There was no connection, other than postal, with the mainland. But even postal service was limited; items weighing more than 1 kg could not be sent either to Novaya Zemlya or from Novaya Zemlya.
Everything needed in the 50-60s was delivered almost exclusively by sea during the short northern navigation. In the early 70s, the runway of Rogachevo airport became reinforced concrete, which made it possible to significantly improve air traffic with Novaya Zemlya and organize regular flights between Arkhangelsk and Rogachevo. But since everything that existed on Novaya Zemlya was a state secret, Rogachevo airport was absent from the schedules and was designated as “Amderma-2”. In everyday life, both the airport itself and Novaya Zemlya in general were simply called “Dvoyka”.
In general, there were many addresses and symbols for the islands at that time. The postal address of Belushya Guba was “Arkhangelsk-55”, Rogachevo - “Arkhangelsk-56”. Correspondence intended for air defense and naval points located on the Southern Island of Novaya Zemlya, communication with which was carried out through Rogachevo, was also addressed there, to Arkhangelsk-56. In the 80s, communication with points was maintained mainly by helicopters, but even to the closest points, helicopters flew once or twice a month, and communication with distant points was maintained once every few months.
Points located on the Northern Island and on Franz Josef Land were supplied through Dikson, and their postal address was “Krasnoyarsk Territory, Dikson Island-2”. These addresses were used exclusively for postal communications; telegraph addresses were completely different. For example, the telegraph address of Belushya Guba was “Moscow, K-704”. After indicating the locality, the number of the military unit was written with the addition of the letters “YUYA”, for example, military unit YUYA 03219 (3rd Radio Engineering Regiment). I don’t know what the letters “YuYa” mean; for fun they were deciphered as “South of Yalta.” However, the letters “YuYa” could not be indicated, the letters still arrived. There was no need to indicate any other coordinates other than the last name and initials in the address.
Telephone communication with the mainland could be carried out exclusively through military communication channels; there was no access to civilian channels at all. The state secrets surrounding the entire Novaya Zemlya were protected very strictly, but mainly from their own citizens. For example, in letters it was forbidden to provide any information that would allow one to determine the place of service, much less indicate it directly. All correspondence was checked, and the letters that were read bore the stamp “Received at the Arkhangelsk Railway Station in a contaminated form.” If it weren’t for this stamp, it would have been impossible to guess that the letter had been opened; the censors’ opening skills were well developed.
Transport communications, both air and sea, were maintained mainly with Arkhangelsk. By the 80s, sea passenger traffic between Arkhangelsk and Belushya Guba (“Portopunkt 40-40” is another designation for Belushka, as it is called on Novaya Zemlya) was completely stopped, and all transportation of people in this direction was carried out exclusively by air. The only exception is the flights of the passenger ship "Sovetskaya Tataria", which delivered scientists - participants in atomic tests from the mainland - to Novaya Zemlya. But cargo traffic was carried out mainly by sea.
There is only one more or less equipped pier on Novaya Zemlya - in Belushiya Guba. At some points there were mooring structures, mostly wooden, often preserved from the times of “civilian” development. But at most points, cargo operations could be carried out exclusively in the roadstead, and cargo was delivered to the shore on dinghies, special small vessels. The work of unloading and storing cargo was very difficult; the personnel were literally exhausted. In addition, many points were located far from the coast, and cargo received by navigation throughout the rest of the year, including in winter, was gradually delivered to their location. On the “Novaya Zemlya Forum”, www.site, one of the participants, recalling his service at the point, writes: “So we dragged it (coal - V.M.) on a homemade sled made of tin from the pier. They harnessed three people each and followed him for about ten kilometers. You’d do three or four walks in a day, and then cramps would set in at half the night. Romance, damn it." In order to ensure work during the short months of navigation, each point was forced to have two to three times more personnel than was required for combat duty.
There is only one road on Novaya Zemlya; it connects Belushya Guba and Rogachevo. Travel outside this road is carried out mainly on GTS-M all-terrain vehicles. Traveling long distances on foot is prohibited. Skis are not used at all, there are none in parts; The unpredictability of Novaya Zemlya weather and the abundance of polar bears make hiking and skiing extremely dangerous.
There was no sustainable transport connection between the South and North Islands, as well as with Franz Josef Land. There were only occasional and not always predictable flights of helicopters or airplanes. I remember well the case when at the Graham Bell point (W.F.I.) in January 1986, a pigsty burned down and the pigs died. New pigs were delivered there on a special flight on an Il-76TD from Rogachevo. It’s hard to even guess how much each such pig cost.
But the usual way of communication with distant points was the following: from Rogachevo to Arkhangelsk, from Arkhangelsk to Dikson, from Dikson to the point. How long it will take to travel - depending on your luck. If it was necessary to get from the point to Belushya Guba, the sequence was reversed. "Dembeles" with Z.F.I. and the north of Novaya Zemlya usually began to be removed two to three months before dismissal. They were transported across half of the Arctic Ocean, Dikson and Arkhangelsk to Belushya Guba or Rogachevo, given discharge documents and then sent back to Arkhangelsk. Obviously, the costs of maintaining troops on Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land were prohibitively high.
It is clear that the exact size of the “population” of the islands at that time is not known, but, based on indirect data, for the mid-80s it can be estimated at 8-10 thousand people.
The reduction in the number of military personnel and civilian personnel on Novaya Zemlya begins in the late 80s. With the cessation of nuclear weapons testing, the number of personnel servicing the test site is sharply declining. The number of military personnel at air defense points begins to be reduced.
In 1990-1993 The forces of the country's Air Defense Forces on the Arctic islands are being eliminated. The liquidation begins with the 3rd Radio Engineering Regiment, whose units, as mentioned above, were located along the entire western coast of Novaya Zemlya and on Franz Josef Land. Personnel are withdrawn to the mainland, materiel is left at distant points, and partially removed from nearby points. Some points (Cape Menshikov, Guba Chernaya) are transferred to the Federal Border Service, but then they are disbanded.
The 406th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment, whose headquarters were located in Rogachevo, is being liquidated. The 641st Fighter Aviation Regiment is transferred from Rogachevo to the Afrikanda airfield (Murmansk region, Polyarnye Zori) and at the beginning of the 21st century. disbanded. The activities of the 4th (Novaya Zemlya) air defense division are terminated.
At the same time, the naval points located on the western coast of Novaya Zemlya, as well as parts of the Strategic Missile Forces, are abolished.
The existence of the village of Rogachevo also ceases. Almost all the buildings and structures of the village are now ruins. The airfield is served by a duty shift that comes from Belushya Guba. Now, as far as can be judged from open sources, all points on Novaya Zemlya have been eliminated. The population is concentrated in the village of Belushya Guba (2.8 thousand people). In addition, the existence of the village is supported. Northern, but the number of personnel here is insignificant. In general, we can now consider that Novaya Zemlya has “shrinked” to the limits of Belushya Guba.
If until the end of the 80s different types of armed forces “coexisted” here, now the Central Training Ground of Russia has become the sole and absolute owner of Novaya Zemlya. The test site received this name on February 27, 1992, according to presidential decree No. 194 “On the test site on Novaya Zemlya.” The decree left the Central training ground under the jurisdiction of the Navy. In 1998, the test site was transferred to the jurisdiction of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (“Nuclear Technical Support and Security”).
At the end of the twentieth century. The restoration of civil power began on Novaya Zemlya. The municipal formation “City District Novaya Zemlya” was created. According to the charter of this district, it includes the villages of Belushya Guba and Rogachevo, but the area of the municipal formation is 79,788 km 2, i.e. almost the entire territory of Novaya Zemlya.
On some poorly compiled maps of Russia, published in both Soviet and post-Soviet times, Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land are designated as belonging to the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO). But the Novaya Zemlya municipal district does not belong to the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, although it is the closest continental neighbor. This municipality is directly included in the Arkhangelsk region as a district. (Franz Josef Land and Victoria Island have been officially included in the Primorsky district of the Arkhangelsk region since January 1, 2006.)
However, these territories are included in the Arkhangelsk region very conditionally. Most of Novaya Zemlya is the Central Test Site, reporting directly to Moscow, and any serious issues related to the islands are resolved not in Arkhangelsk, but in the capital of Russia.
Belushya Guba is now a normal village with all the attributes of civilization. Her index remained the same, 163055, but the address is now not “Arkhangelsk-55”, but “the village of Belushya Guba, Arkhangelsk region.” There is a school, a kindergarten, and a “civilian” telephone connection with the mainland (although the telephone code is 495, i.e. Moscow). A church was built. There is a school, kindergarten, swimming pool, cellular communications, shopping center, Internet. Regular air traffic with Arkhangelsk is still maintained, and the “regime service” continues to check departures and arrivals.
Entry to the islands is extremely difficult; a pass to visit Novaya Zemlya takes several months to obtain, and entry may be denied if the “competent authorities” consider the grounds for it to be insufficiently convincing. Even the procedure for obtaining such passes is classified. It is generally impossible for citizens of other states, including neighboring countries, to obtain a pass to Novaya Zemlya. The humor of the situation lies in the fact that Novaya Zemlya would be visited mainly by those citizens of the republics of the former Union, including the Baltic states, who gave a significant part of their lives to Novaya Zemlya, and the secrets of these islands are already well known to them.
You can only get to Franz Josef Land “with opportunity”, which can be waited for a very long time, since polar aviation is declining as its “clients” disappear. And you also need a pass - after all, Franz Josef Land with Victoria Island, like Novaya Zemlya, are part of the border zone.
In recent years, they have written about various “projects” for the development of Novaya Zemlya, which would be more correctly called “projects”. People who, in principle, do not know what the New Earth is, are apparently engaged in “project-making.” Thus, the magazine “Gas Industry” in the December 2008 issue published an article proposing the construction of a plant in Belushaya Guba for the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Yamal fields for its subsequent export to Europe. It is also planned to make Novaya Zemlya the support base for the development of the Shtokman gas condensate field in the Barents Sea. There are also completely crazy ideas for developing ore deposits and building metallurgical plants in the south of Novaya Zemlya with the export of products through the port of Belushya Guba, the cargo turnover of which is proposed to be increased tenfold for this occasion.
You read in seemingly reputable publications regular articles on the topic “Let’s master the New Earth at any cost!” - and I would like to ask the authors: “Have you seen Novaya Zemlya in reality, and not in project delirium, and if so, for how long?”
These are questions from a person who has experienced what the New Earth is. But you can ask more professional questions. The first is where is it supposed to get the labor force to implement geo-economic constructions that are “brilliant” on paper? Settle on the islands? Madness. Drive on a rotational basis? But you still need to settle somewhere, and the conditions should be more or less comfortable - this “labor force” will not carry coal ten kilometers in the snow. Second, how is it planned to provide new enterprises with electricity? The military requires little of it, so they make do with diesel power plants. An industrial enterprise can also be powered by a diesel power plant, but the cost of electricity will be prohibitive. Third, there is a drinking water problem on the islands. In Belushya Guba and Rogachevo, it is solved through “drinking lakes”; at most points, as already mentioned, water was extracted from snow in winter, and from ice stored in winter in summer. Fourth - how to ensure the rhythm and consistency of transport and economic ties where the sea is covered with ice for nine months of the year and air traffic may be absent for weeks?
It is obvious that in the near future all “projects” for the economic development of Novaya Zemlya will remain exclusively on paper and in the heads of their authors. This was, is and will be the “patrimony” of the military. And this is correct, since any attempts to economically develop the Arctic islands will be very expensive and will give nothing in return.
Novaya Zemlya is an archipelago and at the same time a municipal entity within the Arkhangelsk region of the Russian Federation, located in the Arctic Ocean. In addition to the geographical location, another difficulty in getting there is the status of a closed city, that is, the territory is closed, and a special pass is required to visit it. As part of the formation, there are only two settlements with a permanent population: the administrative center is the town of Belushya Guba and the village of Rogachevo. Air transportation to the Novaya Zemlya archipelago is carried out through the Amderma-2 airfield.
If you have a need to visit these territories, and the question “how to get to Novaya Zemlya” is relevant for you, then feel free to contact Aviastar Petersburg - our company is ready to offer the appropriate services.
How to get to Novaya Zemlya in the absence of land connections? In this case, the only option left is air (by sea you can only get there during the summer navigation period, and this type of transport will take much longer).
What planes fly to Novaya Zemlya? Aviastar Petersburg organizes regular flights in this direction. Passenger air transportation to Novaya Zemlya on the Arkhangelsk-Rogachevo route and back is carried out by our company twice a week. Flights are operated by An-24RV aircraft. The advantage of this model is the ability to fly in all seasons throughout the year. This aircraft can also land on snow-covered airfields.
How much does a ticket to Novaya Zemlya cost?? At Aviastar Petersburg, the cost of a flight from Arkhangelsk to Novaya Zemlya is from 20,930 rubles one way, a ticket for a child from 2 to 12 years old will cost 10,465 rubles, and tickets for children under 2 years old are free. It is important to note that the price of a plane ticket from Arkhangelsk to Rogachevo includes luggage weighing up to 20 kg and 5 kg of hand luggage. The free allowance does not include special cargo - sports equipment, weapons, plants, musical instruments, heavy and oversized luggage, as well as live animals (with the exception of guide dogs). Air transportation of all these cargoes is paid additionally.
In the first year of the war, the fascist command did not send large naval forces to the Arctic. German strategists hoped to capture the main bases of the Northern Fleet from land. And only when the plan to capture Murmansk finally failed, it was decided to begin military operations of the fascist fleet in the Barents Sea. This decision was also influenced by the growing interaction between the USSR and Western countries in the North. Already in his radio speech on June 22, 1941, W. Churchill stated that England “will provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help it can.” Over the next two months, agreements were concluded between the governments of the USSR and Great Britain on trade turnover and on joint actions and mutual assistance in the war against Nazi Germany. Then, similar documents were signed between the USSR and the USA.
