Former Soviet Biological Weapons Facilities in Kazakhstan: Past, Present, and Future

29 Pages·0.418 MB·English

by  Bozheyeva G., Kunakbayev Y., Yeleukenov D.

Occasional Paper No. 1
Former Soviet Biological Weapons
Facilities in Kazakhstan:
Past, Present, and Future
Gulbarshyn Bozheyeva
Yerlan Kunakbayev
Dastan Yeleukenov
Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Project
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Monterey Institute of International Studies, June 1999
PAPERS AVAILABLE FROM CNS:
Occasional Papers
No. 1 Former Soviet Biological Weapons Facilities in Kazakhstan: Past, Present, and Future,
by Gulbarshyn Bozheyeva, Yerlan Kunakbayev, and Dastan Yeleukenov,
June 1999
Working Papers
No. 1 International Missile Trade and the Two Koreas, by Peter Hayes, March 1993
No. 2 Inventory of International Nonproliferation Organizations and Regimes, compiled by
Roland M. Timerbaev, Lisa Moskowitz, and Jacques Vos, June 1993
No. 3 The Ukrainian Nuclear Arsenal: Problems of Command, Control, and Maintenance, by
Martin J. DeWing, October 1993
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CONTENTS
Foreword ii
by Jonathan B. Tucker, Ph.D.
Brief History of the Soviet Biological Weapons (BW) Program 1
The Biopreparat Complex 2
Other BW-Related Centers 3
Kazakhstani Elements of the System 4
Vozrozhdeniye Island 4
Infrastructure and BW Development 5
Dessication of the Aral Sea 6
Stepnogorsk Scientific Experimental and Production Base (SNOPB) 8
Research and Development Work 9
Infrastructure of the Facility 10
Scientific Research Agricultural Institute (NISKhI) 11
Anti-Plague Scientific Research Institute 12
Initial Efforts at Conversion 13
AO Biomedpreparat—Heir to SNOPB 14
NISKhI 17
Anti-Plague Institute 17
Prospects for Conversion 17
Structural and Technological Constraints on Conversion 18
Role of Foreign Assistance Programs 19
Conclusions 19
Photographs of SNOPB
(1) Building 600, where research was conducted Not Included
1g2n2idl imu oB,r4f42- 1 d 40ns20ag6nidl iwf ueo)Bi2V( Not Included
(4) Refrigeration units at SNOPB Not Included
(5) Buildings 251-252, used to store finished products Not Included
(6) Entrance to bunker next to helicopter landing pad Not Included
i
FOREWORD
In April 1992, Russian President Boris worked at CNS as a Visiting Scholar and
Yeltsin admitted that the Soviet Union and then Research Associate. Yerlan Kunakbayev has an
Russia had conducted a top-secret offensive M.S. in biology from Moscow State University
biological warfare (BW) program in violation of and worked at the Kazakhstan National Center
the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons for Biotechnology in Stepnogorsk. Dastan
Convention banning the development, Yeleukenov is an Advisor to the Kazakhstani
production, stockpiling, and transfer of these Minister of Foreign Affairs. He holds a
weapons. After his admission, President Yeltsin Candidate of Sciences (Ph.D.) degree in physics
issued an edict committing Russia to eliminate and is a member of the CNS Core Group of
its offensive BW activities and to comply fully Nonproliferation Specialists. He is also
with the treaty. Nevertheless, a number of affiliated with the CNS branch office in Almaty.
former Soviet microbiological research centers
Commissioning local Kazakhstani experts
under the control of the Russian Ministry of
to conduct the data collection and analysis not
Defense remain shrouded in secrecy, and the
only resulted in better quality information than
US government has assessed that “some
if foreign analysts had done the work, but it
facilities [in Russia], in addition to being
furthered the CNS mission of building
engaged in legitimate activity, may be
communities of nonproliferation specialists in
maintaining the capability to produce BW
the Newly Independent States of the former
agents.”*
Soviet Union. The study was carried out with
Four major BW research, production, and the cooperation of the Government of
testing sites also existed in the Soviet republic Kazakhstan and the United States Embassy in
of Kazakhstan, which in 1991 became an Almaty, whose assistance is much appreciated.
