During the Cold War, competing with the United States in the arms race, the Soviet Union, like America, created military bases around the world. The presence of such objects made it possible to expand the sphere of influence and gain a strategic advantage of the geopolitical plan.
July 28, 2021
In addition to bases on the territory of the Warsaw Pact countries, military destinations arose in places more remote than Eastern Europe.
When the Soviet military first appeared in Cuba
Fidel Castro was able to convince Khrushchev that only nuclear warheads were able to resist American expansion on the island.
A contingent of Soviet servicemen arrived in Cuba on September 9, 1962, when the Soviet Union delivered ballistic missiles as part of Operation Anadyr. Since that time, a permanent group of troops has been located on the island of Svoboda, which received the abbreviation GVSK (a group of Soviet military specialists in Cuba).
This Latin American country was of interest to the Moscow leadership primarily because of its proximity to the United States. To keep an eye on the main enemy, a radio-electronic reconnaissance center was built in Lourdes (a southern suburb of Havana). Due to the fact that the distance from the object of radio interception to the US border was no more than 250 km, the specialists stationed on the island could listen to almost the entire territory of a potential enemy.
Before the collapse of the USSR, there were about 3,000 employees on the island: in addition to the radio-electronic Center, Cuba operated the Priboy communication center in the city of El Gabriel and the naval base in the port of Cienfuegos. In September 1992, Moscow decided to withdraw Russian servicemen from the country and in November the first group of Soviet specialists was sent home from Havana.
What attracted Vietnam to the Soviet military
Cam Ranh Was called "a pistol attached to the temple of the U.S. Pacific Fleet."
During the war, the deep-water Cam Ranh Bay in South Vietnam was used by the United States as an air and naval base. In April 1975, Cam Ranh came under the control of the North Vietnam Army, and a few years later it was leased free of charge to the USSR to create a logistics point.
In addition to the shipyard, the base had a port that could simultaneously accommodate up to 6 auxiliary military vessels, 10 ships and 8 submarines. As well as a large airfield, designed for the simultaneous deployment of up to 16 strategic missile carriers, about three transport and ten reconnaissance aircraft.
Cam Ranh was considered the largest Soviet base abroad: at the peak of its use, the personnel numbered up to 10,000 troops. In the autumn of 2001, the Russian leadership refused to extend the lease, which since 2004 became paid, and began the early evacuation of the military from the country. In October 2016, official Vietnam announced a ban on the deployment of any foreign military bases on its territories.
What advantages did the USSR give the presence of a military base in Somalia
The cruiser "Admiral Ushakov" was the first to be honored to moor in the port of Berber, which was opened in 1968.
The naval base in the Gulf of Aden appeared in the Soviet Union in 1964 and became a real oasis of civilization in a backward country in all directions. The main advantage of the base was its geopolitical location: it made it possible to control the movement of ships along the Suez Canal.
The base had the infrastructure for ships of the Navy, as well as the airport in Berbero, with the longest runway in Africa at that time (more than 4 km). In addition to strategic bombers and missile carriers, air transport of reconnaissance and anti-submarine aircraft was located here.
After the Somali attack on Ethiopia and the soviet support for Addis Ababa, the Somali authorities demanded the withdrawal of the Soviet military from the country, thus prohibiting further activities of the base.
Как появилась военная база СССР на Сейшельских островах
On May 8 – 12, 1982 he paid a visit to the port of Victoria bodding "Vasily Chapaev" (k-2r. A. Zozul).
The appearance of the USSR base in the Seychelles was helped by chance. In November 1981, a group of mercenaries from South Africa planned to carry out a coup in the country. However, after the capture of the airport, an attempt to take control of the Seychelles capital failed: the people's army, despite the small number (about 250 people), managed to block the exit from the airport. Having captured a civilian plane, some of the militants were able to leave the country, the remaining mercenaries were arrested by the police of the islands.
During the events described, there were Soviet ships near the archipelago. Upon receiving a report of an attempted coup d'état, they immediately proceeded to the island of Mahé, on which the capital Victoria was located. Despite the fact that the USSR did not provide military assistance due to lack of need - the Seychelles army coped with the terrorists on its own - the desire of foreigners to come to the rescue was appreciated by the local government.
As a result, the Soviet Union had the opportunity to use the island state as a logistics point for the fleet. And also have access to the capital airport of the country. Mutually beneficial cooperation continued until 1990, after which the base in the Seychelles ceased to exist.
What was the purpose of creating a Soviet military base in Yemen
During the years 1968-1991, 5245 Soviet military specialists visited Yemen.
After the outbreak of civil war in Yemen, which was caused in 1962 by an anti-monoarchic coup, the Soviet Union sided with the Republicans. However, he did not take an active part in the conflict, providing the allies mainly with assistance to military transport aircraft.
The base of the USSR Navy appeared on the Socotra Islands in 1976 and existed until 1986. Only for the period 1976-1979 the port of the base received 123 ships for replenishment of supplies and rest, and the number of personnel during this time increased to a thousand people. Modernized by the military, the local airport helped in 1977 to hastily relocate Soviet aviation after a forced withdrawal from Somalia.
In January 1986, a new coup took place in South Yemen, which led to civil war and chaos. The riots forced them to flee the country, and not in an organized manner. The fate of some civilian and military specialists who apparently never managed to get out of this Asian country is still unknown.