At the end of July 1941, allied military missions began operating in the Soviet Union and England. They coordinated the organization of mutual supplies and issues of joint defense of northern sea lanes. To resolve specific issues related to the delivery of goods, the conduct of convoys, and the use and deployment of allied forces in the Northern Fleet zone, British naval missions were created in Polyarny and Arkhangelsk. These missions directly interacted with the commander of the Northern Fleet, Admiral A.G. Golovko, with the State Defense Committee’s authorized representative for transportation in the North, I.D. Papanin, with the headquarters of the Northern Fleet and the White Sea Flotilla. Since the Northern Fleet included a small number of large surface ships, the British Admiralty was responsible for organizing convoys and guarding them throughout the transition from England to Soviet ports. The Northern Fleet was supposed to strengthen the protection of convoys with ships in its zone and provide air cover for them on the approaches to the bases. In addition, the Northern Fleet trawled the fairways.
Practical interaction between our Northern and English fleets began at the end of July 1941. The minelayer Adventure left England for Arkhangelsk with a cargo of depth charges and magnetic mines. Its protection and passage in the White Sea was provided by the destroyer "Crushing".
In the first year of the war, joint efforts were made to ensure the passage of allied transports carrying cargo from the USA and England through Iceland. The transports were accompanied by a small number of warships. The transports returned just as successfully. The six allied convoys that reached Arkhangelsk included 34 British, 9 Soviet, 6 American and 2 Dutch transports. They delivered 750 aircraft, more than 500 tanks, and various equipment to the Soviet Union.
In the first half of 1942, German intelligence learned that more than 100 British tanks were delivered to the Stalingrad area through Arkhangelsk. In the spring of 1942, having made sure that it was impossible to capture Murmansk and Arkhangelsk from land, and taking into account the increasing number of allied convoys in the Arctic, the German command decided to redeploy the main part of the submarine fleet from the Atlantic to Norway. For attacks on the “Murmansk convoys”, a battleship was transferred to the North. Tirpitz", heavy cruisers "Admiral Scheer", "Admiral Hipper", "Lutzow", 20 submarines and attack aircraft.
Even before the start of active operations by the ships of the German fleet, the commander of the White Sea military flotilla was ordered by a directive of the Main Naval Staff of the Navy dated 19 May 1942 to carry out reconnaissance to determine the locations of the bases of light fleet forces and heavy naval reconnaissance aircraft in the Yugorsky Shar, Matochkin Shar straits and in the bay Belushya. The commission, chaired by Major General of the Coastal Service Lakonnikov, carried out reconnaissance of the indicated areas from August 5 to 18.
On August 18, 1942, by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy, the Novaya Zemlya naval base was formed as part of the White Sea military flotilla. The main task of the Novaya Zemlya BMF is to protect the Novaya Zemlya Straits and approaches to them. The day of formation of the Novaya Zemlya naval base is considered to be August 22, 1942, when the corresponding order was issued by the commander of the Northern Fleet. The number of personnel of the formed base in the state was 1,183 military personnel (143 officers, 262 senior officers, 768 enlisted personnel) and 170 civilians.
The command of the Novaya Zemlya naval base had to: organize the defense of Novaya Zemlya and the western sector of the Arctic within the operational boundaries of the base from the actions of raiders, enemy submarines and its sea and airborne assault forces, protect our communications with the allies and the northern sea route in the western sector of the Arctic; maintain an advantageous operational regime in the theater of operations; create conditions that exclude the sudden appearance and unpunished actions of enemy forces in your area.
In Belushya Guba it was urgently necessary to form: a command, a headquarters, a political department, and a financial department of the Novozomelsky naval base. The base included a site administration, a telephone exchange, a radio station, a repair line platoon, 11 polar radio stations (Matochkin Shar, at Cape Stolbovaya, at Cape Vykhodnoy, in Malye Karmakuly, at Cape Zhelaniya, in Russkaya Gavan Bay, in Blagopoluchiya Bay, and also in Amderma, in Yugorsky Shar and on Vaygach Island), naval postal station N 1167, base logistics departments, veterinary department, base hospital, naval prosecutor's office, twelve SNiS posts (in Belushya Bay, Krestovaya Bay, in the Strait Matochkin Shar, in the Kostin Shar Strait, on Pakhtusov Island, in the bays of Abrosim, Litka, on Cape Menshikov, as well as two posts in the Yugorsky Shar Strait, on Kolguev Island and on Dikson Island). The Novaya Zemlya naval base included a northern detachment consisting of: detachment control, 1st group of patrol ships - TFR "Litke" ("SKR-l8"), TFR "Dezhnev" (SKR-19"); 2nd group of patrol ships - "TShch-903", "TShch-904", a group of GUSMP motorboats ("Nord", "Polyarnik", "Nerpa"; guarding the Russkaya Gavan raid (two TFRs), guarding the Matochkin Shar raid: two TFRs and a coastal battery M28 (two 75 mm and two 76 mm guns). The Novaya Zemlya naval base also included the Pechersko-Novozemelsky hydrographic region. For the defense of Belushya Bay, battery No. 240 (two 130 mm guns) was delivered from Velikiy Island, a battery of the 6th anti-aircraft artillery division and a ground one from Murmansk battery No. 570 (four 152 mm guns).
On September 15, 1942, the commander of the Novaya Zemlya naval base, Captain First Rank Dianov, arrived in Belushyu Bay by plane.
From September 19 to November 8, more than two dozen warships and transports delivered special cargo to Belushya Guba for the Novaya Zemlya naval base. The small number of personnel at the base, with the help of the residents of the camp, unloaded ships onto the unequipped coast around the clock. Male fishermen guarded the coast of Novaya Zemlya at observation posts and firing points, and served dog teams assigned to communicate with the military command and the island Council. Women and teenagers replaced men in fishing cooperatives. The Arkhangelsk authorities adopted a resolution “On the procurement of eggs, guillemot carcasses and fish production on the island of Novaya Zemlya and the export of prepared products to Arkhangelsk during the navigation season of 1942.” To prepare food for nurseries, kindergartens and schools, 150 school and technical school students were sent to Novaya Zemlya. They prepared over 20,000 murre carcasses, 5,000 eggs, and caught about 400 kilograms of char.
In 1942, military facilities of the Novaya Zemlya Naval Base were built at various points of the archipelago. On September 10, an airfield was built near Rogachev Bay (two intersecting strips measuring 160xl000 m and 700x100 m). On September 16, battery No. 240 (two 130 mm guns) was installed at Cape Litke. On September 25, work on the construction of a naval airfield in Samoyed Bay in Belushya Bay ends. On October 1, anti-aircraft battery No. 965 (four 37 mm guns) was installed in the camp of Lagernoye and half-battery No. 960 (two 37 mm guns) in Malye Karmakuly. On October 4, two half-batteries No. 960 (two 37 mm guns) were built at the Rogachevo airfield. On November 25, mobile battery No. 570 (four 152 mm guns) was installed at Cape Morozov. On December 10, 1942, battery No. 645 (two 102 mm guns) was installed on Kolguev Island.
Despite the winter conditions, by January 1, 1943, the main work on the construction of residential and auxiliary premises and warehouses was completed; most of the military personnel lived in dugouts until 1943, when the log houses were delivered disassembled.
Seraphim Vylka was recognized as the best hunter and fisherman on the archipelago during these years. Five to six seasonal assignments were carried out by industrialists P. Zhuravlev, T. Ledkov, F. Kozhin, I. Kuznetsov, I. Sluzov, G. Taibarei. When navigation began, ships from the archipelago delivered harvested bird carcasses, eggs, eider down, meat, fat and skins of sea animals, bears, deer, arctic foxes, as well as fish to the mainland.
In 1942, the Germans penetrated the shores of Novaya Zemlya. This year, the famous German weather forecaster Rupert Holzapfel visited Mezhdusharsky Island twice. The German military installed automatic radio weather stations at various points in the archipelago.
A German polar expedition under the code name “Treasure Hunter” landed on the Franz Josef Land archipelago. The German weather group on Alexandra Land included ten people; fortified dugouts, weather and radio stations were built for them. To conduct all-round defense, trenches were dug and mortar and machine gun nests were installed.
During the war years, the Arctic islands and archipelagos of our country were visited annually by two to four German expeditions under the code names “Crusader”, “Arctic Wolf”, “Celloist”, “Birds of Migratory”. Thanks to these works, the German command was able to organize military operations of its fleet in the Barents and Kara Seas. According to some reports, a German submarine base was located on the northeastern coast of Novaya Zemlya. Here, 2.5 km south of Cape Zhelaniya, fascist submarines defended themselves.
In 1942, the Germans established a base in Cambridge Bay on Franz Josef Land for their submarines operating in the Kara Sea. Back in the spring of 1942, Soviet pilots discovered enemy submarines in Belushya Bay. Here, before the organization of the Novaya Zemlya naval base, they had a settling point. To fight German submarines, ships of the Northern Fleet moved from Arkhangelsk to the Yugorsky Shar Strait, and then to Belushya Bay, from July 27 to August 1. The patrol ships "Fedor Litke" and "Dezhnev" were accompanied by the minesweepers "T-903" and "T-904".
In July 1942, the tragedy of the allied convoy PQ-17 unfolded. On June 27, 1942, 34 ships of convoy PQ-17 left Iceland. Frightened by the possibility of the German battleship Tirpitz, which had arrived in Northern Norway in February of this year, participating in an attack on the convoy, the First Sea Lord of the English Admiralty, Sir Dudley Pound, ordered the convoy to be dispersed. The convoys included a strong close escort and a powerful cover of two battleships, an aircraft carrier, eight cruisers, 26 destroyers, and 16 escort and rescue ships. Additionally, the Allies deployed 11 submarines, nine of which, with three Soviet boats, took up positions on the expected course of the enemy squadron. 22 judges of the convoy were American. All this powerful covering force could well withstand the German fleet in the area, which consisted of the Tirpitz, a pocket battleship, a cruiser, ten destroyers and submarines.
As a result of the dispersion of the convoy, the German fleet and aircraft destroyed 23 ships individually. Merchant ships scattered in the Arctic Ocean were destroyed one by one by Luftwaffe submarines and aircraft. But the fascist battleship Tirpitz did not take part in these operations.
The scattered transport ships of the convoy, pursued by German submarines and aircraft, independently broke through into the White Sea and to Novaya Zemlya. The American transport "Bellingham" and the Soviet transport "Donbas", which saved 51 American sailors along the way from the torpedoed ship "Daniel Morgan", arrived in Arkhangelsk on July 9. 11 Soviet and foreign transports of the convoy PQ-17 approached the shores of Novaya Zemlya. Soviet PE-3 fighters took part in searching for and covering the convoy ships. Two seaplanes of the GST type were sent to the shores of Novaya Zemlya. In addition, assistance was provided to the transport crews by two seaplanes based in Malye Karmakuly. One of them was commanded by the famous polar explorer pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union I.P. Mazuruk. By July 7, the bulk of the surviving transports and English escort ships approached Novaya Zemlya. The hunting boat "Murmanets", the minelayer "Murman", and the minesweeper "TSCH-38" were sent to the archipelago to search for surviving ships and people who escaped from sunken ships. In the area of Cape Zhelaniya, our pilots discovered three convoy vessels.
The American transport Winston Salem ran aground in Litka Bay. The ship's crew disabled the guns, flooded the artillery magazine and drove ashore. The English transport Empire Type entered Karmakuly Bay. The heavily damaged Soviet transport "Azerbaijan" took refuge in the Russian Harbor Bay, 5 allied transports and 11 small British escort ships entered the Matochkin Shar Strait under the cover of the coastal artillery battery of the Novaya Zemlya naval base.
At this time, the Soviet steamship Roshal approached Novaya Zemlya, which delivered food and cargo for the residents of the camps and polar stations of the polar stations of the archipelago. On July 6, the crew of the steamer "Roshal" dropped anchor near the village of Lagernoye in the Matochkin Shar Strait. The next day, the ship's crew witnessed the arrival of the surviving part of convoy PQ-17. There were mutual visits to our and allied ships, as well as to the camp of Lagernoye. On July 12, the ship "Roshal" called at Malye Karmakuly to load boxes of guillemot eggs collected at local bird markets destined for Arkhangelsk. Here the crew found a large American transport. Two Catalina flying boats were anchored off the coast. Then the ship headed to Belushya Guba, from where it delivered five crew members from the lost American ship to Arkhangelsk. The Americans were exhausted, because after the death of the ship they had to spend 12 days at sea on an open whaleboat.
On July 27, after the Roshal left Malye Karmakuly, a German submarine destroyed the buildings of the Malye Karmakuly polar station with cannon fire and destroyed the twin-engine seaplanes (“flying boats”) along with the two pilots on duty on them.
On July 21, two German submarines fired at ships in Belushya Bay. On August 25, artillery fire from a German submarine damaged the Cape Zhelaniya polar station. Children and teenagers from 13 to 17 years old, sent to Novaya Zemlya from Arkhangelsk to collect bird carcasses, eggs, eider down and fish, helped save the crew of an American ship sunk by the Nazis on the archipelago.
The transition of the first convoy from Novaya Zemlya to Arkhangelsk was led by the commodore of the PQ-17 convoy, J. Dowding, who escaped from the sunken transport, and the commander of the Palomaris air defense ship, Capton Jonesy. While in Matochkin Shar, they held a conference of the commanders of the guard ships and the captains of the ships stationed in the strait. On July 7, two air defense ships, three corvettes, three minesweepers, three armed trawlers, one rescue ship and four transports left Matochkin Shar. On July 9, the convoy picked up boats and rescued people from two American transports. On July 10, during a raid by about 35 German bombers, two transports were severely damaged. Their crews were removed and the transports were sunk. On July 11, the transport Ocean Freedom and Samuel Chase and escort ships arrived in Arkhangelsk.
On July 9, three more American transports entered the Matochkin Shar Strait, accompanied by the English armed trawler Aishir.