independent country. In contrast to Russia, the
This report should make a significant
Kazakhstani government has been remarkably
contribution to increasing public understanding
open with respect to the former Soviet facilities
of what remains a dark chapter of Soviet
on its territory. Thus, a study focusing on the
history. It is also to be hoped that the Russian
history and status of the Kazakhstani sites
Federation will follow Kazakhstan’s lead by
offers a valuable window into the nature and
providing a full account of the offensive BW
scope of the Soviet BW program.
activities that took place on its territory during
In January 1998, the Center for and after the Soviet era. Only by confronting
Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the the past will the successor states of the former
Monterey Institute of International Studies Soviet Union be able to move forward with
commissioned three Kazakhstani experts to other nations, in a spirit of mutual confidence
prepare a report on the former Soviet BW and security, to build a more stable and
facilities in Kazakhstan, their current status, and prosperous future.
the prospects for economic conversion and
environmental remediation. The authors of this
report are all superbly qualified. Gulbarshyn Jonathan B. Tucker, Ph.D., Director
Bozheyeva holds a Candidate of Sciences Chemical and Biological Weapons
(Ph.D. equivalent) degree in chemistry from
Nonproliferation Project
Kazakhstan State University and graduated
Monterey Institute of International Studies
from the Program in International
June 1999
Development Policy at Duke University in the
United States. She is a member of the CNS
Core Group of Nonproliferation Specialists and

* US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Threat
Control Through Arms Control: Annual Report to Congress 1996
(Washington, DC: ACDA, 1997), p. 87.
ii
Bozheyeva, Kunakbayev, and Yeleukenov
FORMER SOVIET BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
FACILITIES IN KAZAKHSTAN:
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
Kazakhstani facilities involved in the
research and development, production, and A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SOVIET
testing of biological weapons (BW) played a key BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS PROGRAM
role in the former Soviet BW program.1
The Soviet network of facilities involved in
Although a number of open publications have
developing biological weapons consisted of two
addressed the former Soviet program in recent
main groups: a system under military control
years, few have examined the Kazakhstani
dating back to the late 1920s, and a second,
portion of the system.2 This report provides a
top-secret program under civilian cover that
history of Kazakhstani BW facilities and
was created in the 1970s.3 The Red Army
describes their current status and future
opened the first laboratories for research on
prospects. The example of Kazakhstan also
pathogenic microorganisms in 1928.4 BW
highlights the technical, economic, and
facilities under the direct authority of the Soviet
financial problems associated with converting
Ministry of Defense (MOD) included the
former BW facilities to peaceful activities in the
Scientific Research Institute of Microbiology in
post-Cold War era.
Kirov (now Vyatka),5 the Center for Military-
The first part of this report is devoted to Technical Problems of Anti-Bacteriological
an overview of the Soviet BW system. The Defense in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg),6
second part deals with the history and current and the Center of Virology in Zagorsk (now
status of the four major BW facilities in
Kazakhstan. The third part examines the
potential for commercial production at these 3 Only the major elements of the Soviet BW system relevant to
facilities and the obstacles they have faced on Kazakhstan are discussed here. Detailed material on other
Soviet BW facilities can be found elsewhere. See, for example,
the road to conversion. The final part discusses
Anthony Rimmington, “From Military to Industrial Complex?
the future prospects for conversion and The Conversion of Biological Weapons Facilities in the
environmental remediation and makes some Russian Federation,” Contemporary Security Policy 17 (April 1996),
pp. 81-112.
policy recommendations.
4 In 1928, Red Army authorities decided to create a laboratory
on vaccine and serum research at the Vlasikha estate, 30

kilometers from the village of Perkhushkovo. The young
1 In terms of BW capability within the former Soviet Union, scientist Ivan Velikanov was appointed head of the laboratory.
