The beauty of the beast

Built in 1980, as part of the Soviet mission of counteracting the US Space Shuttle programme, Buran was one of five spacecrafts built — and possibly the only one which ended up seeing light. Buran (meaning snowstorm) was ironically launched during a snowstorm in November 1988, and it was the only unmanned craft to fly in a fully automated mode (only beaten by a Boeing in 2010). Unfortunately, due to the collapse of the USSR, this success was never repeated — even though it was truly remarkable for a plane of this size and complexity to launch, maneuver, re-enter the atmosphere and then land safely. Mikhail Gorbachev was said to dislike the programme just enough to bury it.

Buran the baby next to Mriya, another superplane.

We mentioned it here when we wrote about Mriya the superplane.

Sadly, this was the end of it. Buran was stored (or should we say forgotten at Baikonur), even though there were talks of reviving it. In 2002 the roof collapsed, due to poor maintenance, and Buran was left under the sky to rot.

The very building without the roof

Later it was moved to Tushino, an aerodrome not far from Moscow, with the plans to use it as a museum item. In June this year it finally got some publicity it deserved: it has been decided for it to be carefully repaired and eventually to be displayed in a Zhukovsky space museum.

Sailing past the Kremlin

In bright daylight: I hope whoever is responsible for this is ashamed of this sight.

Images courtesy of Ilya Varlamov.

The unattended spacecraft vandalised: the expensive thermoisolation tiles got ripped as souveniers

Thermoprotective tiles: Close up

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1. Mriya The Plane: The Biggest Dream

The superplane carrying a Buran.

In 1984 the big country needed a big plane. Antonov Design Bureau was entrusted with developing of a plane for large-sized cargo transportation. A six-motor super heavy turbojet plane An-225 «Mriya» («dream» in Ukranian) became the product of the designers’ four-year work. The aircraft, which will celebrate it’s twenty years anniversary of its first test flight, still remains the absolute champion in terms of load-carrying capacity.

Mriya can lift up to 250 ton.

he first test flight, on December 21, 1988 lasted for a hour and a quarter and proved the plane to be as brilliant as promised: the piloting was smooth, the equipment was easily operated, the aerodynamics were perfect. The cargo cabin of the plane is air-proof, which considerably expands its transporting capabilities. The onboard complex of the loading equipment, as well as the design of the front cargo hatch with a ramp provide for fast and convenient carrying out of cargo handling works; besides, outside there are special systems of fastening so the plane can carry cargo on its fuselage as well.

The cockpit.

Initially it was developed specifically for transportation of such cargoes as Buran Shuttle (which was delivered by «Mriya» on May 13, 1989, from Zhukovsky town situated near Moscow to Baikonur), missile carrier components, including «Energy», equipment for the mining, building and oil-extracting industry. Today An-225 is used mainly for commercial transportation of large cargoes, but in view of the unique qualities of «Mriya» there is being actively made the Ukrainian-Russian research concerning use of the plane as a flying launch complex for aerospace systems.

An-225, the charts.

The Soviet «Mriya» is famous far outside the country. It even has its own money. Thanks to its outstanding qualities An-225 was placed by the British experts among the thirteen most significant planes in the history of aircraft. Their images are minted on the reverse side of the series of «Gold history of heavy aircraft construction» coins. The other side, in accordance with the tradition, is decorated with a portrait of Her Majesty Elizabeth II.

Isn’t she a beauty?

After the launch.

The cargo bay

She is also a convertible: the roof goes up.

Oh, and remember the movie 2012? Mriya was in it, destroying Las Vegas – well, it was it’s computer model. The movie-makers tried really hard to keep it as close to reality as possible, however, some things were changed (the cargo bay of the screen Mriya is much smaller).

maximal commercial loading 250 tons

cruiser speed                                               750 — 850 km/h

cruising level                                               9 000 — 12 000 m

flying range with a 200 ton cargo            4 000 km

maximal flying range                                14 000 km

airdrome length                                         3 000 — 3 500 m

plane length 84 m

wingspan                                                     88,4 m

height                                                           18,1 m

crew                                                             6 persons

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1. Buran: Whatever Happened to You?
2. Soviet Sightseeings and Trivia Game
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The V-Day. Copyright unknown

On May, 25th 1945 Joseph Stalin made a celebratory speech devoted to the end of the Russian Great Patriotic War. The Second World War was coming to an end, but the Soviet Union was done fighting. The Russian troops had exited Germany and ahead lied a long road of rebuilding and rehabilitation. So in Kremlin, at the V-day Meeting, Stalin had said the following:

Do not expect me to say anything extraordinary today. I have a very simple, very ordinary toast to make. I would like to raise a glass to health of those people who are low in rank and invisible in the hierarchy. Of those who we consider to be the “small screws” of our huge state mechanism — they might be small but without them us generals, marshals and other top army leaders wouldn’t have made it. They are plentiful, they are a legion, it is tens of millions of people who have not been heard of — yet they hold us together, as the base holds the top. To their health!