An experienced hydrographer and ice captain, officer of the headquarters of the White Sea Flotilla, Captain 2nd Rank I.F. Kotsov, the command of the Northern Fleet entrusted the leadership of a convoy of Soviet and English warships. This convoy was supposed to organize and ensure the transition of the transports remaining on Novaya Zemlya to Arkhangelsk. Together with I.F. Kotsov, the commodore of convoy PQ-17 J. Dowding and the translator of the headquarters of the White Sea military flotilla A.B Kaminsky went to the shores of Novaya Zemlya on ships. Belushya Bay was designated as a meeting place for all ships.
Minesweepers of the White Sea Flotilla tried to refloat the Winston Salem transport. On July 19, three English corvettes, Lotus, Poppy and La Mpone, entered Belushyo Guba, where the ship Roshal was located. The corvettes with the leaders of the convoy visited Litka Bay, where Koznov and Dowding monitored the progress of the work on surveying the Winston Salem from the shallows, then went to Bolshiye Karmakuly, where the Empire Tide transport was located. In addition to the crew, there were 130 people on it, transported by the Murmanets motorboat from the bays and lips of Novaya Zemlya. These were the surviving crews of the sunken transports. Then the leadership of the convoy headed to the Matochkin Shar Strait, where there were four foreign transports, the English trawler "Ayrshire" and Soviet ships: the tanker "Azerbaijan" (brought by the minelayer "Murman" from Russian Harbor), "Murman" and minesweeper TSCH-38. A plan was drawn up for the convoy to move to Arkhangelsk.
On July 20, the ships left Matochkina Shar and moved along the coast of the archipelago to the south. Then they went to the island of Kolguev and from there they reached Arkhangelsk without losses. At this time, attempts by Soviet sailors to refloat the Winston Salem transport in Litka Bay continued. The American team, refusing to carry out the work, sat on the shore.
On July 22, the last allied convoy from Novaya Zemlya, consisting of Soviet and American transports, guarded by four Soviet minesweepers, left Litke Bay. After entering Belushya Bay, the convoy arrived on July 28 in Arkhangelsk. The actions of the German fleet and aviation off the coast of Novaya Zemlya continued until late autumn. On October 2, 1942, a German submarine fired at the motorboat "Storm" in the area of the western mouth of the Matochkin Shar Strait. On October 11, the SKR-2 (Monsoon) hit a mine in this area and sank. On October 13, a German Yu-88 aircraft was discovered on Mezhdusharsky Island. The command of the Novaya Zemlya Naval Base sent two landing groups to search for him. But the plane managed to fly away. On October 18, the patrol ship "SKR-74" discovered an unknown ship approaching Belushya Bay and fired at it.
In 1943, the coastal defense of Belushya Guba was further strengthened. In March of this year, German reconnaissance aircraft dropped several bombs on the Novaya Zemlya naval base in the village of Belushya Guba. The first transports that began navigation in 1943 delivered I-15 bis fighters, which were stationed at the Rogachevo airfield, to Belushio Guba. After this, air raids on the base were stopped. In difficult conditions, our pilots carried out military missions with honor. After all, the winter of 1943-1944. they had to live in tents in Rogachev.
The German command decided to transfer 10-12 submarines (from the 30 submarines available in the North) to the Kara Sea. In 1943, a German submarine sank the scientific vessel Akademik Shokalsky near Cape Sporyi Navolok. On August 28, the Soviet submarine S-101 sank the German submarine U-639 near Cape Zhelaniya. On September 24, a German submarine completely destroyed the polar station in Blagopoluchiya Bay with artillery fire. The polar explorers were filmed by airplanes.
At the end of July 1943, the Roshal military transport was en route to Belushya Bay with cargo for the Novaya Zemlya naval base and industrialists. He was accompanied by two minesweepers from the Belomorsk naval base. TSCH-55 and TSCH-65 On June 30, in the area of Cape Lilje - Belushya Bay, the signalman of the second minesweeper noticed the trace of a torpedo unexpectedly fired by the German submarine U-205. The commander of the minesweeper TSCH-65, senior lieutenant Nikolai Konstantinovich Golubentsev, decided to obscure the transport with military cargo with his ship. After a powerful explosion, the minesweeper began to quickly plunge into the stormy sea. Only when all the survivors left the ship, the shell-shocked commander was the last to jump into the icy water. Despite the fact that the second minesweeper immediately came to the rescue, only a few were saved.
After treatment at the Belushi Guba hospital, N. K. Golubentsev returned to the mainland and commanded the ship. He ended the war as commander of a division of patrol ships with the rank of captain 3rd rank. For his feat on the minesweeper TSCH-65 N, K. Golubentsev was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle, and three crew members were awarded the Order of the Red Star.
On May 7, 1989, the Central training ground of the Russian Federation solemnly reburied the remains of the dead TSCH-65 sailors from a rocky spit to a new cemetery in the village of Belushya Guba. On July 25, 1989, a monument to the heroic crew of TSCH-65 was solemnly unveiled in the village. This number was assigned during the war years to the former fishing minesweeper RT-76 "Astrakhan". Since August 1944, the Germans began using new weapons on submarines - acoustic electric torpedoes. On August 8 of this year, the Marina Raskova transport set off from Severodvinsk to Dikson Island and the ports of the Laptev Sea. On board there were 354 people who were supposed to relieve winterers at polar stations and enterprises of the Main Sevmorpuga. Among the passengers were women and children. The transport was accompanied by three minesweepers: AM-114, AM-1 l6 and AM-118. In total, there were 618 people on all ships. Only 256 passengers and military personnel will survive. Most women and children will die.
On August 12 at 19:45 the vessels were in the area of Bely Island. At that moment, an explosion of a new acoustic torpedo was heard under the hull of the Marina Raskova, which was mistakenly taken for a mine explosion. The explosions continued, and the sailors decided that they had walked into a German floating minefield. Therefore, the German submarine IO-365, which attacked the transport, was able, without being pursued by anyone, to move unnoticed to the side and again take a position favorable for the salvo. One after another, all the ships were hit and then sunk, except for the AM-1l6, which delivered 176 people rescued from other ships to the village of Khabarovo in the Yugorsky Shar Strait. Then AM-116 returned to the scene of the tragedy and began searching for lifeboats, a boat and a kungas with people who managed to escape. Having learned about what had happened, the naval command and the headquarters of maritime operations of the Main Northern Sea Route urgently sent ships and planes to the area where the Marina Raskova died. On the fourth day after the death of the ship, a boat (18 people, including the commander of AM-114) was discovered at sea. All of them were taken to Belushya Guba and from there to Arkhangelsk. Other boats were also spotted from the planes at sea. It was not possible to remove people from them, so food and warm clothes were dropped on them.
On August 18, a seaplane from Dikson, after repeated searches, discovered a whaleboat in the sea and rescued 25 people from it. On this day, our plane took on board 11 more people from the boat. On August 19, Soviet pilots found kungas (37 people) in the sea and even sat down nearby, but strong waves did not allow them to pick up everyone, and the dropped food, except for a few chocolate bars, sank. Only on the 11th day after the death of Marina Raskova, the remaining people, our other plane was shining. In very difficult weather conditions, 14 people who were drifting in the Kungas were rescued. The overloaded plane could not rise, and only the next day pilot M.I. Kozlov brought his plane by sea to Malygina Bay. Here the minesweeper "AM-60" took the rescued people on board from the plane and delivered them to Khabarovo. M.I. Kozlov’s plane flew from the strait to Dikson.
In September 1944, the minesweeper "AM-116" with the same crew on board that participated in the tragic events of the transition of "Mapuna Raskova" discovered and sank a non-capable submarine in the area of Uedineniya Island. It is possible that it was she who carried out the attack on August 12.
Map of the islands of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
Novaya Zemlya is an island archipelago located almost at the junction of the Barents, Kara and Pechora seas of the Arctic Ocean, approximately 50 kilometers distant to the north from Vaygach Island by the Kara Gate Strait. It is generally accepted that the islands of the archipelago received their common name “Novaya Zemlya” from Novgorod merchants and explorers, who considered the lands they saw across the strait to be new.
The Novaya Zemlya archipelago consists of the two largest islands, Yuzhny and Severny, separated by the narrow Matochkin Shar Strait, as well as many small islands and rocks located nearby. Other smaller islands and island groups include the Mezhdusharsky Islands (the third largest in the archipelago), Bolshie Oransky, Petukhovsky, Pyniny, Pastukhov and Gorbov Islands.
The total area of the islands of the archipelago exceeds 83 thousand square kilometers.
The Novaya Zemlya archipelago territorially belongs to the Russian Federation and is included administratively in the Arkhangelsk region in the status of a territorial municipal entity.
View of Severny Island from an airplane.
Story.
In ancient times, the islands of Novaya Zemlya were inhabited by representatives of unknown tribes, which belong to the Ust-Poluysk culture. The reasons that led to the decline of this tribe are not known. Scientists argue that the climate on Novaya Zemlya over the past 1000-1200 years has become much harsher than it was before.
It is believed that the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, deserted and depopulated by the 10th century, was discovered in the period of the 12th-13th centuries by Novgorod merchants and explorers, who, having reached the Yugorsky Peninsula, saw new lands in the distance beyond the Vaygach Island. This name was subsequently assigned to the islands of the archipelago.
In the summer of 1553, the Englishman Hugh Willoughby, who led an expedition sent to open northern routes to India, was the first among Europeans to see the islands of the archipelago.
According to the records of Hugh Willoughby, the Dutch geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator published a map in 1595 on which Novaya Zemlya was depicted as a peninsula.
The Dutch expedition of Willem Barents in 1596 rounded the Novaya Zemlya archipelago from the north, and also wintered in the Ice Harbor of the North Island.
The Frenchman Pierre-Martin de la Martiniere visited Novaya Zemlya with Danish merchants in 1653 and discovered local residents of the Samoyed tribe on the coast of the South Island, who arrived on the island in search of fur-bearing animals.
Cape Zhelaniya (Northern Island).
Russian Tsar Peter I had plans to build a fort on Novaya Zemlya in order to indicate the Russian presence in these lands.
In the period 1768-1769, the first Russian explorer and traveler Fyodor Rozmyslov visited Novaya Zemlya.
In the 19th century, Russia officially announced territorial claims to the islands of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago and began to forcibly populate them with Nenets and Pomors.
In 1910, the village of Olginsky was founded on Severny Island, which at that time became the northernmost settlement in the Russian Empire.
On September 17, 1954, a Soviet nuclear test site was created on the Novaya Zemlya islands. Its center was located in Belushya Guba, and it included three more sites in different places of the archipelago.
In 1961, the most powerful explosion in the history of mankind, a 58-megaton hydrogen bomb, was carried out at the Novaya Zemlya test site.
Currently, the nuclear test site on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago is the only operating nuclear test site on Russian territory.
View of Mount Krusenstern.
Origin and geography of the island.
The Novaya Zemlya archipelago is quite impressive in area, so its geographical coordinates are usually determined by the approximate geographical center: 74°00′ N. w. 56°00′ E. d.
The islands of the archipelago stretch in a wide arc 120-140 kilometers wide from southwest to northeast for approximately 925 kilometers. The northernmost point of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago is the Eastern Island as part of the Greater Orange Islands, the southernmost is Pynina Island as part of the Petukhovsky archipelago, the westernmost is Cape Bezymyany of the Gusinaya Zemlya peninsula on Yuzhny Island, and the easternmost is Cape Flissingsky on Severny Island, which is the easternmost point of Europe.
The coastline of the islands of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago is quite winding and forms many bays and fjords that protrude deep into the land. The largest bays are considered to be on the western coast - Mityushikha Bay, Krestovaya Bay, Mashigin Bay, Glazov Bay, Borzov Bay, Inostrantsev Bay, Russian Harbor and Nordenskiöld, on the eastern coast - Rusanova, Oga, Medvezhiy, Neznaneyy and Schubert.
The topography of the islands of the archipelago is mountainous, and the shores are rocky and mostly inaccessible. Toward the central part of the islands, the height of the mountains increases. The highest point of the archipelago is an unnamed mountain on Severny Island, 15 kilometers south of Nordenskiöld Bay (sometimes called Krusenstern Mountain), 1547 meters above sea level. Most of Severny Island is covered with glaciers, which, going down to the coast from the mountains, can even form small icebergs.
On the Yuzhny and Severny islands, many small rivers originate in the mountainous regions and flow into the Kara and Barents Seas. Among the lakes, it is worth noting lakes Goltsovoye, located in the southern part of Severny Island, and Gusinoye, located in the west of Yuzhny Island.
By their origin, the islands of the archipelago are classified as mainland islands. Most likely, they were formed during the movement of continents in a period distant from us by 26 million years, and are the same age as the Ural Mountains, of which they are a continuation of the system. There is a hypothesis that the islands (at least Yuzhny Island) until about the middle of the 16th century were a peninsula (initially it was designated as such on maps of that time), and then, when the seabed subsided in the Kara Gate Strait, it became an island. Opponents of this theory argue that the islands are part of a powerful ancient geological platform, and the likelihood of such cataclysms in this area is negligible.
The geological structure of the islands of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago consists mainly of basalts and granites. Among the mineral resources, there are large deposits of manganese and iron ores, in addition to them there are small deposits of tin, silver and lead, as well as rare earth metals.
Lake Gusinoye (Yuzhny Island).
Climate.
The climate on the Novaya Zemlya islands is harsh; it should be classified by type as arctic. Winter here is long and quite cold, with strong gusty winds, the speed of which sometimes exceeds 40-50 meters per second. In winter, blizzards and snowfalls are also frequent. Frosts during this period can reach −40 °C. In summer, the air temperature never rises above +7 degrees.
View of the village of Belushya Guba from an airplane.
Population.
After the creation of the Soviet nuclear test site on Novaya Zemlya, the indigenous population, who had settled here since the times of the Russian Empire, was taken to the continent. Military and technical personnel settled in the deserted villages and ensured the functioning of the test site facilities. Currently, there are only two functioning settlements on Yuzhny Island - Belushya Guba and Rogachevo; there is no permanent population on Severny Island and other islands of the archipelago.
The total population of the archipelago currently does not exceed two and a half thousand people. These are mainly meteorologists, military personnel and technical personnel of military installations.
