Pervomaysk Museum of Rocket Troops

On the border of Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv oblasts, near the city of Pervomaysk, one can visit a unique museum of Strategy Rocket Troops. This territory used to be a military base of the 46-th Nizhnedneprovskaya Rocket Division. The shaft rockets РС-22А (SS-24 "Scalpel") were kept there. The territory of the military base was turned into an open air exhibition, displaying samples of rocket engines, rocket-carriers, fuel-filling tools for rocket fuel, a sample of nuclear warhead and a sample of Р-12 rocket (the one that played the key role during the Caribbean Crisis of 1961), and the РС-20 В (SS-18 "Satan") rocket sample.

In the building of the military division, one can see how the current officers of rocket troops live and work, you can watch a documentary movie telling about launches of continental and intercontinental missiles, and also you can learn about the history of the 46-th division.

Then, along an underground tunnel, your guide will take you to the headquarters of the base - the place from which the launch of rockets was directed. All guides of the museum are former officers of the same military base, who used to work here when the base was active.

Along the wire fence, which used to conduct  7000 Volt power for security reasons, you can walk to the entrance to the shaft itself. One of the famous Soviet Union Rocker Shield rockets was kept right there.

In the end of the excursion, if you ask persistently and offer additional payment, the guide will take you 40meters down by elevator into the underground area with the so-called "11-th section", where the widely known "Nuclear Button" was located.

The museum is located in: Mykolaiv Oblast, Golovanevsky region, Pervomaysk, Odesskaya St., 113. We could not find out whether there is a telephone in the museum, to make calls and reserve time for excursions. There must be a phone, of course, but probably the number is not given out to everyone.

The Museum is the affiliate of the Central Museum of Armed Forces of Ukraine. Along with the Balaklava Navy Museum, this Museum is mentioned in the "White Book" of Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The workers of the museum are former officers of the same military base. The territory is guarded and no one is allowed just to walk around without a group excursion.

Among the postings of the Russian fortification site forum, we found a brilliant report provided by a Russian visitor of the museum, Alexander Volkov. We tried to establish connection with Alexander, but so far, we have not been able to do this. Here is a word-by-word translation of his posting, and the photos he posted in the forum, in a photo album below.

Pervomaysk Military Museum

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On August 14 – 15, 2005, I had a chance to visit the most interesting place - a Museum of Strategic Rocket Troops, which was created on the territory of a former Soviet Rocket Base. Here is a short report and a few photos of this military base. The photos were made and kindly provided for public observance by my companion and friend Alexander Yanchak. We were taking photos together.

Right at the entrance to the military base, at a narrow alley, we could see samples of  rocket engines.
Some rockets displayed there are just "training" samples, and they are no longer the newest inventions of the industry, but anyway - they looked very impressive!

Moving slowly into the territory of the  base, we entered a flat open air territory, where unique samples of transport vehicles were displayed.
I was mostly impressed with a monstrously huge transport tool - a transportation vehicle intended for relocating the headquarters base. I do not know what's its weight lifting capacity, but I must say that it was huge and equipped with a number of super strong electrical power engines. The main power engine of the vehicle is powered with electric power generator.

Then, we were invited to enter the building of the museum, where we saw a map of rockets dislocation. About 20 years ago, this map could be a lifetime dream for every spy! We also saw samples and drawings of rockets which had been used by Soviet rocket troops in different years.

Right in the building of the museum, we found a sample of the whole military base in miniature. A little circle on this sample identified the location of the rocket shaft itself. There is an underground headquarters located at 40m beneath earth and a "poterna" (a long underground alley) that connects it with another set of underground rooms.

The underground headquarters was a whole-designed capsule, if I can call this huge construction a capsule. It was constructed separately from the rockets and transported to its destination by a transport vehicle, which you can see on one of the photos.

The weight of the headquarters was so immense that even the monstrous transport vehicle might fail to carry it. For such situations, another vehicle was designed - it would be set up behind the main transporter and push the whole thing forward.

On the same open air demonstration area, we could see the liquid fuel filling tools. Heptile - a terribly poisonous substance - was used as the liquid fuel. 
Besides this, there was a transport vehicle intended to relocate the rocket itself, and some other automobile techniques which served for other related purposes.
After surveying the transport vehicles, we approached a dull-looking building. The  door opened and we could see the first few meters of the poterna - the aisle which led to the underground rocket base headquarters. We walked along the aisle to the end and faced the door of an elevator which leads down to the headquarters.

Three of us could hardly fit into a very narrow elevator-booth, and as soon as it started moving and all the way down till we stopped, we could hear a very unpleasant  and loud alarm-like sound.

The headquarters base contains a few decks located vertically at different levels. There were a residential, a supportive and a headquarters controls levels.

This was definitely an exciting experience which let us sense the environment of a military base, as if it was in operational condition. We enjoyed the excursion and  were happy to take some pictures. I am sorry I did not have a better camera with me then.