Today we have brought to your attention a fragment of the interview with Yelena Bonner, a human rights activist, a dissident, a writer, and a widow of the late Andrei Sakharov — during the war she was a teen and now, courtesy to the Internet-magazine Snob.ru, she tells us about her experience during the war.

So — We did not fight for Stalin or the Soviet Union. We fought because we had no other choice.

Elena Bonner, b.1923. Image couretsy of snob.ru

Do you remember the war motto: “To Stalin! To Soviet Union!”

I was 18 when I was summoned  — at the beginning of war, and till very late 1945 I spent with the troops — yet I never heard that motto. Every time there was a fire on the frontline we never shouted “To Stalin””, it was more like “You sons of fucking bitches!”.

So at the beginning of the war we have been told that many — lots! — of young people volunteered to be sent to the front line..

That was another huge lie about that war. Only a tiny percent of people who ended up in the front line volunteered to be there. The rest were mobilised, hands down. Every single man of the appropriate age, be him a farmer or a factory worker — all of them were summoned and sent to the war.

I was also mobilised, as thousands of other girls. I was a student at Hertsen Institute, and they had a huge banner on the wall: “Girls of our country, get your second, military profession now”. So we had to take a compulsory course in military education. The choices we had were about becoming a nurse, a communications technician or a sniper.  I chose to be a nurse, and by the end of it I was listed as “suitable for summon”.

So on June 22nd, 1941 you heard about the German invasion –you know you are listed as “suitable”, so did you know you’d be part of the war very shortly? Did you have a feeling of upcoming radical change?

You know, it was a very odd feeling. I am eighty seven years old now, and now I am trying to comprehend what was happening and I am failing at it, how my generation lived anticipating the war. Not just the people of Leningrad — at least we experienced the war with Finland of 1939 — 1940 (the so-called Winter War), and it was a real war, with food shortages and no heating. So starting from 1937 I just couldn’t help but anticipate a war coming — and it was a solid, gut feeling. My Moscow friends felt the same.

So in 1942 you were summoned as a nurse — what did it feel like?

I was a nurse on the train, which was travelling in the Leningrad district, picking up the wounded and delivering them to Vologda or other safe destinations. There they were dropped off, cared for, nurtured a bit and then either returned back to the front line, or sent somewhere else, I am unsure… The train was constantly bombed, or derailed, or lost in the snow. And then I was wounded myself — I had a broken clavicle, a damaged left shoulder, injured nerve and a blood eye — I was bad and I was sent by the same train to Vologda and later to the Urals.

I guess I was very lucky throughout the war. There was no reason for me to be on the train — I could have been right on the front line. It was 1942, the toughest year by some account  — nobody summoned during that year came back.

Yelena Bonner in her Moscow apartment. Image courtesy of Snob magazine.

How long did you spend on that train?

Till 1945 — till the very end. We were sent to Germany to evacuate the wounded from their territories in 1945. So on May 8, the VE Day, we were somewhere around Innsbruck, Austria, and this was our last journey bound for Leningrad. We arrived home, the train crew was restructured, I was made the Head of some medical department to care for the wounded bomb disposal soldiers. The war was technically over, yet these guys — working with the explosives — kept coming our way.I was one of the last ones to be demobilised, too — in August 1945.

Can you tell us some more myths about the war?

As I have said, nobody volunteered. Another one was that the Jewish did not fight — it is not true, they did. And probably the biggest one is post war — the exploitation of that war. And all these military parades show offs — they are no longer carried out to remember those who did not come back — now they have a mission of public relations, and TV ratings, and flexing the military muscle — both on the domestic and international levels.

Did you feel that right after the war things would change to the better?

We did — we felt that our country had just survived the incredible! We felt powerful, we felt like we were able to change things around, we hoped for the better.

So why do these war veterans who came back from the war never argue these myths about the war?

Why do you think when we came back and thought ah, we are so powerful — why do you think we all shut up?

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I find great pleasure in looking at the faces of people from the days long gone. Reading the fine lines is like trying to map out the events that took place before we were even born — or were too far away from where it happened. Please enjoy a fine collection of the images below — some are just regular faces in the crowd, some were the mighty lot. Click on the pictures to see the larger images and as always — spread the word!

Queen of Belgium, Moscow 1962

Ho Chi Min, 1959, Moscow

Korean delegates, c 1960

Indian Delegates, c 1960

One of the oldest persons — Mahmud Eivasov from Azerbaijan, claiming to be 150 years old.

Semen Budenny, a prominent military commander, late 1960s

Poland Military band, 1954

A tour to the corn fields.

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Parade of 1984, city of Ufa. Photo by N. Marochkin.

Day of International Solidarity of the Working Class, or Labour Day — was celebrated in Russia on May, 1st  from 1919 to 1990. A public holiday for each every city, every township or village had a parade organised: flags were carried, posters and banners were up, kids had red ballons and portraits of the governing men were on display. The attendance usually was compulsory, but judging by the photographs now, I don’t think anybody minded: it looks like people had fum there. By May the weather was usually sunny and crisp, and this holiday was a little more that a propagandist activity: it was a unifying event. Please read on to see some faces behind the crowd.