Administratively, Novaya Zemlya, as a closed territorial municipal entity, is placed under the administration of the Arkhangelsk Region of the Russian Federation.
Residential buildings in the village of Belushya Guba.
Flora and fauna.
The ecosystem of the islands of Novaya Zemlya is classified as a biome characteristic of arctic deserts (the northern part of Severny Island) and arctic tundra (Yuzhny Island).
Under these conditions, only mosses and lichens survive well on the islands of plants. In addition to them, especially in the southern regions of the archipelago, arctic herbaceous annual grasses also grow, most of which are classified as creeping species. Among them, naturalists in these places highlight creeping willow (Salix polaris), opposite-leaved saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia), as well as mountain lichen. On Yuzhny Island there are also quite common dwarf birch trees and low grasses. In river valleys and lake areas there are mushrooms, among which honey mushrooms and milk mushrooms stand out due to their abundance.
The lakes and rivers of the islands are home to fish, the overwhelming majority of which are Arctic char.
The fauna of the islands is represented by mammals such as arctic fox, lemming and reindeer. In winter, there are always a lot of polar bears on the southern coast of Yuzhny Island. Of the marine mammals on the coast of the islands, harp seals, ringed seals, bearded seals and walruses make their rookeries. Whales come into the coastal waters and even into the inner bays of the islands.
The birdlife on the islands is represented by guillemots, puffins and gulls, which form here perhaps the largest bird colonies in Russia. The white partridge is one of the non-sea birds nesting on the islands.
Typical landscape of the Novaya Zemlya islands.
Tourism.
The islands of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago continue to remain closed to visits by large numbers of people. The presence of a nuclear test site mothballed here and other military facilities of the Russian army make tourism to these places almost impossible. Visits to the islands of the archipelago are carried out exclusively with special permission from the Russian authorities with the strictest secrecy. The entry of scientists and naturalists to the islands also remains practically impossible at the moment, which causes a lot of complaints about this from the world community. Environmental organizations are seriously concerned about the environmental situation on the islands of the archipelago, which became significantly more complicated during the period of nuclear testing. On this occasion, UNESCO tried to create a special commission on environmental problems on Novaya Zemlya, but the decision was categorically blocked by the Russian side.
Southern coast of Yuzhny Island.
And that same morning at 11:32 a.m. over Novaya Zemlya, at an altitude of 4000 m above the land surface, a bomb with a capacity of 50 million tons of TNT was detonated.
The light flash was so bright that, despite the continuous cloud cover, it was visible even at a distance of a thousand kilometers. The swirling giant mushroom has grown to a height of 67 km. By the time of the explosion, while the bomb was slowly falling on a huge parachute from a height of 10,500 m to the calculated detonation point, the Tu-95 carrier aircraft with the crew and its commander, Major Andrei Egorovich Durnovtsev, was already in the safe zone. The commander was returning to his airfield as a lieutenant colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union.
Slavsky and Moskalenko, being delegates to the congress, specially flew to the northern test site early in the morning on the day of the experiment to observe the preparation and implementation of the explosion. From a distance of several hundred kilometers from the epicenter, while on board an Il-14 aircraft, they saw a fantastic picture. The impression was completed by the shock wave that overtook their plane.
One of the groups of experiment participants, from a distance of 270 km from the point of explosion, saw not only a bright flash through protective dark glasses, but even felt the impact of a light pulse. In an abandoned village - 400 km from the epicenter - wooden houses were destroyed, and stone ones lost their roofs, windows and doors.
Many hundreds of kilometers from the test site, as a result of the explosion, the conditions for the passage of radio waves changed for almost an hour and radio communications stopped. The creators of the bomb and the leaders of the experiment, headed by the Chairman of the State Commission, Major General N.I. Pavlov, who were at the airfield on the Kola Peninsula near Olenya for 40 minutes, did not have a clear idea of what happened and in what condition the crews of the carrier aircraft were in and the Tu-16 laboratory aircraft accompanying him. And only when the first signs of radio communication with Novaya Zemlya appeared, the command post near Olenya requested information in plain text about the height of the cloud’s rise. The answer was: about 60 km. It became clear that the design of the bomb did not fail.
Meanwhile, the crews of the two planes flying out on the mission, and the documentary filmmakers who were filming at other points, experienced, as circumstances dictated, the most vivid and powerful impressions. The cameramen recalled: “It’s scary to fly, one might say, astride a hydrogen bomb! What if it goes off? Even though it’s on fuse, but still... And there won’t be a molecule left! Unbridled power in it, and what kind of it! The flight time to the target is not very long , but it drags on... We are on a combat course. The bomb bay doors are open. Behind the silhouette of the bomb is a solid cotton wool of clouds... And the bomb? Have the fuses been removed? Or will they be removed during the reset? Reset! The bomb went and sank in a gray-white mess. They immediately slammed shut shutters. The pilots in afterburner leave the drop site... Zero! Under the plane from below and somewhere in the distance, the clouds are illuminated by a powerful flash. What an illumination! Behind the hatch, a sea of light simply spilled out, an ocean of light, and even layers of clouds were highlighted and revealed. .. At that moment, our plane came out between two layers of clouds, and there, in this gap, from below, a huge ball-bubble of light orange color appears! It, like Jupiter - powerful, confident, self-satisfied - slowly, silently creeps up.. Breaking through the seemingly hopeless clouds, it grew and grew larger. Behind him, as if into a funnel, the whole Earth seemed to be drawn in. The spectacle was fantastic, unreal... at least unearthly"
How to get to Novaya Zemlya
History of Novaya Zemlya
First unsuccessful expedition:
Subsequent expeditions:
Study of Novaya Zemlya by Russians
Development of Novaya Zemlya
.The exact date of origin of the name Novaya Zemlya is not known. Perhaps it was formed as a copy of the Nenets Edey-Ya “New Earth”. If so, then the name could have arisen during the first visits to the islands by Russians in the 11th-12th centuries. The use of the name Novaya Zemlya at the end of the 15th century is recorded by foreign sources.
The Pomors also used the name Matka, the meaning of which remains unclear. It is often understood as “nurse, rich land.”
And the land there is really rich, but not in plants, but in animals, which were hunted by commercial hunters. Here, for example, is how the artist A. Borisov wrote about the riches of the Arctic at the end of the 18th century, having visited Yugorsky Shar and Vaigach:
“Wow, how nice it would be to live here in this region rich in fisheries! In our places (Vologda province), look how a man works all year round, day after day, and only barely, with all his modesty, can feed himself and his family. Not so here! Here, sometimes one week is enough to provide for yourself for a whole year, if traders did not exploit the Samoyeds so much, if the Samoyeds were at least somewhat able to preserve and manage this rich property...”
Based on the Pomeranian uterus (compass), the name is associated with the need to use a compass for sailing to Novaya Zemlya. But, as V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko wrote, “Svenske, in his description of Novaya Zemlya, says that the name of the Matochkin Shar strait comes from the word - matochka (small compass). This is not true: Matochkin’s ball is called Matochkin’s in contrast to other small Novaya Zemlya balls, since it crosses the entire Matka, that is, the hardened land of this archipelago.”
In Finnish, Karelian, Veps matka - “path, road”, in Estonian matk “journey, wandering”. The term is widely represented in the toponymy of the North (cf. Matkoma, Matkozero, Irdomatka, etc.), it was mastered by the Pomors, and perhaps the name Matka is associated with it.
Novaya Zemlya is located on the border of two seas. In the west it is washed by the Barents Sea, and in the east by the Kara Sea.
The archipelago consists of two large islands and many small ones. In general, we can say that Novaya Zemlya is two islands: South and North, separated by the narrow Matochkin Shar Strait.
The distance from the northernmost point of Novaya Zemlya (Cape Zhelaniya) to the North Pole is only about one and a half thousand kilometers.
Cape Flissingsky of the North Island is the easternmost point of Europe.
Novaya Zemlya belongs to the Arkhangelsk region, as well as another neighboring Arctic archipelago - Franz Josef Land. That is, residents of the Arkhangelsk region, having visited Novaya Zemlya, will actually not even leave their subject, despite the fact that from Arkhangelsk to Novaya Zemlya in a straight line is about 900 kilometers, almost the same as to Moscow, Estonia or Norway.
The Barents Sea, along which Russian Pomors had been sailing for several centuries, was visited in 1594, 1595 and 1596 by expeditions led by the Dutch navigator Willem Barents and, although he was not even the first foreign traveler to visit Novaya Zemlya, the sea in 1853 was named after him. This name has been retained to this day, despite the fact that in Russia in the old days this sea was called the Northern, Siversky, Moscow, Russian, Arctic, Pechora and most often Murmansk.
Something about the geology and climate of the archipelago
Novaya Zemlya in the west is washed by the relatively warm Barents Sea (compared to the Kara Sea), and due to this the weather there can be quite warm, and even, oddly enough, sometimes warmer than on the coast. Weather forecast on Novaya Zemlya now (in Belushaya Guba), as well as for comparison on the coast (in Amderma):
The so-called “Novaya Zemlya bora” is very interesting and noteworthy - a strong, cold, gusty local wind, reaching up to 35-40 m/s, and sometimes 40-55 m/s! Such winds off the coast often reach the strength of a hurricane and weaken with distance from the coast.
The word Bora (bora, Βορέας, boreas) is translated as cold north wind.
Bora occurs when a flow of cold air encounters a hill on its way; Having overcome the obstacle, the bora hits the coast with enormous force. The vertical dimensions of the bora are several hundred meters. As a rule, it affects small areas where low mountains directly border the sea.
The Novaya Zemlya forest is caused by the presence of a mountain range stretching from south to north along the island. Therefore, it is celebrated on the western and eastern coasts of the South Island. Characteristic signs of a “bora” on the west coast are strong gusty and very cold winds from the northeast or southeast. On the east coast - winds from the west or north-west.
The greatest frequency of the Novaya Zemlya bora is observed in November - April, often lasting 10 days or more. During bora, all visible air is filled with thick snow and resembles smoking smoke. Visibility in these cases often reaches its complete absence - 0 meters. Such storms are dangerous for people and equipment and require residents to use forethought and caution when moving in case of emergency.
The Novaya Zemlya Ridge influences not only the direction, but also the speed of the wind crossing it. The mountain range contributes to increased wind speed on the leeward side. With an easterly wind, air accumulates on the windward side, which, when passing over the ridge, leads to air collapses, accompanied by strong gusty winds, the speed of which reaches 35-40 m/s, and sometimes 40-45 m/s (in the area of the village of Severny up to 45-55 m/s).
New Earth is covered with “thorns” in many places. If I’m not mistaken, this is slate and phyllite (from the Greek phýllon - leaf) - a metamorphic rock, which in structure and composition is transitional between clayey and mica slate. In general, almost everywhere in the south of New Zealand that we visited, the land is like this. That’s why the running dogs here always had wounded paws.
Previously, when Europeans had boots with leather soles, they constantly risked tearing their shoes. There is a story on this topic told by Stepan Pisakhov in his diary: “In the first days, I decided to go away from the camp. She saw Malanya, started shaking, hurried, and caught up. - Where are you going? - To Chum Mountain. Malanya looked at my feet - I was wearing boots - How are you going back? Are you going to roll yourself sideways? - Malanya explained that the shoes would soon break on sharp rocks. - I'll bring you pima. I waited.
Malanya brought new seal pimas with seal soles. - Put it on. In these pymas it’s good to walk on pebbles and you can walk on water. How much do pima cost? - One and a half rubles. It seemed cheap to me. Surprise resulted in a question: “Both?” Malanya laughed a long laugh and even sat down on the ground. Waving her hands, she swayed. And through laughter she said - No, just one! You wear one, I’ll wear one. You step your foot, and I step your foot. So let's go. Malanya laughed and told an old Nenets fairy tale about people with one leg who can only walk by hugging each other - They live there loving each other. There is no malice there. They don’t deceive there,” Malanya finished and fell silent, thought, and looked into the distance of the tale being told. Malanya was silent for a long time. The dogs have calmed down, curled up in balls, and are sleeping. Only the dogs’ ears tremble with every new sound.”
Modern life on Novaya Zemlya
First of all, many people associate Novaya Zemlya with a nuclear test site and testing of the most powerful hydrogen bomb in the history of mankind - the 58-megaton Tsar Bomba. Therefore, there is a widespread myth that after nuclear tests it is impossible to live on Novaya Zemlya due to radiation. In fact, to put it mildly, everything is completely different.
On Novaya Zemlya there are military towns - Belushya Guba and Rogachevo, as well as the village of Severny (without permanent population). In Rogachevo there is a military airfield - Amderma-2.
There is also a base for underground testing, mining and construction work. On Novaya Zemlya, the Pavlovskoye, Severnoye and Perevalnoye ore fields with deposits of polymetallic ores were discovered. The Pavlovskoye field is so far the only field on Novaya Zemlya for which balance reserves have been approved and which is planned to be developed.
2,149 people live in Belushaya Guba, 457 people live in Rogachevo. Of these, 1,694 are military personnel; civilians - 603 people; children - 302 people. Currently, personnel also live and serve in the village of Severny, at the Malye Karmakuly weather station, at the Pankovaya Zemlya and Chirakino helipads.
On Novaya Zemlya there is an Officers' House, a soldiers' club, the Arktika sports complex, a secondary school, the Punochka kindergarten, five canteens, and a military hospital. There is also a food store "Polyus", a department store "Metelitsa", a vegetable store "Spolokhi", a cafe "Fregat", a children's cafe "Skazka", a store "North". The names are just mi-mi-mi :)
Novaya Zemlya is considered a separate municipal entity with the status of an urban district. The administrative center is the village of Belushya Guba. Novaya Zemlya is a ZATO (closed administrative-territorial entity). This means that you need a pass to enter the urban district.
Website of the municipal formation “Novaya Zemlya” - http://nov-zemlya.ru.
