Invaders restore secret Soviet submarine base in Crimea

In occupied Crimea, Russia appears to be reviving a secret Soviet submarine base that is currently being used as a museum.

 Radio Liberty reports.

A video posted on Telegram earlier this month shows two floating barriers at the entrance to a sea bay in occupied Balaklava.

Pro-Ukrainian activists say the barriers, which could block the harbor from naval drones, are the latest evidence of the reactivation of the decommissioned submarine base, once known as “Object 825 GTS.”

According to the partisan group ATESH, the Russians are once again using the old underground submarine base, which previously functioned as a museum, for military purposes.

The guerrillas say the anti-drone barriers indicate that the submarine base is being used for military purposes, as there are currently no other critical facilities in the bay. Ukraine demilitarized the base in 2008, but since Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2016, large pleasure boat docks have been built in the bay.

The submarine base in Balaklava was built in 1961, when Crimea was a key Soviet naval center. Balaklava’s terrain allowed engineers and builders to build a tunnel about 600 meters long from the sea through the mountain. The tunnel’s dimensions allow it to protect the people and ships inside from a direct nuclear strike.

The secret facility had shelters for nine submarines and crews, as well as a dry dock for ship repairs and chambers for storing and preparing for the deployment of nuclear weapons. Due to the secrecy of the facility, access to the harbor was restricted to special permission. During the Cold War, submarines entered and exited the underground base only at night.

After the collapse of the USSR, the base came under Ukrainian control, but remained unguarded. In 1994, one visitor recalled that the facility looked abandoned. In the 1990s, thieves looted much of the interior. In 2003, Ukraine reopened the facility, but this time as a museum.

In 2014, after the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, the base came under Russian control, but continued to function as a museum.

Recent reports of the base’s return to military use continue a series of such claims in recent years. In October 2022, the Main Communications Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Stratkom of the Armed Forces of Ukraine) reported that construction was underway at the entrance to the submarine base, as evidence that it had been returned to military use. However, the museum remains open to the public.

According to American analyst John Daley from the Jamestown Foundation, if this facility is used by the Russian Navy, it is only for ships, not submarines.

“Given the size restrictions of the Black Sea Fleet’s Kilo-class submarines, they can currently use the base only for surface ships until repairs are made,” he noted.

It is possible that due to attacks by Ukrainian naval drones, Russia is looking for safe places in certain parts of the Balaklava base for its warships.

Earlier, USM reported that families of sailors of the Russian Black Sea Fleet are being forced to return from Crimea to Russia.