On the border between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, surrounded by a desert with toxic waste, is the island of Renaissance in the Aral Sea. In a salty desert, atmospheric temperature can rise up to +60 degrees.
Once upon a time, life was in full swing, and before the advent of Soviet power, a fishing village existed on the island, because there were a lot of fish in the Aral Sea. Now the island has turned into a peninsula, having increased 10 times in size, and today it is one of the deadliest places on the planet.
Disaster at sea
In our country, perhaps, there is no such person who would not hear about the drying up of the Aral Sea. And the reason for this phenomenon is human activity. The two rivers that fed the sea, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, are almost completely dismantled for field irrigation.
In the recent 60s of the last century, about 60 cubic kilometers of water flowed into the sea during the year. After 10 years, this figure fell by 20 points. And in the 80s, the volume was already only 15 cubic meters. km And since the 90s, the volume of incoming water does not rise above 5 cubic meters. km
Accordingly, the sea level began to drop, in 2001 it dropped by 20 meters, and the volume of water decreased already 3 times. This situation led to the fact that the bottom was exposed and the island of the Renaissance in the Aral Sea became a peninsula.
The catastrophe of our time
With the departure of water, a desert appeared with a huge amount of salt deposits mixed with mineral fertilizers and toxic chemicals. Fertilizers appeared in the sea due to flushing from the fields of water, which went into the river, and then into the sea.
Poisonous chemicals are the remains of experiments from the Renaissance island in the Aral Sea. All these substances are distributed hundreds of kilometers around the district.
Even the inhabitants of Baikonur, which, incidentally, is located 400 kilometers from the island, can tell what is going on. If at any time of the year, except winter, the wind changes its direction and blows in a western or south-western direction, then Baikonur and the Aral Sea region are covered by salt haze. It immediately seems that it does not carry any danger, in fact, such air brings a huge amount of toxic chemicals that contribute to a decrease in immune forces, the appearance of allergic reactions and, in general, poor health and undermining health.
In the photo of the Renaissance island in the Aral Sea, you can see the size of the environmental disaster, especially if the pictures are taken from the satellite during the wind.
However, the island is known not only because of the environmental disaster in the district, but also because in the old days there was a training ground on it where bacteriological weapons were tested and produced.
A bit of history
The island was discovered in 1848. The expedition was led by Lieutenant Butakov A. In those years, this piece of land was called the island named after Tsar Nicholas I. It turned out to be an ideal place for hunting and fishing. The island occupied 216 square meters. km, where there was a huge number of steppe antelopes (saigas), and in two bays a huge number of birds nested and many fish swam.
This paradise life lasted only 100 years. Already in 1948, ships that contained incomprehensible cargo and unusual passengers moored to the shores. Since that time, it was not possible for an ordinary person to get here. Only in severe storms, sailors were allowed to wait out the bad weather on the banks of the Renaissance island.
At that time, there were three closed military camps on the Aral Sea:
- Aralsk-5, missile forces;
- Aralsk-8, air forces;
- Aralsk-7, biochemical testing ground.
In the same year, a fish factory on the island was closed, where the military settled. A year later, a runway appeared, which was adapted for landing military aircraft. Not far from the strip appeared a village, it was called Kontubek. These were only two three-story buildings where researchers and maintenance staff lived. Over time, a power station and laboratory building appeared, surrounded by utility barracks.
How it all began
1948 was not the starting point for research on the island of Renaissance. For two years, from 1936 to 1937, a series of biological tests were carried out on the island and there was a small test site. However, preparations for the war and the war itself suspended any activity here. The landfill was fully operational only in 1954.
At that time, it was the largest research base for testing bacteriological weapons. Here, animal studies were carried out by spraying the bacteria brucellosis, anthrax and plague, Q fever, glanders and other dangerous bacteria. During the heyday of the landfill, 1,500 people lived on the island.
The Barkhan training ground on Renaissance Island was a closed military town called Aralsk-7.
A stud farm worked on the Kulanda peninsula near the island, because it was the horses who were the first test subjects. Although studies were conducted on guinea pigs, baboons, and rats.
Dozens of animals were brought to the stud farm. They were used not only for experiments, but also for blood sampling. Deadly strains of viruses and infections are well bred in the blood of horses. However, at that time no one was thinking about the future, sick dead animals were simply buried, and anywhere. Later, a crematorium appeared on the island, where the remains of experimental animals were destroyed.
Secrecy regimen and anti-epidemiological measures
In those years, there was no photo of the Renaissance island in the Aral Sea, nor any information about what was happening there. Only a few knew exactly what they were doing here, the rest had only to guess. Although the concept of a receipt on non-disclosure of secrets was not yet, but still they were silent about everything.
All activities were carried out in accordance with the instructions for anti-epidemic rules. After testing, disinfectants were necessarily treated. The atmosphere on the island itself contributed to the destruction of viruses, because during the day the temperature often rose to +45 degrees in the summer, while in winter the tests were transferred to closed rooms.
How did people live on the island
The complex was run by the 15th Directorate. It was possible to get to the island by land, only on one road.