Kazakhstani BW facilities were second only to those in Russia. In 1931, a laboratory for anthrax research was established in
Anthony Rimmington, “Conversion of BW Facilities in Tobolsk, Siberia, and in 1933, a secret bacteriological
Kazakhstan,” Center for Russian and East European Studies, laboratory was opened at Pokrovskiy Monastery in the town of
the University of Birmingham (UK), undated research paper; Suzdal to research highly pathogenic agents. The famous
interview with specialists from the National Center for political and military official Kliment Voroshilov was one of
Biotechnology (NCB; the umbrella organization for most of the first heads of the Soviet BW program in the 1930s.
the former Soviet military and civilian biotechnology facilities Interview with specialists from the NCB.
in Kazakhstan), 1998. Kazakhstan is not a signatory of the 5 The Red Army’s Scientific Research Institute of
Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) for Microbiology was opened in 1933 in the village of
financial reasons, but it participated as an observer at the Perkhushkovo near Moscow. In 1942, it was relocated to
Fourth Review Conference of the BWC in 1996. Kirov, 900 kilometers from Moscow, to avoid capture by the
2 Rimmington has prepared the most comprehensive report on advancing German Army. Rimmington, “From Military to
Kazakhstani BW facilities. Rimmington, “Conversion of BW Industrial Complex,” p. 83.
Facilities in Kazakhstan.” Recently, the Kazakhstani author 6 The facility was previously named the Scientific Research
Samantay Tleubergenov provided some information on the Institute of Vaccine Preparations. It was built in 1947 and
Soviet BW program in Kazakhstan. Samantay T. Tleubergenov, located within Military Compound No.19 in the city of
Poligony Kazakhstana (Kazakhstan’s Test Sites) (Almaty: Gylym, Sverdlovsk. Rimmington, “From Military to Industrial
1998). Complex,” p. 86.
1
Former Soviet Biological Weapons Facilities in Kazakhstan
Sergiyev Posad).7 These facilities were Sverdlovsk. Biological agents harmful to
administered by the 15th Directorate for livestock and plants were tested at a special site
Biological Protection of the MOD.8 Another near Novosibirsk. Munitions for the delivery of
BW facility, the Scientific Research Institute of all types of biological agents were assembled at
Military Medicine in Leningrad (now St. the Sverdlovsk facility.12
Petersburg), reported to the Military-Medical
Directorate of the MOD.9 Vozrozhdeniye
The Biopreparat Complex
Island, in the Aral Sea, reported to the 15th
Directorate and was the main testing ground In the early 1970s, the Soviet authorities
for biological agents developed at MOD began creating a new network of BW facilities
facilities.10 parallel to the military system. In 1972, the
USSR signed the Biological and Toxin
In addition to the centers developing
Weapons Convention (BWC), under which it
antipersonnel BW agents, another group of
was supposed to stop all offensive BW work.
facilities worked on microbial agents harmful to
The new “civilian” network of biotechnology
livestock and plants. One such facility, the
institutes conducted some civilian research, but
Scientific Research Agricultural Institute
it also served as a cover for military-related BW
(NISKhI) in Gvardeyskiy, Kazakhstan, was
activities. These sites were formally run by
established in 1958. While formally
civilian authorities and involved a large number
subordinated to the USSR Ministry of
of civilian biotechnological specialists and
Agriculture, the institute was probably
enterprises.13 In 1972, the USSR Council of
supervised by the MOD. After the institute
Ministers established a secret Interagency
opened, a military unit was posted there to

guard the facility and, as a rule, the director of
zapreshchenii razrabotki, proizvodstva i nakopleniya zapasov
the institute held a high military rank. Facilities bakteriologicheskogo (biologicheskogo) i toksinnogo oruzhiya
in Russia involved in the development of anti- i ob ikh unichtozhenii” (“Information on facilities and
biological activities of the Russian Federation related to the
livestock and anti-crop agents included the
Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention”), declaration by
Scientific Research Institute for Animal
the Russian Federation under the confidence-building
Protection in Vladimir11 and the center in measures for the BWC, Moscow, May 2, 1994, p. 339.
12 BW tests on military hardware were also conducted in

Afghanistan. Soviet mobile missiles equipped with BW
7 The Sergiyev Posad facility is located about 70 kilometers warheads were stationed in the Arctic. Interview with NCB
from Moscow. Rimmington, “From Military to Industrial specialists.