Until the early 1990s. the very existence of settlements on Novaya Zemlya was a state secret. The postal address of the village of Belushya Guba was “Arkhangelsk-55”, the village of Rogachevo and the “points” located in the south - “Arkhangelsk-56”. The postal address of the “points” located in the north is “Krasnoyarsk Territory, Dikson Island-2”. This information has now been declassified.
There is also a weather station called Malye Karmakuly on Novaya Zemlya. And in the north of Novaya Zemlya (Cape Zhelaniya) there is a stronghold of the Russian Arctic National Park, where its employees live in the summer.
How to get to Novaya Zemlya
Regular planes fly to Novaya Zemlya. Since November 5, 2015, Aviastar Petersburg has been operating passenger and cargo flights on the route Arkhangelsk (Talagi) - Amderma-2 - Arkhangelsk (Talagi) on An-24 and An-26 aircraft.
For questions regarding purchasing tickets, booking tickets, the date and time of departure for regular civil aviation flights to Novaya Zemlya, you can contact representatives of Aviastar Petersburg LLC on weekdays from 9.30 to 19.00.
Representative of Aviastar tel. +7 812 777 06 58, Moskovskoe shosse, 25, building 1, letter B. Representative in Arkhangelsk tel. 8 921 488 00 44. Representative in Belushya Guba tel. 8 911 597 69 08.
You can also get to Novaya Zemlya by sea - by boat. Personally, we visited there exactly like that.
History of Novaya Zemlya
It is believed that Novaya Zemlya was discovered by Russians already in the 12th-15th centuries. The first written evidence of the presence and fishing activities of Russians on the archipelago dates back to the 16th century and belongs to foreigners. Indisputable material evidence of the long-standing presence of Russians on the archipelago was recorded in 1594 and 1596-1597. in the diaries of De Fer - a participant in the Dutch expeditions led by Willem Barents.
By the first arrival of Europeans to Novaya Zemlya, unique spiritual and fishing traditions of Russian Pomors had already developed here. Novaya Zemlya was visited by fishermen seasonally to hunt sea animals (walruses, seals, polar bears), fur-bearing animals, birds, as well as collect eggs and catch fish. Hunters obtained walrus tusks, arctic fox, bear, walrus, seal and deer skins, walrus, seal, beluga and bear “fat” (blub), omul and char, geese and other birds, as well as eider down.
The Pomors had fishing huts on Novaya Zemlya, but they did not dare to stay there for the winter. And not so much because of the harsh climate, but because of the terrible polar disease - scurvy.
Industrialists brought timber and bricks themselves to build huts. The houses were heated with firewood brought with them on the ship. According to surveys conducted among industrialists in 1819, “there are no natural inhabitants; nothing has been heard of since the beginning of centuries,” i.e. any indigenous inhabitants of Novaya Zemlya were unknown to the fishermen.
Discovery of Novaya Zemlya by foreign navigators
Due to the fact that Spain and Portugal dominated the southern sea routes, in the 16th century English sailors were forced to look for a northeastern passage to the countries of the East (in particular, to India). This is how they got to Novaya Zemlya.
First unsuccessful expedition:
In 1533, H. Willoughby left England and apparently reached the southern coast of Novaya Zemlya. Turning back, the two ships of the expedition were forced to winter at the mouth of the Varsina River in eastern Murman. The following year, the Pomors accidentally stumbled upon these ships with the corpses of 63 English winter participants.
The following unfinished expeditions, but without casualties:
In 1556, an English ship under the command of S. Borro reached the shores of Novaya Zemlya, where it met the crew of a Russian boat. Ice accumulation in the Yugorsky Shar Strait forced the expedition to return to England. In 1580, the English expedition of A. Pete and C. Jackman on two ships reached Novaya Zemlya, but solid ice in the Kara Sea also forced them to sail to their homeland.
Expeditions with casualties, but also achieved goals:
In 1594, 1595 and 1596, three trade sea expeditions headed from Holland to India and China through the northeast passage. One of the leaders of all three expeditions was the Dutch navigator Willem Barents. In 1594, he passed along the northwestern coast of Novaya Zemlya and reached its northern tip. Along the way, the Dutch repeatedly encountered material evidence of the Russians’ presence on Novaya Zemlya.
On August 26, 1596, Barents' ship was sunk off the northeastern coast of the archipelago, in Ice Harbor. The Dutch had to build a dwelling on the shore from driftwood and ship planks. During the winter, two crew members died. On June 14, 1597, abandoning the ship, the Dutch sailed in two boats from Ice Harbor. Near the northwestern coast of Novaya Zemlya, in the area of Ivanova Bay, V. Barents and his servant died, and a little later another member of the expedition died.
On the southern coast of the archipelago, in the area of the Costin Shar Strait, the Dutch met two Russian boats and received rye bread and smoked birds from them. By boat, the surviving 12 Dutchmen reached Kola, where they accidentally met the second ship of the expedition and arrived in Holland on October 30, 1597.
Subsequent expeditions:
Then the English navigator G. Hudson visited Novaya Zemlya in 1608 (during landing on the archipelago, he discovered a Pomeranian cross and the remains of a fire); in 1653, three Danish ships reached Novaya Zemlya.
Further, until 1725-1730, Novaya Zemlya was visited by the Danes, Dutch, and English, and at this point the voyages of foreign ships to the archipelago ceased until the 19th century. The most outstanding of the expeditions were the two Dutch expeditions of V. Barents. The main merit of Barents and De-Fer was the compilation of the first map of the western and northern coasts of Novaya Zemlya.
Study of Novaya Zemlya by Russians
It all started with two unsuccessful expeditions:
In 1652, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the expedition of Roman Neplyuev set off to Novaya Zemlya to search for silver and copper ores, precious stones and pearls. Most of the 83 participants and Neplyuev himself died during the winter south of Dolgiy Island.
In 1671, an expedition led by Ivan Neklyudov was sent to Novaya Zemlya to search for silver ore and to build a wooden fortress on the archipelago. In 1672, all members of the expedition died.
Finally, relative luck:
In 1760-1761 Savva Loshkin first sailed on a boat from south to north along the eastern shore of Novaya Zemlya, spending two years on it. One of his winter quarters was apparently built at the mouth of the Savina River. Loshkin circled the northern coast and descended to the south along the western coast.
In 1766, the helmsman Yakov Chirakin sailed on the ship of the Arkhangelsk merchant A. Barmin from the Barents Sea to the Kara Strait of Matochkin Shar. Having learned about this, Arkhangelsk Governor A.E. Golovtsyn agreed with Barmin to send the ship with the expedition.
In July 1768, an expedition led by F.F. Rozmyslova went on a three-masted kochmara to the western mouth of the Matochkin Shar Strait to map the strait and measure its depth. The objectives of the expedition were: to pass, if possible, through Matochkin Shar and the Kara Sea to the mouth of the Ob River and to study the possibility of opening a route from the Kara Sea to North America. From August 15, 1768, the expedition carried out measurements and studies of Matochkina Shar. At the eastern mouth of the strait - Tyulenyaya Bay and on Cape Drovyanoy, two huts were built, where, dividing into two groups, the expedition spent the winter. Yakov Chirakin died during the winter. Of the 14 expedition members, 7 died.
Returning to the western mouth of the Matochkin Shar, the expedition met a Pomeranian fishing vessel. The rotten kochmara had to be left at the mouth of the Chirakina River and returned to Arkhangelsk on September 9, 1769 on a Pomor ship.
Of course, the name of Rozmyslov should take one of the first places among the outstanding Russian sailors and Arctic explorers. He not only measured and mapped the semi-legendary Matochkin Shar Strait for the first time. Rozmyslov gave the first description of the natural environment of the strait: the surrounding mountains, lakes, and some representatives of the flora and fauna. Moreover, he carried out regular weather observations and recorded the time of freezing and breaking up of ice in the strait. Fulfilling the assignment given to him, Rozmyslov built the first winter hut in the eastern part of the Matochkin Shar Strait. This winter hut was later used by industrialists and researchers of the archipelago.
In 1806, Chancellor N.P. Rumyantsev allocated funds to search for silver ore on Novaya Zemlya. Under the leadership of the mining official V. Ludlov, in June 1807, two mining masters and eleven members of the ship’s crew set off for the archipelago on the single-masted sloop “Pchela”. The expedition visited the island of Mezhdusharsky, visiting the famous Pomeranian settlement of Valkovo. While studying the islands in the Costin Shar Strait, Ludlov discovered deposits of gypsum.
In 1821-1824. Lieutenant F.P. Litke led four expeditions on the military brig Novaya Zemlya. Expeditions led by Litke made an inventory of the western coast of Novaya Zemlya from the Kara Gate Strait to Cape Nassau. The consolidated ice did not allow us to break further to the North. For the first time, a whole range of scientific observations was carried out: meteorological, geomagnetic and astronomical.
In 1832, difficult ice conditions in the Kara Gates forced the expedition of P.K. Pakhtusov to put the single-masted, deckless large carbass “Novaya Zemlya” for the winter off the southern coast of the archipelago, in Kamenka Bay. The remains of a Pomeranian hut and driftwood found here were used to build housing. As soon as all the expedition members moved to the rebuilt winter hut, from the second ten days of September they began to keep a meteorological journal, entering into it the readings of the barometer, thermometer and the state of the atmosphere every two hours. With the end of winter, multi-day walking routes began with the aim of inventorying and filming the southern shores of the archipelago. The results of the expedition are the drawing up of the first map of the entire eastern coast of the South Island of the archipelago. Thanks to his subsequent expeditions, outstanding results were achieved. Pakhtusov described the southern coast of Matochkina Shar, the eastern coast of the archipelago from the Kara Gate to Cape Dalniy.
Then in 1837 we were on the schooner “Krotov” and the small boat “St. Elisha” expedition of the Imperial Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Academician K. Baer. The ship was commanded by warrant officer A.K. Tsivodka.
In 1838, under the command of warrant officer A.K. Tsivolka, an expedition was sent to Novaya Zemlya on the schooners “Novaya Zemlya” and “Spitsbergen”. The second schooner was commanded by warrant officer S.A. Moiseev. As a result, a number of important studies were carried out; famous domestic and Western European scientists repeatedly addressed the various scientific results of the Tsivolki-Moiseev expedition.
In subsequent years, the Pomors, who continued to fish on Novaya Zemlya, at the request of the famous Siberian industrialist M.K. Sidorov, landed in the places indicated by him, collected rock samples and erected claim posts. In 1870, Sidorov published the project “On the benefits of settlement on Novaya Zemlya for the development of marine and other industries.”
Commercial development of Novaya Zemlya
The history of the creation of fishing settlements on Novaya Zemlya has purely “political roots.” This region has long been “Russian”, but unfortunately there was not a single permanent settlement here. The first Russian settlers in the North and their descendants, the Pomors, came here to fish. But for some reason the “simple Rusaks” believed that their Arctic paradise would always be inaccessible to the “nemchura”, “Germans” - foreigners (“Germans”, i.e. dumb, not speaking Russian, the Pomors called all foreigners). And they were clearly wrong.
It is known that back in the 16th century, soon after the Dutchman Willem Barents and his associates visited the region, Europe became interested in this particular “corner of the Russian Arctic.” And to confirm this, “in 1611 a society was formed in Amsterdam that established hunting in the seas near Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya,” and in 1701 the Dutch equipped up to 2,000 ships to Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya to “beat whales.” According to the information of the famous Siberian merchant and philanthropist M.K. Sidorov, who spent his entire life and fortune just to prove that Russia’s strength lies in the development of Siberia and the North, “before Peter the Great, the Dutch freely hunted whales in Russian territory.”
At the end of the 18th - first third of the 19th century, when the North Atlantic whale and fish stocks had already dried up, and the beaches and shallows of Jan Mayen and Bear, Spitsbergen and other islands lost their once familiar appearance - walruses and seals, polar bears, our eternal competitors in the development of the North, the Norwegians, turned their attention to the undeveloped eastern expanses of the Barents Sea - the islands of Kolguev, Vaygach and Novaya Zemlya, the icy Kara Sea, still “teeming” with Arctic life. The main period of their exploitation of the Novaya Zemlya fields covers approximately a 60-year period - from the end of the second third of the 19th century to the end of the 1920s.
Although Norwegian industrialists appeared in the Novaya Zemlya fisheries several centuries later than Russian sea game hunters and Nenets, the presence of the Scandinavians in the region was very large-scale, and the nature of the exploitation of natural resources was predatory and poaching. In just a few years, they mastered the entire range of Russian fisheries on the Barents Sea side of both islands of Novaya Zemlya, penetrated into the Kara Sea through Cape Zhelaniya, the Yugorsky Shar and Kara Gate straits and onto the eastern coast of the archipelago. Well-equipped and financially secure Norwegian sea game industrialists, who have long hunted whales and seals in the North Atlantic and off Spitsbergen, skillfully took advantage of the experience of the Arkhangelsk Pomors.
When sailing along the coast of the archipelago, the Norwegians relied on navigational and noticeable signs (gurias, crosses) set by the Pomors, and used old Russian camps or their remains as strong points. These camps also served as a signal to the Norwegians that the fisheries were somewhere nearby, since the Pomors usually built camps and huts near them. By the beginning of the 20th century. they even organized several winter quarters on the archipelago.
An entire branch of the Norwegian economy quickly matured in Russian fisheries, and small villages in the northern region of our Scandinavian neighbor, from where fishing expeditions were sent to the Arctic, turned into prosperous cities in a matter of years, creating a good financial foundation for the entire twentieth century.
“The development of fisheries by the Norwegians in the Barents and Kara Seas, on Vaigach and Kolguev contributed to the development of the outlying cities of Norway. Thus, the small town of Hammerfest, one of the northernmost cities in the world in the mid-19th century, had no more than 100 inhabitants in 1820. After 40 years, 1,750 people already lived there. Hammerfest developed its fisheries on Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya, and in 1869 sent 27 ships with a displacement of 814 tons and 268 crew for the fisheries.”
