These Abandoned Soviet Radar Sites Show How Quickly The Cold War Ended

Picking up almost where World War II left off, the Cold War waged on for almost 50-years, defining U.S. foreign policy and a way of life across the globe.

It was painted in the West as a simple good vs. evil scenario that generated a lot of passion, and a lot of defense spending. It was also a situation that seemed like it could go on forever and then, with nary a warning, the Cold War ended.

The following pictures from Darmon Richter at The Bohemian Blog will take you on a tour showing how quickly the Cold War ended better than words ever could.

As we passed the road entrance to this disused Soviet radar site, the open gate offered a tantalising invitation.

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Elsewhere we stumbled across a stack of heavy duty axels, along with tyres that had been stretched in order to give better purchase in deep snow.

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Making our way back over the barrier, we headed through the scrap yard and towards the road entrance.

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At some stage it looks as though an effort had been made to clean up the site - it was abandoned mid-progress however, overflowing bins left to gather dust and cobwebs.

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En route to another nearby radar dish, I spy an archaic Soviet gas mask slung from the coupling of a moving lorry.

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We arrive at our next tip-off, a military site that houses one of the largest satellite dishes ever built by the Soviets - measuring a total of 60 metres across.

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The entrance is locked and barred and so we are forced to go off-road, searching for another way in from the forest.

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Just as I tentatively begin to climb over the fence for a closer look, a dog barks… and then a second, and third join in. The site is well guarded after all, it turns out.

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So close, and yet so far. In the end all we can do is peek through holes in the fence, admiring the colossal radar dish that towers in the distance… not to mention the fuselage of a MiG jet fighter, which lies corroding in the foreground.

Passing through the gateway, we came into an open yard - separated from the military compound by a rusted iron barrier.

The ancient vehicles dotted around the yard looked as though they may have been here some time. In the background, the satellite dish looms ominously behind the fence.

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