Complex,” p. 86. 13 The new network of facilities increased the capability of the
8 The 15th Directorate for Biological Protection of the Soviet BW system by attracting new human and material
General Staff was headed by General Yefim Smirnov. resources and supplementing military research with
Interview with specialists from the NCB; Rimmington, “From technological developments in the civilian sector. As early as
Military to Industrial Complex,” p. 99. the late 1960s, the Soviet authorities took measures to
9 The Leningrad institute was created in 1969. The Central accelerate the development of the biotechnology industry as a
Military Medical Directorate, established in 1930, was the whole. In 1966, microbiological enterprises were integrated
highest administrative body for medical institutions in the into one industrial branch under the Main Directorate for the
Ministry of Defense. Rimmington, “From Military to Management of Microbiological Industry (Glavmikrobioprom).
Industrial Complex,” pp. 86-87, 99, 102. On August 8, 1970, the Central Committee of the CPSU and
10 The Kirov, Sverdlovsk, and Zagorsk centers also had their the USSR Council of Ministers adopted the decree “On
own small testing grounds. Rimmington states incorrectly that Measures for the Accelerated Development of the
the Vozrozhdeniye site was under the authority of the Center Microbiological Industry,” which envisioned the creation of a
of Virology in Zagorsk. In fact, the Vozrozhdeniye site was number of new microbiological plants. Based on this decree,
operated by the Soviet MOD, which sent orders to its Glavmikrobioprom ordered the construction of the civilian
Zagorsk, Kirov, and Sverdlovsk facilities to conduct certain biotechnological plant Progress in Stepnogorsk that later
tests at the island. The types of agents tested at the island provided a cover for the nearby BW facility. Eduard I. Perov,
included anthrax and plague bacteria developed at Sverdlovsk “Trudnyye shagi ‘Progressa’” (“The Difficult Steps of
and Kirov, and viral agents developed at Zagorsk. Interview ‘Progress’”) in Stepnogorsk: Zdes propisany nashi serdtsa. Stranitsy
with specialists from the NCB. istorii goroda Stepnogorska Akmolinskoy oblasti (Stepnogorsk: Our
11 “Informatsiya ob obyektakh i biologicheskoy deyatelnosti hearts are registered here. Pages from the history of the city of Stepnogorsk,
Rossiyskoy Federatsii, svyazannykh s Konventsiyey o Akmofa Oblast) (Almaty: Atamura, 1994), p. 107.
2
Bozheyeva, Kunakbayev, and Yeleukenov
Science and Technology Council on Molecular Scientific Institute of Ultrapure Biological
Biology and Genetics, consisting of Preparations in Leningrad, and the Scientific
representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Experimental and Production Base in
military-industrial complex, the Soviet Stepnogorsk, Kazakhstan.17 The 15th
Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Health, Directorate of the MOD supervised the work
and the Ministry of Agriculture. The Council of the Biopreparat facilities and coordinated
was chaired by the well-known virologist their activities with those of the MOD’s
Vladimir Zhdanov and the members were military biotechnological centers. As the
approved by General Secretary of the Kazakhstani example will show, in addition to
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) being run by the same upper echelon of the
Leonid Brezhnev and Chairman of the USSR MOD, the military and Biopreparat BW
Council of Ministers Aleksey Kosygin.14 systems shared some technologies and
personnel.18
The All-Union Production Association
Biopreparat, created in 1973 by a decree of the
Central Committee of the CPSU and the USSR Other BW-Related Centers
Council of Ministers, was tasked with
In addition to the aforementioned centers
implementing the programs approved by the
within the offensive part of the Soviet BW
Interagency Council. This organization
program, other facilities were involved mainly
comprised some 40 research and devel-opment
in defensive BW developments. The system of
(R&D) and production facilities. In addition to
anti-plague research institutes and field
managing the civilian biotechnological industry
monitoring stations under the authority of the
and R&D, Biopreparat was actively involved in
Main Directorate of Quarantine Infections of
military BW programs.15 Although formally
the USSR Ministry of Health included the
subordinated to the civilian Main
Mikrob Scientific Research Anti-Plague
Administration of the Microbiological Industry
Institute in Saratov, the Rostov Anti-Plague
(Glavmikrobioprom), Biopreparat was funded
Institute, the Volgograd Scientific Research
by the MOD and the head of the organization
Anti-Plague Institute, and the Irkutsk Anti-
held the rank of lieutenant general.16
Plague Institute for Siberia and the Far East.19
Leading Biopreparat facilities included the These institutes were mainly responsible for
State Scientific Center of Applied Microbiology civilian epidemiological investigations and did
in Obolensk, the Institute of Immunological not have direct links with MOD or Biopreparat
Studies in Lyubuchany, the State Scientific BW facilities.20 As follows from the example of
Center of Virology and Biotechnology (known the Anti-Plague Scientific Research Institute in
as Vector) near Novosibirsk, the State Alma-Ata (now Almaty), however, the anti-
plague institutes developed vaccines and

14 Vyacheslav Yankulin, “Sindrom chumy, ili Khozhdeniye po
mukam odnogo iz sozdateley bakteriologicheskogo oruzhiya” 17 The center in Obolensk, about 100 kilometers from
(“Plague Syndrome, or A walk through the torments of one of Moscow, was founded in 1974. The institute at Lyubuchany,
the creators of biological weapons”), Izvestiya, October 15, near Chekhov, Moscow Oblast, was created in 1980. Vector, in
