. and Uri pr ,h.lhl~
re'.?etted. Three conventional warchous -tvpc
buiIding s located in the nortlse:astcrn pt?t r)1 the
? UL. K E R ED
STORAGE ARE A S
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? o 0
SERVICING AND ADMINISTRATION AREA
FEf4CF
R E" O V F D
Red denotes new construction
since 1956
Railroad
--Possible railroad
Road
Fence
-w--'-Possible fence
? Building removed sinc
1956
~~-u choose 1-ca :are not in recesses and are
pin n hlv nix rev'cited. I iy~ measure approxi-
ni.:tel~ feet The other 25 storage
hull~iints ne.isure approsimat eIv 145 by 50
icct. Since 1?+:;4, too possible warehouses have
been constructed on the western side of the
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compound. Ao y~ ,III il..t in_ dev i,'c-; d;s-
cernible on any of t'?; huiliir,_s~ 1 i~_ to;_al flnor-
space of tie rareitouses ap;,rovim-ate lc
214.2~;C; square feet.
Bunkered Stor au \rea~. pp~ n~im.~tel~
03 hunkers. arraan_ed in five _ coup e lo:_ ted
north and west of the t~.u eltouse .area. ]:ach
group of bunkers is secured by a sincle fence.
On poor-qu,ility photo'rap'ay of .April- I117,4 the
bunkers appear as lo? ,`e.artla-mounded rectangu-
lar structures prerrudin a few feet above
_round level; some of the hunkers ,are surrounded
by a Iovyearth reyetmeiat. apparently for dramace
control. In 14 4 and 1~anf, the hunkepot ~o.it' : t!;e ari-d extends west-
ward fch_: ahn 3. nm. lts maximum
north- about 3.'3 nnm. I ianre
s:nn.VS th ?. co-i`i~aurat io:I 'Ind ()I
C'L b 5hle I cre > ,re.t.
n_ ppro'.i r,.at_ Iv ti(1 by
fencc-J. is -hatted on t!-C,
reetangtdtrr
hri(i feet, p: oi~al~lV
so,ul~e i-tern e'c`i~~c'
of Grid - No I icure I V. it!-in this urea
are 1F, rall, I,],-I paced 1!.ite po's
~ti'hicl., may n ii,'.ttc h.i i_d tanks of some kind.
possihIv f~_t_ I t.-~-ks fot nn:- of th nu.~rh?5 airfi?_ lds.
TO
&L AGODATNOYE
---- Trail _
CLEARED A R E A 500 0 Soo 1000
Road
Grid line
Possible firebreak
or security line
under construction
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TO
BLAGODATNOYE
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1 I:_ fo'll~-~'.v I purjv,se of the three rids in the
luiole is obscure. The
I. 1)I_l ( ~.;'Ilt r. !1"!'1]t ii ` Il, hc~: ": i~ 1:~1c oft- t~~l .]Ye. gut ,'Yl uIld [I1~'.LI eutel p.'. rt of
p'"oh.:hly' l p,.llllvi_. ~1 the ivL' 'l.?r~re.r ~I Ids L1 L' OSt
io?n it!-, the fire hnzurd or \ith
t itv. I : .rids could conceiv.nhly he used
in _e p'. sicul explor_ation pro,rnrns. land sub-
div i,Ton. or in measuring. the dispersion of
tonic' ni,,tzrialr s.. part of military weapons
gists. I iovaev er, tl,,e :absence of co i parahie
grads of this type either in the l-nited States
-Ind or in other locations within the Soviet Bloc
T in t d_pot or makes an assessment of their function difficult.
I;I:(~I II;! \lI. A I
\I'rc I'IIIi.I _( I
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