I believe that qualifies as alliteration. Regardless, Russian firm Aleksejevskoje-Serviss outbid other investors at an auction held on Friday to snap up the Latvian town of Skrunda-1 for over 1.5 million Ls (£1.86 million or $3.1 million). Built in the 1980s, it housed two important Soviet radar bases, which monitored the skies for signs of a NATO nuclear missile attack, and was home to more than 5,000 service personnel and their families.
Located close to the town of Skrunda whence it got its name (the suffix “1” having been added to assist in identifying the secret installation, as it wasn’t marked on maps), which is some hundred or so miles from the country’s capital, Riga, the 45 hectare site-cum-self-contained-city that is Skrunda-1 has nearly 70 buildings, housing 500 plus apartments, a school, shops, night clubs, etc. Following the demolition, over a decade ago, of the 19 storey, 60m high Hen House radar station (video) by American explosives experts, the ghost town’s remaining residents left.
As I believe Dame Judi Dench once said, “God, I miss the Cold War” . . . .