1997. Koltsovo near Novosibirsk, was established in 1985.
15 Biopreparat, known by its postal code P.O. Box A-1063, Rimmington, “From Military to Industrial Complex,” pp. 86,
controlled the world’s second-largest antibiotics industry and 108.
produced a number of biopharmaceuticals and veterinary 18 Rimmington indicates that Nikolay Urakov, former deputy
products, which were exported to many developing countries. director of the MOD Kirov facility, became the director of the
Western sources believe that as many as 2,000 of Biopreparat’s Biopreparat facility in Obolensk in 1986. Rimmington, “From
9,000 scientific employees were experts on deadly pathogens. Military to Industrial Complex,” p. 108.
Laurie Garrett, “Inside Russia’s Germ Warfare Labs,” Newsday, 19 “Informatsiya ob obyektakh,” pp. 339-341.
August 10, 1997, pp. A5, A38-A39; Rimmington, “From 20 The network of Anti-Plague Institutes could provide
Military to Industrial Complex,” p. 87. assistance to MOD conventional forces by monitoring
16 Rimmington, “From Military to Industrial Complex,” p. 87; outbreaks of natural endemic diseases in the areas where
Yankulin, “Sindrom chumy.” troops were stationed.
3
Former Soviet Biological Weapons Facilities in Kazakhstan
diagnostic materials for microbial pathogens KAZAKHSTANI ELEMENTS OF THE
modified by the military. Moreover, given the SYSTEM
exchange of top-ranking specialists between the
Kazakhstani BW facilities belonged to
anti-plague institutes and offensive BW
various parts of the Soviet BW structure and
facilities, their participation in some offensive
reported to different central authorities in
BW programs cannot be ruled out. For
Moscow.25 The four main facilities were the
example, Igor Domradskiy, the deputy
Vozrozhdeniye Island open-air test site in the
chairman of the Interagency Council and a
Aral Sea, the Scientific Experimental and
founder of Biopreparat, had previously headed
Production Base (SNOPB) in Stepnogorsk, the
the anti-plague institutes in Irkutsk and Rostov-
Scientific Research Agricultural Institute
on-Don.21
(NISKhI) in Gvardeyskiy, and the Anti-Plague
Finally, some institutes of the USSR Scientific Research Institute in Alma-Ata.
Academy of Sciences represented in the These facilities are described in greater detail
Interagency Council may have been indirectly below.
involved in BW developments. A common
practice among Soviet scientific institutes was
Vozrozhdeniye Island
to seek research contracts from well-financed
military-industrial organiza-tions. One academic The Vozrozhdeniye Island test site in the
institute that may have been indirectly involved Aral Sea was part of the older, military BW
in BW work was the Shemyakin Institute of system. The island was apparently chosen for
Bioorganic Chemistry (IBKh) in Moscow, open-air testing of biological weapons because
which was founded in 1980 and did research on of its geographical isolation.26 Vozrozhdeniye is
advanced methods of genetic engineering and
industrial microbiology.22 The first director of 25 This study of the structural links of the Kazakhstani
IBKh, Academician Vadim Ovchinnikov, also elements shows how the Soviet BW system was organized.
First, the system was clearly divided into separate parts, which
served as head of the Biological Sciences
were funded and managed by different authorities in
Department of the USSR Academy of
accordance with technological specialization (anti-personnel vs.