Novosibirsk 1938. Photo from a private collection.

Novosibirsk 1953. Photo from a private collection.

Moscow 1958. Photo from a private archive by S. Buldakov.

Top Army guys. Moscow 1958. Photo from a private archive by S. Buldakov.

Novosibirsk 1958. Photo from a private collection.

Sports Club Marching. Novosibirsk 1972. Photo from a private collection.

Moscow 1978. Photo from a private archive.

City of Ufa 1984. Photo by N. Marochkin.

Toast to solidarity! Moscow 1978, photo from a private collection.

Moscow, late 1970s. Brezhnev is in the middle. Photo from a private collection.

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You’re in the army now

The compulsory two years of military service was a rite of passage for every Soviet guy. When one turned eighteen — unless for sickness or injury — it was time to be called in for the military life — two years in the barracks. Usually away from home, this period of time was meant to train and educate the men should there be a war. It included physical training, political orientation, current affairs, weaponry and so on — a good many posts can be written on life in the army! Today, however, we want to take a different look on this subject. The guys usually bonded well and during their spare time created so called “Discharge Albums” — like scrapbooks, they were full of photos, songs lyrics, quick notes from the buddies etc. This particular one has a very neat selection of wee hand drawn episodes of the army realities.

The albums were usually this thick and bound in velvet cloth

So the owner served between 1984 and 1986, being called in from Leningrad to serve in Olenegorsk in some special forces

This is an extract which tells us exactly what happened…

Here’s a start to the story — the birds are bringing the army subpoena. Please note that the outfits, the hairstyles, even the stereo — all belong to the mid 80s.

The young guy turns up at the military assembly point.

The parents say good bye. The girlfriend promises to stay faithful.

The changeover: someone is arriving, someone is being discharged.

Learning the ropes

On the cleaning assignment

Those were the days, my friend..!

I wish you were here

In full gear. No hope to finish alive

Out in the city — the officer will never let me out of sight

See you right here in exactly seven days

A year and a half on — so nice to be a senior!NB — most likely, this is the radio espionage equipment.

Counting down the hours…

Hooooooooome!

All images are courtesy of the Livejournal user blackie again, whose album this is.

We hope you find this amuzing Stay tuned!

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Be Vigilant! Disclose an Enemy Under any Mask!

1953 was the last year of long and terrifying governing of Stalin. In January the huge country although accustomed to repressions shuddered from the new horror – this time the enemies-saboteurs were Kremlin doctors of a Jewish origin. The commenced persecution also applied to ordinary doctors.  Soviet people who believed to the politically edited stories broadcast in the media were scared to be patients of Jewish doctors. On March, 5 of 1953 Stalin passed away and the case of Kremlin doctors was dismissed. Humiliated, maimed doctors were released. However this was only the beginning of the political repressions of the Jewish specialists and today we would like to introduce you to a striking example — the story of my family.

1951. Soviet doctors with the patient and recovered sight

My grandfather graduated from the Marine Military School in 1945, the last year of the Second World War. The training for the young officers was accelerated as the country was preparing to start the war with Japan. Soon my grandfather chose the profession of the submariner. He was a sailor on the most little submarines – so called ‘baby-submarines’ where the conditions were especially harsh. When the war with Japan ended he had a 5 year service contract in Port-Arthur in China.

By 1953 my grandfather was already a successful military officer who was preparing  to get the position of the submarine commander two months later. My grandmother was a doctor, but in winter of 1953 she did not work as  she gave a birth to her daughter, my mother. That February,  just within a day all the officers of Jewish origin were dismissed fromtheir work. No, they were not imprisoned, nor withdrawn from work completely. They were simply sent to work for the Training Troop Base in Vladivostok, the camp traditionally used as a punishment camp for alcohol-addicted or misbehaving officers. With no explanation, a huge group of people  — from navigators to mechanics, including highly qualified staff  from the Leningrad Military Engineering Academy were sent to the Training Troops Base.

In March 1953 my grandfather, offended by unfairness to the innermost of his heart, wrote to Nikita Khrushchev. He satated that he had graduated from the Marine Military School with merits, had 5 year of experience of military service on submarines with permission to control and that he wanted to continue his career there. Surprisingly he received a reply, albeit not from Khrushchev personally.  The Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Marine Army replied that the order for transfer would not be reversed and that was the end of story. He did not provide any explanation or apology.

With time, the doctors were rehabilitated but the innocent officers were not. The years after that were full of career obstacles, like a total ban on further study, should one enter the Military Academy. At the same time my grandfather’s colleagues of non-Jewish origin were aquiring the experience on the most contemporary nuclear submarines. None of them are alive at present as those first nuclear submarines were too dangerous for the health!

Surfacing Soviet Submarine

The overt discrimination of the Jews in different forms continued till the very end of the Soviet Union. Being accused of anti-Semitism was not something the Soviet officials liked: so there usually were formal examples of successful careers of Jewish specialists. For instance, the General of the Red Army Comrade Dragunskiy, who held a high ranking  post despite his origin. However, that was exceptionally rare and was nicknamed as ‘museum rarity’.

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