Knowing about the existence in Russia of laws of “coastal law that prohibit foreigners from settling the shores of the islands without the permission of the government,” the Norwegians quite cleverly avoided this legal obstacle. In particular, according to the famous Arkhangelsk Pomor F.I. Voronin, who had been trading on Novaya Zemlya for 30 years, knew of cases when “agents of Norwegian merchants, having their relatives as colonists on the Murmansk coast, extended their plans not only to the island of Novaya Zemlya, but also to Kolguev and Vaygach.
And so, in order to somehow protect themselves from Norwegian expansion in the Russian North, in the 1870s, a plan matured in the bowels of the Arkhangelsk provincial administration - to create settlements on Novaya Zemlya, denoting national interest in this region of the Arctic. Naturally, the good idea was supported in the capital. The go-ahead is coming from St. Petersburg to Arkhangelsk to begin the colonization of the Arctic island. The beginning of the existence of the Novaya Zemlya island hunting industry should be considered the second half of the 1870s, when the Arkhangelsk provincial administration, with state support, founded the first permanent settlement on the archipelago - the Malye Karmakuly camp.
From the very beginning of the creation of settlements on the Arctic archipelago, both the state and the provincial authorities believed that the main occupation of the Nenets on Novaya Zemlya would be fishing activities. The provincial administration even developed and implemented a number of measures to stimulate the involvement of the Nenets in relocating to Novaya Zemlya and supporting their fishing activities.
In the initial period of colonization of Novaya Zemlya, according to the highest royal decree, each pioneer male industrialist was entitled to 350 rubles from the state treasury as “lifting” or compensation. At the same time, the settlers were exempt from all government and zemstvo fees for 10 years, and those who wished to move back to the mainland after five years could return to their previous place of residence without prior permission.
In 1892, by order of the Minister of the Interior, 10% of the gross proceeds from the sale of craft products were to be “credited to a special reserve colonization capital, and the net profit of individual colonists was to be deposited in a savings bank in special personal books.” Each Samoyed hunter was entitled to a special book signed by the governor, in which “the amount belonging to the owner of the book is indicated.” The spare capital was used to provide assistance to the first settlers - to deliver them from the tundra to Arkhangelsk, live there for several months, provide clothing and fishing tools, deliver them to Novaya Zemlya, issue gratuitous cash benefits, etc.
Settlement of Novaya Zemlya (its inhabitants)
The residence of indigenous Samoyeds on Novaya Zemlya before the 19th century, unlike Vaigach (an island located between Novaya Zemlya and the mainland), has not been confirmed.
However, when in 1653 (after Barents and other foreign predecessors) three Danish ships reached Novaya Zemlya, the ship’s doctor of this expedition, De Lamartiniere, in his description of the voyage to the archipelago, pointed to a meeting with local residents - “New Zealanders”. Like the Samoyeds (Nenets), they worshiped the sun and wooden idols, but differed from the Samoyeds in clothing, jewelry and face paint. Lamartiniere points out that they used boats that resembled light canoes, and the tips of their spears and arrows, like their other tools, were made of fish bones.
In the literature there are also references to attempts by Russian families to settle on the archipelago in the 16th-18th centuries. There is a legend that Stroganov Bay, located in the southwestern part of Novaya Zemlya, is named after the Stroganov family, who fled Novgorod during the persecution of Ivan the Terrible. Two hundred years later, in 1763, 12 members of the Old Believer Paikachev family settled on the coast of Chernaya Bay (southern part of the archipelago). They were forced to flee from Kem, refusing to renounce their faith. Both families died, apparently from scurvy.
However, it is reliably known that Novaya Zemlya became inhabited only at the end of the 19th century. In 1867, on two boats, the Nenets Foma Vylka sailed to the southern coast of Novaya Zemlya with his wife Arina and children. The Nenets who accompanied them went back in the fall, and Vylka with her family and the Nenets Samdey remained for the winter. At the end of winter Samdey died. Vylka became the first known permanent resident of the archipelago. He lived on Goose Land, in Malye Karmakuly and on the coast of Matochkina Shar.
In 1869 or 1870, an industrialist brought several Nenets (Samoyeds) for the winter and they lived on Novaya Zemlya for several years. In 1872, the second Nenets family arrived in Novaya Zemlya - the Pyrerki of Maxim Danilovich. The Nenets proved that man can live on Novaya Zemlya.
“In 1877, a rescue station was set up in the settlement of Malye Karmakuly with the aim of providing industrialists with a reliable shelter both during fishing and in case of an unexpected winter, and at the same time to provide assistance to the crews of ships in the event of their wreck near this island.
In addition, to protect the erected buildings and to engage in trades there, five Samoyed families from the Mezen district, numbering 24 people, were then brought to Novaya Zemlya and settled in the Malokarmakul encampment; They were provided with warm clothing, shoes, guns, gunpowder, lead, food supplies and other tools for hunting and crafts.
Sent to Novaya Zemlya to set up a rescue station, Lieutenant Tyagin of the corps of naval navigators met there the same two Samoyed families, consisting of 11 people, who had been wandering around Mollera Bay for eight years.
These Samoyeds were sent here by a Pechora industrialist, and they were supplied with good means for fishing, but they squandered them and, without risking returning to their homeland, completely got used to the New Land. Finding themselves in complete economic dependence on one of the Pomor industrialists, who supplied them with the necessary supplies, in return - of course, at incredibly cheap prices - taking away their craft items, the Samoyeds asked Tyagin to include them in the Samoyed artel brought with the funds of the Water Rescue Society.” . A. P. Engelhardt. Russian North: Travel notes. St. Petersburg, published by A.S. Suvorin, 1897
Expedition of E.A. Tyagin. built a rescue station in Malye Karmakuly and carried out hydrometeorological observations during wintering. Tyagin’s wife gave birth to a child, who became one of the first children born on Novaya Zemlya.
The families of Nenets colonists who settled in Malye Karmakuly elected Foma Vylka as the first inhabitant of the island, headman. He was entrusted with taking care of the human colonists, maintaining order, as well as organizing the unloading and loading of sea vessels. When performing his official duties, Foma wore a white round tin badge over his patched and blubber-salted malitsa, which meant he was a foreman. After Tyatin’s departure, all management of the rescue station passed into the hands of Foma. He fulfilled this duty conscientiously for many years.
The first known inhabitant of Novaya Zemlya - Foma Vylka
Foma Vylka is an interesting person. He was born on the banks of Golodnaya Bay at the mouth of the Pechora River, in a very poor family. At the age of seven, left an orphan, he became a farm laborer for a rich reindeer herder and worked only to be fed.
The owner had a son who was taught to read and write, forced to read and write. Foma saw all this. He asked the young owner - they were the same age - to teach him how to read and write. They went further into the tundra or into the forest, where no one could see them, there they drew letters in the snow or sand, put words together, and read them syllable by syllable. This is how Thomas learned Russian literacy. And one day, when the owner severely beat Thomas, he ran away from the house, taking with him the owner’s psalter...
Moving from pasture to pasture, where many reindeer herders gathered, Foma looked for a beautiful girl and decided to get married. Violating the ancient rituals of matchmaking, he himself asked the girl if she wanted to become his wife. And only when he received her consent, he sent matchmakers. Several years have passed. Thomas came to the ancient capital of the European Nenets, Pustozersk, for a fair. Here he was persuaded to accept Christianity, marry his wife according to Christian rites, and baptize his daughter. Thomas himself had to confess in church. This is where something unexpected happened. The priest asked the confessor, “Didn’t you steal?” Thomas became worried, upset, and even wanted to run away, but finally admitted that in childhood he took the psalter from the owner...
The new owner, to whom Foma hired himself for this work, invited him to go to Vaygach Island at the head of the owner’s fishing team to hunt for sea animals. So for three years Thomas sailed on carbass across the sea to Vaygach and always brought good booty to the owner. Foma's reputation as a successful hunter, a skilled pilot and a good leader of a fishing artel was strengthened. After some time, he began to ask the owner to send him with an artel to fish for sea animals on Novaya Zemlya. The owner approved this plan, assembled an artel, and equipped two sailing boats. On the way to Novaya Zemlya they were met by a strong storm, the rudder of one carbass was torn off, and Foma was washed out to sea. Miraculously, the assistant pulled him on board by his hair. One carbass turned back, the second, driven by Foma Vylka, safely reached the shores of Novaya Zemlya. This is how Foma Vylka and his wife and daughter first came to Novaya Zemlya. A year later their second daughter was born there.
One day, Thomas was returning from fishing and saw a large polar bear near the hut-hill, where his wife and children were. The polar bear was considered a sacred animal among the Nenets. Hunting for it was not prohibited, but the hunter, before killing this animal, must mentally advise the bear to leave in good health. If the bear does not leave, it means that he himself wants to die. Thomas killed the polar bear, approached him, apologized, and bowed to him as the owner of Novaya Zemlya and the sea. According to ancient Nenets customs, only men were allowed to eat bear meat. The carcass of the sacred beast could be brought into the tent not through the door, which was considered an unclean place, but only from the front side of the tent, by lifting its cover. Women could eat bear meat if they drew a mustache and beard on themselves with charcoal. Such a “cunning move” with a deviation from ancient rituals apparently helped many Nenets women escape from starvation.
Foma Vylka’s family had to endure many difficulties on Novaya Zemlya. Harsh, endlessly long winters, loneliness. Food was obtained with great difficulty, clothes and shoes were made from animal skins. There was not enough firewood to warm and light the tent a little; they burned blubber - the fat of sea animals.
One day, when the family of another Nenets, Pyrerka Maxim Danilovich, was already living on the island next to Vylka’s family, such an event happened. In late autumn, Norwegian sailors from a broken ship came to the Nenets tents. Their appearance was terrible: exhausted to the point of death, in tattered clothes and shoes. Foma and Pyrerka gladly accepted them into their tents, fed them, warmed them, and provided them with the best places in the tent. The wives sewed them warm fur clothes and shoes. The Norwegians did not eat seal meat, and the Nenets had to specially go hunting in the mountains, kill wild deer there and feed the guest fresh boiled meat. When one of the Norwegians fell ill with scurvy, Foma and Pyrerka forcibly forced him to drink the warm blood of animals and eat raw deer meat, rubbed his legs and body, forced him to walk, did not allow him to sleep much, and thus saved him from death.
In the spring, the Nenets gave the Norwegian sailors a boat, and they left for their homeland. The parting was very touching: they cried, kissed, hugged, the sailors thanked the Nenets for saving them from inevitable death. Gifts were exchanged. They gave Foma a pipe, and he gave them a walrus tusk.
Several years have passed since the sailors left. One day a sea steamer came to Malye Karmakuly. All Nenets colonists were invited to it. The Swedish envoy read and presented a letter of gratitude signed by the Swedish king. Then they began to distribute gifts. The first gift to Foma Vylka was a shotgun and cartridges. They showed how to use it. Foma, with joy, could not resist and immediately hit the head of a floating loon with a shot from his hand, thereby disrupting the order of the solemn ceremony...
Development of Novaya Zemlya
In 1880, M.K. Sidorov, together with shipowners Kononov, Voronov and Sudovikov, submitted a report to the Minister of Internal Affairs on improving the situation in the Northern Territory. It proves the need for proper organization of the resettlement of Russian industrialists to Novaya Zemlya. By the summer of 1880, the armed sailing schooner “Bakan” was transferred from the Baltic to guard the northern lands of Russia. Starting this year, regular steamship flights from Arkhangelsk to Malye Karmakuly are being established.
In 1881, the regulations on the colonization of Novaya Zemlya were approved. From September 1, 1882 to September 3, 1883, under the program of the First International Polar Year, continuous observations of meteorology and terrestrial magnetism were carried out in Malye Karmakuly.
The work of the polar station was supervised by the hydrographer, Lieutenant K.P. Andreev. At the end of April - beginning of May 1882, station employee doctor L.F. Grinevitsky, accompanied by the Nenets Khanets Vylka and Prokopiy Vylka, made the first research crossing of the Southern Island of Novaya Zemlya from Malye Karmakul to the eastern shore in 14 days (round trip).
In 1887, a new camp was founded in Pomorskaya Bay, Matochkin Shar Strait. A member of the Russian Geographical Society, K.D. Nosilov, stayed here for the winter and carried out regular meteorological observations. Hieromonk Father Jonah arrived in Malye Karmakuly with a psalm-reader. Before this, the diocesan spiritual authorities annually sent a priest to Novaya Zemlya in the summer to perform religious services and worship in a small chapel.
In 1888, Arkhangelsk Governor Prince N.D. Golitsyn arrived in Novaya Zemlya. In Arkhangelsk, a wooden church was built especially for Novaya Zemlya, which the governor delivered along with the iconostasis to Malye Karmakuly. That same year, Father Jonah made two trips. One in Matochkin Shar for the baptism of two residents. The second - to the eastern coast of the South Island, to the Kara Sea. Here he found and destroyed a Nenets wooden idol, personifying the patron god of deer hunting. Idols were discovered and destroyed by Father Jonah in other places on the South Island. Father Jonah began teaching Nenets children to read and write and their parents to teach prayers.
On September 18, 1888, the new church was consecrated. The church was equipped with magnificent icons, valuable church utensils and bells. In 1889, a monastic monastery was established by the Nikolo-Karelian Monastery in Malye Karmakuly, with the permission of the Holy Synod. The task of the monks was not only to preach among the Nenets, but also to help change the existing way of life during the transition from nomadic to sedentary life. Jonah's father's many years of work bore fruit. The German colonists willingly visited the temple, and their children read and sang in the church during services.
In 1893, Russian industrialists Yakov Zapasov and Vasily Kirillov and their families moved from the mouth of the Pechora to Novaya Zemlya for permanent residence.
By 1894, the permanent population of Novaya Zemlya consisted of 10 Nenets families of 50 people. This year, Arkhangelsk Governor A.P. visited Novaya Zemlya. Engelhard, who on the Lomonosov steamer brought 8 more families among 37 people who expressed a desire to settle on the archipelago.
