🇱🇻 Irbene – The Super Not-So-Secret Soviet Listening Station
A Soviet ghost town hidden deep in the Latvian forest? That had been on our list from the very beginning, so we didn’t need much convincing. We just turned up unannounced, and as luck would have it, a friendly guide offered us a private tour in English for the next day. Perfect!
The tour was absolutely brilliant and worth every penny. We got into buildings and tunnels and learnt loads, some of it serious, some of it surprisingly funny. Here’s the story of Irbene…
Background
The year is 1967, and “the West” and “the East” really don’t like each other very much. “Trust” is out of the question, and spies are spying all over the world.
Technology is advancing fast, and countries, as always, are keen to know every secret of other countries.
The Baltic states are part of the Soviet Union and as close to the West as it gets. They have lots of forests and unpopulated areas… so a plan is devised and put into motion.
The city/complex
The Soviets pick a densely forested area in Latvia as their new spot for spying on the West. An entire city is built in record time. More than 2,000 people will call this place home for the next few decades, without anyone knowing about it. Or so they think.
The codename is Звёздочка, which translates as “star”, or more accurately “little star”.
The area is well secured with fences and guard posts. To hide its true purpose, the soldiers wear air force uniforms. Anyone who asks what they’re guarding is told it’s a secret airfield. They even go as far as decorating the gates with iron propellers to sell the disguise.
In addition to housing, the Soviets build a school, a gym, swimming facilities, saunas, shops and, of course, the antennas.
Three antennas of different sizes are spread across the area, with diameters of 8, 16 and 32 metres.
Even inside the city, only very few people know what is going on. The staff are divided into tiers, and only the top-ranking officers really know what the “little star” is up to: listening to everything the West sends over the airwaves!
Soldiers are sworn to secrecy even after their service ends. This, too, is organised in tiers: the top-ranking officers are sworn to secrecy until death, while the lowest tiers only have to keep quiet for five years after being discharged.
It is said that some soldiers of the lower tiers didn’t even know exactly where they were.
When we heard this, we thought it must have been an awful place to end up. But the pictures taken (secretly and illegally) by soldiers, as well as stories from former staff, paint a different picture.
The shop stocked all kinds of rare Western goods, from sodas and beers to the latest fashion. People had a great time playing all kinds of sports, and apparently the sauna, gym and swimming facilities were second to none! Being stationed at the little star was actually a privilege for most.
The exposure to Western culture left its mark, too. Quite recently, a stash of tapes was found. At first, people thought they had discovered real secrets that had somehow survived the destruction. It quickly turned out, however, that Soviet soldiers simply loved Western music: the tapes contained songs by Pink Floyd, Depeche Mode and the like.
So, all in all, life in Irbene wasn’t actually that bad. A strange thought to us, but with these insights it made sense!
The secret
…wasn’t really a secret! During our tour, our guide explained and showed us formerly secret (now declassified) CIA documents proving that US intelligence had known about Irbene, the little star, since at least 1969!
They had satellite images of the entire complex and very detailed descriptions of literally everything, from the construction details of the antennas to the living quarters and even the soldiers stationed at the base.
According to former staff, at some point high-ranking officers started receiving Christmas postcards from the US, addressed to them by their full names. This, of course, was the US taunting the Soviets: we know everything!
Other stories suggest the station wasn’t only trying to intercept top-secret communications, but also picked up football matches and the Olympics!
The end of the Soviet era and today
Latvia regained full independence in 1991, yet the Russian military held on to the secret city until 1994!
In a cloak-and-dagger operation, a special unit was sent with a single task: to destroy everything. And they did. They poured acid over motors, and cut and burned cables, even hammering nails into them. They took or burned all documents and tried to destroy anything that so much as resembled a secret.
Rumour has it they even wanted to blow up the antennas, but changed their minds when radio scientists intervened.
Latvia took over and started rebuilding the antennas. Today they are used for scientific purposes, and the 16 m and 32 m dishes are fully functional and maintained.
On top of that, there is a rather powerful LOFAR antenna. Students and scientists alike use the technology to test their hypotheses and further our understanding of the universe.
Every now and then, a former officer pays a visit. So far, however, they have all kept their vows of secrecy, even those who officially no longer have to. To us, that speaks volumes.
If you are ever in the region, we highly recommend taking the tour. You get a great glimpse into recent history, and you can even walk on an old dish and get really close to the ones still in service!
The town itself is mostly in ruins, and many buildings have been demolished for safety reasons, but it still gives off a Soviet vibe combined with that lost-place feeling.