Employees were rarely released from the base when they returned, they were simply horrified, because the world was changing around, and there were still only shacks on the island, there was no water supply and sewage. And the best fed monkeys fed bananas and oranges. Even scientists who were directly involved in the experiments looked at the abundance of fruit only from afar. All food for animals was subjected to the strictest recount. The employees themselves got oatmeal and sausages. Malnutrition and hepatitis were considered the norm.
But the main problem on the island was boredom. People almost waited for the night to be forgotten in a dream. Although a couple of times a week they installed a projector and played films of the war years. On the island of Renaissance in the Aral Sea, many people simply drank themselves. Although there were certain problems with vodka, it was quite difficult to get it. Many did not disdain the use of distilled alcohol. However, boredom gave rise not only to drunkenness, but also promiscuous sex.
Why exactly this piece of sushi?
In addition to the fact that the island of Renaissance in the Aral Sea was as far as possible from all settlements, there was also a special situation that contributed to the testing.
A meteorological station operated at the landfill , the data of which were very valuable. Indeed, for the tests needed the wind, but here it blows almost always. Although the local wind can be described more as a "naughty", it is constantly changing direction. For testing, it is required that it be at least 2-4 meters per second, blowing in one direction for at least 4 hours.
What do eyewitnesses say?
According to eyewitnesses, at the site of the Renaissance island, experiments were carried out not only on animals, but also on prisoners. So, one man claims that he lived on the island from 1977 to 1981, psychological experiments were also conducted on him on the brain. In addition to him, there were other subjects on the island, especially pregnant women. Where they then disappeared and what they did to them, he does not know, but many certainly died. As a rule, prisoners after the experiments were sent to Komsomolsky Island, what happened there is also unknown.
People who served on the island or worked there, also say that hundreds of convicts were brought in in large numbers. When they were brought by plane, even officers were not allowed to see him. What happened to people is also unknown, but the fact that almost no one has returned is a fact.
And here is the anthrax?
Back in the spring of 1988, when Gorbachev was in power, Washington started talking about the fact that the USSR is testing biological weapons, although such actions are prohibited by the 1972 Convention and the country has huge reserves of anthrax. This substance is a real and even ideal biological weapon.
Anthrax, as a microorganism, is capable of forming spores that protect the virus from environmental influences, that is, it can be stored almost forever and retain the ability to infect living organisms.
The authorities of the USSR understood that something had to be done to avoid an international scandal. The anthrax factory itself was located near Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk), tons of material were stored in warehouses.
As a result, anthrax is placed in steel tanks, poured with bleach and taken to an island that has actually turned into a burial ground, there are 11 of them. In total, about 250 liters of bacterial weapons were buried here. Although to date there is no official confirmation, but no one refutes this event.
Shocking facts
They started talking about the island back in the 70s. In 1971, a ship accidentally sailed (off course) with researchers under the name "Lev Berg" by the shore. Then a woman fell ill on it, supposedly smallpox, although it was vaccinated. She recovered, but on arrival in her hometown, she infected 9 people, three of whom died.
After about one year, a boat appeared on the coast of the island, where there were two bodies of fishermen who disappeared the day before. Presumably they died from the plague.
And after some period of time, the fishermen lost their earnings - there was only dead fish in the nets. And in 1988, the media got information that a huge herd of saigas had died in the steppe, there were about 50 thousand of them, and they died literally in 1 hour.
What happened next?
The landfill on the island of Renaissance, Aralsk, existed until 1992. Then, in fact, there was no longer the Soviet Union, B. Yeltsin ruled in Russia, and he signed a decree to close the base. The laboratory was dismantled and taken out, the military parted in other parts. Most of the equipment and material assets remained on the island, leaving, the maintenance staff did not even take TV sets and furniture with them.
As a result, since 1993, the island has become a favorite destination for lovers of easy money. There remained an untouched fleet of vehicles, a power station. Although the barracks and the laboratory, or rather, what was left of it, were not touched.
What now?
Now on the Internet you can find photos of the Aral Sea, the Renaissance island. This area is of little interest to anyone, although it remains dangerous to people.
Uzbek and American researchers conducted soil analyzes and concluded that no disinfection measures had helped. Bacterial spores have not died. Now it is the largest burial ground in the world, where a huge number of bacterial weapons are buried. The island itself is constantly growing in size, turning into a real peninsula of death.
Now here are frequent guests - “metalworkers”, they illegally penetrate here and dig out everything else that can be obtained from the bowels of the earth and in landfills.
Tourists also try to get here, wanting to take a photo of the Renaissance island. Indeed, despite the fact that there are many "metalworkers", all the doors in the basements and laboratories, barracks are welded, so no one dared to touch them. Safes and old things are lying around, it seems that an apocalypse has occurred here.
After decades, the island still keeps its secrets, because getting here is not so easy, and it’s for the better. Even now, to get to the island from Aralsk, you have to spend a day on the road. And this is off-road, about 300 kilometers and an hour on a motor boat.
Already in the 90s no one lived here or there were only a few expeditions to the island. And in 2005, Nick Middleton, a geographer and journalist at the University of Oxford, made a documentary about this place.
Epidemiological monitoring
To date, the Government of Kazakhstan has developed measures to monitor the environmental situation on the island, which should end by 2020. At the end of all activities, a system for admitting civilians to the island will be developed. Calculations are also carried out on the additional fencing of burial grounds.