A disassembled six-room house was delivered on the ship for the school and residence of Jonah's father and the psalm-reader. This house was built in Malye Karmakuly. Another house was brought for the camp in Matochkin Shar. So, in Malye Karmakuly in 1894 there was a church building, a school, two houses in which the Nenets lived, a building in which a paramedic lived and a warehouse for supplies, a barn where spare building materials were stored, and in winter - a rescue boat. In Matochkino Shar there were three small houses in which the Nenets lived.
.Invasion of polar bears on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago
. It is important to note that in the period from December 2018 to February 2019 near populated areas archipelago Novaya Zemlya Local residents have observed a fairly large concentration of polar bears. By decision of authorized persons, starting from February 9, 2019, on the territory of the Russian Arctic archipelago Novaya Zemlya A state of emergency was introduced. This was done due to the massive invasion of polar bears.
For example, in the vicinity of the Arctic village of Belushya Guba, 52 polar bears were observed. In addition, cases of polar bears attacking people have been recorded. Cases of polar bears entering residential and various office premises have also been recorded. It is worth noting that throughout the entire territory of the comfortable village of Belushya Guba archipelago Novaya Zemlya Approximately six to nine polar bears are permanent residents.
According to one famous scientist, the invasion of bears is associated both with the traditional seasonal migration of these animals and the presence of landfills with various food waste in Arctic villages.
It is noteworthy that necessary precautions have begun to be taken to ensure safety. For example, reliable additional fencing was installed in local kindergartens in children's walking areas. In addition, delivery of local children to kindergartens was organized.
It is also already planned to organize a feeding area for polar bears far from the village of Belushya Guba, which will significantly protect local residents from bear invasions.
After 10 days, namely February 19, 2019, the state of emergency in the Arctic archipelago Novaya Zemlya was canceled due to the “voluntary” departure of the bears.
Location of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago
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Russian territory Novaya Zemlya archipelago is a fairly large archipelago, which is widely spread in the waters of the Arctic Ocean, namely between the Kara Sea and the Kara Sea.
is part of the northern region of the country. in the south it is separated from Vaygach Island by the Kara Gate Strait, the width of which is approximately 50 km.
Characteristics of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago
. Extensive Novaya Zemlya archipelago consists of two fairly large islands, namely the Northern Island and the Southern Island, which are separated by the narrow Matochkin Shar Strait, the width of which is approximately 2-3 km, and of many relatively small islands, of which the largest island is Mezhdusharsky Island. Northeastern tip of the North Island archipelago Novaya Zemlya Cape Flissingsky is considered. This is the easternmost point.
Length archipelago Novaya Zemlya in the direction from southwest to northeast it is 924.9 km. Northernmost point archipelago Novaya Zemlya The easternmost island of the Great Orange Islands is considered, and the southernmost point is considered to be the Pynin Islands of the picturesque Petukhovsky archipelago, the westernmost point is the nameless cape, which is located on the Goose Land peninsula of the South Island, the extreme eastern point is Cape Flissingsky of the Northern Island.
total area archipelago Novaya Zemlya is over 83,000 km². It is worth noting that the width of the North Island reaches 123 km, and the width of the South Island is 143 km. According to the 2010 census, archipelago Novaya Zemlya There were about 3,000 inhabitants.
Northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago
. Approximately half the area of the North Island is occupied by glaciers. The area, which extends almost 401 km in length and up to approximately 71-74.5 km in width, contains a continuous white ice sheet covering an area of approximately 20,000 km². The thickness of the ice cover here is more than 300 meters. In some places, the ice descends into picturesque fjords or drops steeply straight into the open sea, forming large ice barriers and thus giving rise to huge ice blocks - icebergs, the weight of which can sometimes reach several million tons.
Total area of glaciation archipelago Novaya Zemlya is 29,767 km², of which approximately 92% is covered by glaciation and 7.9% is due to unique mountain glaciers.
On the South Island above the above-mentioned archipelago there are areas of the Chechen tundra that are surprisingly charming in their beauty.
Climate of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago
. On the Russian major archipelago Novaya Zemlya severe prevails, . Winter here is very cold and long with strong winds and snowstorms. The speed of winter winds on the archipelago reaches approximately 40-50 m/s, which is why Novaya Zemlya is sometimes also called the “Land of the Winds”. Frosts on archipelago Novaya Zemlya reach −40 °C. The average air temperature of the warmest month of the year - August - varies from +2.5 °C in the northern part of the archipelago to +6.5 °C in its southern part.
Thus, the difference in temperature between the coasts of the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea exceeds approximately 5°C.
It is noteworthy that this temperature asymmetry is explained by the difference in the ice regime of the above-mentioned seas.
On archipelago Novaya Zemlya There are many small lakes, the water in which, under the rays of the sun in the southern regions, can warm up to even +18 °C.
Historical reference
Novaya Zemlya (ancient name Matka) was discovered by Russian Pomors in the 12th century, according to other sources in the 14th-15th centuries. Nenets sailors – Kanin, Timan and Pustoozersk Samoyeds – also took part in the exploration of Novaya Zemlya. The Novaya Zemlya expeditions of the 14th-20th centuries carried out a comprehensive scientific study of the Arctic archipelago. The first Russian government expedition to Novaya Zemlya took place in 1491. The activity of industrialists on Novaya Zemlya in the late 19th and early 20th centuries prompted Russia to defend its national interests by sending patrol ships to the shores of Novaya Zemlya and systematic colonization. The first settlements - the camps of Malye Karmakuly, Matochkin Shar (70-70 of the 19th century), Belushya Guba (1987) were created for the Nenets of Mezen and Pechora districts. The village of Olginsky in Krestovaya Guba (1910) was founded for peasant migrants from the Shenkursky district of the Arkhangelsk region. According to the census of the population of Novaya Zemlya in 1910, 33 people lived in the village of Malye Karmakuly (8 men, 11 women and 14 children), in the village of Belushya Guba 31 people (10, 11 and 10, respectively) and in the village of Olginskoye 16 (6, 6, 4). In total, there were 108 permanent residents in 1910, of which 80 were Nenets. The government not only provided two free flights to the archipelago, but also exempted permanent residents of Novaya Zemlya from military service. Each settler was given a non-repayable subsidy.
In 1917, the Commission for the Management of the Novaya Zemlya Colonies became subordinate to the Arkhangelsk Provincial Zemstvo Administration. The commission additionally included a chairman from Novaya Zemlya industrialists. This commission continued to operate in the first years of Soviet power, during the years of intervention and civil war.
In 1921, the positions of commissioners on the islands of the Arctic Ocean were abolished and their responsibilities were assigned to the first island village Councils or to the heads of fishing artels.
On November 19, 1922, the State Planning Committee adopted a resolution on the settlement of Novaya Zemlya and on the construction of radio stations in Matochkin Shar and Cape Zhelaniya (the northernmost point of the archipelago).
On June 30, 1924, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee approved the Regulations on the Management of the Islands. At the time of independent government, management was under the jurisdiction of the Arkhangelsk Provincial Executive Committee.
On September 16, 1924, the Presidium of the Arkhangelsk Provincial Executive Committee approved a plan for organizing village councils with the rights of volost councils. On the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, the Novzemelsky Village Council was organized with a permanent residence in the settlement of Malye Karmakuly. Before the elections, the powers of members of village councils were transferred to the heads of fishing artels. In 1924, representatives of all the camps of Novaya Zemlya came to Belushya Guba. The first elections of the island Council of Deputies, in which Ilya Konstantinovich Vylko was elected chairman of the island Council, took place on March 15, 1925. This day is considered the day of the formation of local government bodies on Novaya Zemlya.
From this time on, a report on the planned development of Novaya Zemlya begins. In July 1925, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR exempted enterprises located on Novaya Zemlya from trade taxes, and the entire settled population from paying all state direct taxes and fees. Residential buildings, a boarding school for children from all camps, a hospital, medical centers, canteens with a bakery, baths, and shops are being built. Polar stations were put into operation at Cape Zhelaniya, in Russian Harbor, Cape Stolbovaya, Blagopoluchiya Bay, camps were created: Lagernoye, Russian Harbor, Cape Zhelaniya, Litke, Arkhangelskaya Guba, Rusanova, Smidovichi on the Admiralty Peninsula, on the island. Pakhtusova. The Novaya Zemlya Geological Expedition of the Northern Geological Exploration Trust (headed by N.N. Mustafi), the Copper Party of the Moscow Geological Exploration Institute, headed by V.V., are starting research work. Ananyev), geological exploration party of the Northern Geological Exploration Trust (geologist V.P. Ivanov). The ice sheet is being studied under the leadership of the head of the glaciological station in Russian Harbor M.M. Ermolaeva.
Hunting and production of sea animals is developing. Novaya Zemlya fishermen supplied the mainland with the skins of polar bears and arctic foxes, sea animals, walrus tusks, deer wool and murrelet, deer meat, bird meat and eggs, eider down, commercial fish - loin, omul.
At the turn of the 1930s, the first stage of Novaya Zemlya colonization ended: an integral system of hunting and fishing was created on the islands, a network of settlements with a socio-cultural sphere was formed, a centralized supply of food, goods and everything necessary for life and activity was established, a transport scheme for the export of products was formed fisheries, a structure has been created to ensure end-to-end maritime passage through the seas of the Arctic Ocean. Islands of the Arctic Ocean since 1929 were allocated as a separate zoning unit, the population increased. Norwegian fishermen and buyers were forced out of the Novaya Zemlya water area.
Before the outbreak of World War II, there were 12 permanent settlements on the archipelago.
The Second World War gave the archipelago a completely new specificity, assigning it the role of an active Arctic outpost of the country. In order to organize the defense of the archipelago and the western sector of the Arctic from the actions of raiders, enemy submarines, its sea and air landings, the protection of sea communications and the Northern Sea Route on August 18, 1942. By order of the People's Commissar of the Navy, the Novaya Zemlya naval base was formed as part of the White Sea Flotilla. The necessary military facilities were erected in the shortest possible time; on September 10, the construction of an airfield in Rogachevo was completed, on September 25, a naval airfield in Samoyed Bay was completed, and piers were equipped in Belushya Guba Bay.
By a resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR (July 31, 1954), it was decided to create the Novaya Zemlya (Northern) nuclear test site on Novaya Zemlya and resettle the entire civilian population. At this time, 536 people (138 families) lived on the archipelago.
By resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, a decision was made to abolish the Novaya Zemlya Island Council of Working People's Deputies.
July 15, 1957 At a narrowed meeting of the executive committee of the Arkhangelsk Regional Council of Deputies, a decision was made to resettle the indigenous population
To regulate measures to resettle the indigenous inhabitants of Novaya Zemlya to the mainland, a number of decisions were made.
Let us present an extract from the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N 724 348 dated July 27, 1957.
“Measures for the resettlement of the civilian population from the Novaya Zemlya islands:
1. To the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR (Comrade Yasnov) and the Arkhangelsk Regional Executive Committee (Comrade Novikov):
a) before November 1, 1957, resettle the civilian population of 298 people from the Novaya Zemlya islands to other areas of the Arkhangelsk region for permanent residence;
b) to abolish, from July 15, 1957, on the islands of Novaya Zemlya a boarding school, a hospital with a paramedic station, a police station, a communications center, and a red tent;
c) employ the entire working-age population being resettled from the Novaya Zemlya islands;
d) assign, as an exception, pensions to those resettled from the Novaya Zemlya islands on the basis established for workers and employees, regardless of their length of service as a worker or employee;
e) submit a petition to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR to abolish, as of July 15, 1957, the Island Council of Workers' Deputies on the Novaya Zemlya islands.
2. Oblige the Ministry of Trade of the RSFSR (Comrade Lukashev) to close, before July 15, 1957, the Industrial Trade Office with fishing areas and trading posts located on the Novaya Zemlya islands.
3. Write off the debt of hunters and fishermen to the Novaya Zemlya Promtorgkontoire of the Ministry of Trade of the RSFSR in the amount of 212 thousand rubles.
5. Oblige the USSR Ministry of Defense (Comrade Belokoskova, Comrade Gorshkova):
a) build:
in Arkhangelsk there are five (8-apartment) block houses with a boiler room;
on o. Kolguev five (2-apartment) cobblestone houses, a bathhouse, a laundry and a power plant;
in Amderma there is one (8-apartment) house;
b) transport the resettled population and material assets of the Novaya Zemlya Promtorg office free of charge using Northern Fleet transport;
c) pay, at the expense of the Ministry of Defense, an allowance to those resettled to the mainland in the amount of 300 rubles (on Kolguev Island 1000 rubles) for each person.
The measures were agreed upon with the Arkhangelsk Regional Executive Committee (signed by Serdichev), with the Ministry of Trade of the RSFSR (signed by Lukashev), with Glavsevtorg (signed by Blokha).”
In 1958 The executive committee of the Arkhangelsk Regional Council of People's Deputies issued State Act A-1 No. 579002 for the right to indefinite and free use of land for the location of the State Central landfill.
After appropriate approval by the government, construction began on the 6th State Central Test Site (6GCP), which received the code name “Object-700”. The birthday of the test site is considered to be September 17, 1954. On this day, a directive from the General Staff of the Navy with the staffing structure of the new military unit was signed. It included: experimental scientific and engineering units, energy and water supply services, a fighter aviation regiment, a transport aviation detachment, a division of ships and special purpose vessels, an emergency rescue service division, a communications center, logistics support units, etc.
From November 1954 to September 1955, the first head of the Navy training ground was Hero of the Soviet Union, Captain 1st Rank V.G. Starikov. For more than ten years, Rear Admiral P.F. Fomin headed the corresponding department of the Navy and directed the activities of the training ground, after whom one of the streets in the village of Belushya Guba was later named.
In the summer of 1954, the personnel of ten construction battalions were delivered to the Novaya Zemlya archipelago by ships of the Northern Fleet. In harsh Arctic conditions, dedicated work was carried out to prepare various technical structures, laboratory and residential premises and other facilities related to the activities of the test site. And by September of the following year, 1955, “Object - 700” was prepared to carry out the first underwater nuclear explosion.
A new stage is beginning on Novaya Zemlya - the period of testing nuclear weapons with the aim of creating and improving the nuclear shield of our state. Total on Novaya Zemlya since September 21, 1955 to October 24, 1990 132 nuclear explosions were carried out with a total power of TNT equivalent of 265.3 Mt.
In connection with the liquidation of local self-government bodies, control actually passes to military authorities, but throughout the years of the existence of the Novaya Zemlya training ground there were representatives of the people's power. As a rule, the command and military personnel of the training ground were elected by deputies of the Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies and members of the regional party committee. In addition to performing special tasks in the interests of the country’s security, a lot of work was carried out in the populated areas of the island in the socio-cultural sphere
Interest in local self-government re-emerged in the Soviet Union in the early 90s. This was reflected in the USSR law “On the general principles of local self-government and local economy in the USSR” (see VSND of the USSR and the Supreme Council of the USSR. - 1990 - No. 6, 44).
With the adoption of the RSFSR Law “On Local Self-Government in the RSFSR,” the process of reforming local authorities and forming local self-government bodies began in Russia.
The determining factor in the formation of a modern model of organizing local self-government was the adoption on December 12, 1993 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which recognized the need for the existence of local self-government and its legal guarantees at the legislative level. The process of reforming local self-government was based not only on Federal legislation, but also on Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation. With the adoption of regulatory legal acts, a new stage in the development of the legal framework of local self-government began.
We can distinguish four main, objectively established stages in the formation of the organizational and legal basis of local self-government in modern Russia.
The first stage is from 1990 to 1993.
Second stage - from 1993 to 1995
The third stage - from 1995 to 2003
The fourth stage is from 2003 to the present.
Taking into account the peculiarity of the tasks facing the Central Test Site of Russia, located on the territory of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, the special regime of access and stay, the increased secrecy of the work performed, the formation of local government bodies began from the end of the third stage. This was facilitated by such factors as the social composition of the population (the majority of the population are military personnel), the absence of indigenous residents, and the infrastructure of settlements, created primarily to solve the tasks of the Central training ground for its intended purpose. In practice, the formation of local self-government began with the entry into force of Federal Law No. 131.
In order to coordinate and work out organizational issues for the creation of a Municipal entity on Novaya Zemlya, to establish closer contact with the command of the Central Command of the Russian Federation, with residents of villages in solving assigned tasks, in 1998, by a decree of the Administration of the Arkhangelsk Region, the deputy commander for educational work, captain 1st rank Khimichuk Nikolai Vasilyevich, was approved head of the representative office on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago on a voluntary basis. On June 28, 1999, a general meeting of military personnel, workers and employees, members of their families of the Belushya Guba garrison of military unit 77510 “On the creation of a municipal entity on the territory of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago” was held. At the meeting, it was decided: to approve the creation of a municipal entity on the territory of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago; petition to set a date for the election of a representative body.
The Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies of the second convocation (twenty-third session) on July 7, 1999 adopted decision No. 670 on the formation of the municipal entity “New Earth”.
By-elections to the Council of Deputies of the Novaya Zemlya municipality were held in June 2000. The following were elected to the council: E.B. Yatsenko, D.B. Kovalskaya, O.A. Zimbitskaya, V.P. Brilev, T.N. Razumova, G.B. Potapov, I.I. Oleksina, S.I. Terletskaya, L.N. Korobova. Captain 2nd rank reserve V.P. was elected Chairman of the Council of Deputies of the Novaya Zemlya Municipal District. Brilev. By decision of the Council of Deputies dated September 27, 2000 No. 11, Viktor Ignatievich Butusov was approved and hired as head of the administration on a contract basis.
For a number of reasons, the Council of Deputies resigned early in 2003 and on December 11, 2003, early elections of the Council of Deputies of the Novaya Zemlya Municipal Association took place. Vladimir Yuryevich Kertsev was elected Chairman of the Council of Deputies, Vladimir Vasilievich Smetanin was appointed Head of Administration.
On March 2, 2008, the next elections of the Council of Deputies and the Head of the municipality of the urban district “Novaya Zemlya” took place.
Igor Albertovich Semushin was elected Chairman of the Council of Deputies, Vladimir Vasilievich Smetanin was elected Head of the municipality of the Novaya Zemlya urban district.
The composition of the Council of Deputies of the 3rd convocation is still in effect today. Head of the municipality of the urban district "Novaya Zemlya" Smetanin V.V. resigned early in connection with the transition to public service in early elections on November 1, 2009. Musin Zhigansha Keshovich was elected head of the municipality of the Novaya Zemlya urban district.
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Since January 2006, 229 municipalities have been operating in the Arkhangelsk region. The municipal formation of the urban district "Novaya Zemlya" is currently one of the few non-subsidized in the region.
In 2009, local government bodies of the municipal municipality “Novaya Zemlya” were vested with the following state powers with a list of tasks to be solved:
a) powers in the field of administrative offenses:
Creation, organization and support of the activities of administrative commissions;
Consideration of cases of administrative offenses under the jurisdiction of administrative commissions.
b) powers to create and operate commissions for minors and protect their rights:
Education, formation and organization of activities of territorial commissions for the affairs of minors and the protection of their rights;
Exercising the powers of the established commissions on juvenile affairs, including the consideration of cases of administrative offenses subordinated to the commissions on juvenile affairs in accordance with the regional law “On Administrative Offenses”.
c) powers to register and record citizens entitled to receive housing subsidies in connection with resettlement from the Far North and equivalent areas:
Accept from citizens entitled to receive housing subsidies in connection with resettlement from the regions of the Far North and equivalent areas, documents necessary for registration and registration of citizens entitled to receive housing subsidies;
Register citizens' applications for housing subsidies;
Check documents submitted by citizens for the purpose of registration and registration of citizens entitled to receive housing subsidies;
Make decisions on the registration of citizens entitled to receive housing subsidies, or on refusal to register, and also send applicants notifications about the decisions made;
Establish and maintain accounting files for citizens registered as eligible to receive housing subsidies;
Make decisions on deregistration of citizens entitled to receive housing subsidies, as well as send notifications to these citizens about decisions made;
Post lists of citizens eligible to receive housing subsidies for public viewing in accessible places;
Provide the necessary information on lists of citizens entitled to receive housing subsidies, upon written requests from citizens;
Annually create lists of citizens entitled to receive housing subsidies by category, approve them and, before February 1, send certified copies of the generated lists to the executive body of state power of the Arkhangelsk region, authorized by the Government of the Arkhangelsk region15;
Send citizens who are supposed to be issued state housing certificates notifications about inclusion in the preliminary list of recipients of housing subsidies;
Accept from citizens the necessary documents for issuing state housing certificates, as well as check these documents;
Store and issue state housing certificates, as well as maintain registers of issued state housing certificates;
Accept applications from owners of state housing certificates for their replacement;
Conclude agreements with citizens on the termination of social rental contracts for residential premises occupied by them or contracts for the exchange of residential premises belonging to them for state housing certificates;
Inform citizens about credit institutions participating in the implementation of the Federal Law “On housing subsidies for citizens leaving the Far North and equivalent areas.”
d) powers to organize and carry out guardianship and trusteeship activities:
Carry out logistical, technical, financial, organizational, information and legal support for the activities of local administration bodies exercising state powers to organize and carry out guardianship and trusteeship activities in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Federal Law of June 24, 1999 No. 120-FZ "On the fundamentals of the system for the prevention of neglect and juvenile delinquency", other federal laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, regional laws and other regulatory legal acts of authorities state authorities of the Arkhangelsk region.
Currently, the village of Belushya Guba is the capital of the Central Test Site of the Russian Federation. It has everything necessary for a normal life: a secondary school for 560 people, a kindergarten for 80 people, 17 residential buildings, 3 hotels, shops, the Orbita TV and radio station, a branch hospital with 100 beds, a clinic, and an Officers' House. The garrison's life support systems are functioning stably. In the spring of 1997, in the village of Belushya Guba, the foundation stone and site of the future chapel in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were consecrated by Bishop Tikhon of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory. Memorial sites and signs of the village are maintained and updated. At the moment, there are 4 municipal institutions and 3 municipal enterprises operating on the territory of the municipal district of the Novaya Zemlya urban district.
Geography
Geographical information
Novaya Zemlya is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean between the Barents and Kara seas. It consists of two large islands - North and South, separated by the narrow Matochkin Shar Strait, and many small ones. The length from southwest to northeast is 925 km. The area of all islands is more than 83,000 sq. km. In the south, the Kara Gate Strait separates it from Vaygach Island.
Structurally, Novaya Zemlya is a northern extension of the Ural Mountains. The mountains are deeply dissected by river and glacial valleys. In the southern part of the South Island, the terrain decreases and turns into a plain with low hills (up to 100-150m). Permafrost is widespread throughout.
The river network (especially on the North Island) is poorly developed. More significant rivers flow south of Northern Sulmeneva Bay. On the South Island, the largest river, Bezymyannaya, flows in the southwestern part. Rivers freeze to the bottom in winter.
The climate of Novaya Zemlya is arctic and harsh. Winter is long and cold, with strong winds and snowstorms.
About half the area of the North Island is occupied by glaciers, including about 20,000 sq. km of continuous ice cover, extending almost 400 km in length and up to 70-75 km in width. In some places, the ice descends into fjords or breaks off into the open sea in wide glaciers, forming ice barriers and giving rise to icebergs.
The Northern Island and part of the Southern Island belong to the zone of arctic deserts; most of the Southern Island is included in the tundra zone. Many areas are swampy.
Since the times of favorable climatic periods, such “southern” heat-loving plants as Novaya Zemlya have been preserved, such as marsh cinquefoil, dwarf birch, cloudberry, blueberry, lingonberry, some types of sorrel, buttercups, fireweed, primrose, and forget-me-not.
The steep slopes are dominated by poppies, rosea rosea, saxifrage, pennyweed, bluegrass, valerian, and buttercups.
There are good reindeer moss mushrooms. Flowering plants (northern pike, saxifrage, grains, polar poppy) are found on both islands.
All birds living on Novaya Zemlya are migratory. Waterfowl (ducks, loons, geese, swans) and waders are found mainly in lakes, swampy lowlands, rivers and streams. In the Arctic spring, after the “mating season,” they split into pairs and build their nests near the water.
Small passerines (Lapland plantain, snow bunting, horned lark, common wheatear, common redpoll), predators – buzzard and snowy owl – build their nests in dry places.
Mammals include the arctic fox, lemming, Novaya Zemlya subspecies of reindeer and polar bear.
In Belushya Bay and Rogachev Bay, marine mammals are common - sea hare, ringed seal, beluga whale. Previously, in the XIV-XVIII centuries, the Atlantic walrus and seals swam here. To date, these animals have been so severely exterminated that they have practically disappeared from the Novaya Zemlya region. Only in the north of the archipelago are small walrus rookeries preserved.
Short
General characteristics of the municipal district "Novaya Zemlya"
The municipal district of the Novaya Zemlya urban district includes the entire Novaya Zemlya archipelago. The area of the municipality is 137,800 km², including a land area of 79,788 km². The total length of the boundaries of the municipality is 2,241 km. Land plots with a total area of 46,580 km² were transferred and intended for the needs of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
The area of the municipality of the Novaya Zemlya urban district is 0.81% of the territory of the Russian Federation, 23.46% of the territory of the Arkhangelsk region.
About half the area of the North Island is occupied by glaciers. On an area of about 20,000 km² there is a continuous ice cover, extending almost 400 km in length and up to 70 - 75 km in width. The ice thickness is over 300 m. In a number of places, the ice descends into fjords or breaks off into the open sea, forming ice barriers and giving rise to icebergs. The total glaciated area of Novaya Zemlya is 29,767 km², of which about 92% is cover glaciation and 7.9% is mountain glaciers. On the South Island there are areas of arctic tundra.
Settlements: working village of Belushya Guba, village of Rogachevo. Currently, personnel live and serve in the village of Severny, at the Malye Karmakuly weather station, at the Pankovaya Zemlya and Chirakino helipads.
The administrative center is the working settlement of Belushya Guba, founded in 1897.
On the territory of the municipality there are known deposits of minerals, mainly ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, zinc, silver, copper, etc. There are known deposits of minerals, mainly ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The most significant is the Rogachevsko-Taininsky manganese ore region, according to forecast estimates - the largest in Russia. Manganese ores - carbonate and oxide. Carbonate ores, with an average manganese content of 8-15%, are distributed over an area of about 800 km², the predicted resources of category P2 are 260 million tons. Oxide ores, with a manganese content of 16-24 to 45%, are concentrated mainly in the north of the region - in the North Taininsky ore field, the predicted resources of category P2 are 5 million tons. According to the results of technological tests, the ores are suitable for producing metallurgical concentrate. All oxide ore deposits can be mined by open pit mining.
Several ore fields (Pavlovskoye, Severnoye, Perevalnoye) with deposits of polymetallic ores have been identified. The Pavlovskoye deposit, located within the ore field of the same name, is so far the only deposit on Novaya Zemlya for which balance reserves have been approved.
The reserves of the Pavlovsk deposit estimated and accepted for the State Balance are 1,967,000 tons of zinc, 453,000 tons of lead and 672 tons of silver. The total lead and zinc potential within the single proposed open-pit mine, taking into account predicted resources, is 9.4 million tons. In total, the deposit is estimated at 21.4 million tons.
The remaining ore fields have been studied much less. The northern ore field, in addition to lead and zinc, contains silver (content 100-200 g/t), gallium (0.1-0.2%), indium, germanium, yttrium, ytterbium, and niobium as associated components.
Occurrences of native copper and cuprous sandstones are known on the South Island.
All known ore fields require additional study, which is hampered by natural conditions, insufficient economic development and the special status of the archipelago.
In the waters of the seas washing the archipelago, a number of geological structures and promising oil and gas fields have been identified. The Shtokman gas condensate field, the largest on the Russian shelf, is located 300 km from the coast of Novaya Zemlya.
The population of the municipal formation urban district "Novaya Zemlya" as of October 1, 2011 is 2,372 people.
Transport distance of the administrative center of the municipality from the main transport hubs.