Sciences. It was widely believed among Russian anti-crop and anti-livestock agents, defensive vs. offensive
scientists that Ovchinnikov actively sought developments), military or civilian participation, and the level
of involvement in the BW program (direct or indirect). Unified
research funding for his institute from military
strategic guidance and top executive management over the far-
biotechnology programs.23 As described in the flung system were provided by the Interagency Council and
next section, IBKh had links with the the MOD. Although the system observed the strictest secrecy
rules, corporate links between facilities with similar or
Biopreparat center in Stepnogorsk.24
complementary expertise and the transfer or exchange of
human, technological, and material resources were common.
The expanded horizontal links and the short vertical chain of
command, with little delegation of authority to intermediate
elements, would probably have been the most effective
mechanism in the event of wartime mobilization.
26 Vozrozhdeniye Island was discovered by A. I. Butakov,

Lieutenant of the Russian Fleet, on the Konstantin in September
21 Yankulin, “Sindrom chumy.” 1848. Butakov named it Nicholas Island after Tsar Nicholas
22 The IBKh building was constructed by Finnish builders and the First. Seven miles northwest from Nicholas Island, he
had up-to-date foreign and Soviet equipment not available at found another island, which he named Naslednik (Heir). To
many other microbiological institutes of the Soviet Academy the south of Naslednik Island was one more island, which he
of Sciences. Interview with NCB specialists. named Konstantin Island after Grand Duke Konstantin
23 Ovchinnikov wanted to discover how the three-dimensional Romanov, the official chairman of the Russian Geographic
structure of the protein albumin is determined by its primary Society. Together, the three islands were called the Tsarskiye
amino acid sequence, hoping to win the Nobel Prize for his (Tsar) Islands. During the Soviet era, Nicholas and Naslednik
research. However, achieving this ambition proved to be Islands were renamed Vozrozhdeniye (Rebirth) and
impossible at the time. Interview with a former IBKh Komsomolskiy Islands. Due to the dessication of the Aral Sea,
employee. the three Tsar Islands later merged into one big island. Zhenis
24 Interview with NCB specialists. Darmenov, “Ostrov Vozrozhdeniya: Tayn stanovitsya
4
Bozheyeva, Kunakbayev, and Yeleukenov
situated in the middle of the Aral Sea, provided with special ships and two airplanes
surrounded by large, sparsely populated deserts and reportedly conducted experiments
and semi-deserts that hindered unauthorized involving the spread of tularemia and related
access to the secret site. The island’s sparse microorganisms. In the fall of 1937, however,
vegetation, hot, dry climate, and sandy soil that the expedition was evacuated from the island
reaches temperatures of 60° C (140° F) in because of security problems, including the
summer all reduced the chances that arrest of Velikanov and other specialists.30
pathogenic microorganisms would survive and
In 1952, the Soviet government decided to
spread.27 In addition, the insular location
resume BW testing on islands in the Aral Sea.
prevented the transmission of pathogens to
A biological weapons test site, officially
neighboring mainland areas by animals or
referred to as “Aralsk-7,” was built in 1954 on
insects. The northern part of Vozrozhdeniye
Vozrozhdeniye and Komsomolskiy Islands.
Island, which Kazakhs call Mergensay, is on
The MOD’s Field Scientific Research
Kazakhstani territory. The southern two-thirds
Laboratory (PNIL) was stationed on
of the island is in the Karakalpak autonomous
Vozrozhdeniye Island to conduct the
region of Uzbekistan.28
experiments.31 Military unit 25484, comprising
In 1936, Vozrozhdeniye Island was several hundred people, was also based on the
transferred to the authority of the Soviet MOD island and reported to a larger unit based in
for use by the Red Army’s Scientific Medical Aralsk.32 The PNIL developed methods of
Institute.29 The first expedition of 100 people, biological defense and decontamination for
headed by Professor Ivan Velikanov, arrived on Soviet troops. Samples of military hardware,
the island that summer. The researchers were equipment, and protective clothing reportedly
passed field tests at the island before being
menshe” (Vozrozhdeniye Island: There are fewer and fewer mass-produced. During the Soviet intervention
secrets”), Put Lenina, Aug 14, 1990, p. 2. in Afghanistan, military protective gear
27 Interview with a member of the 1990 Kazakhstani
developed for Afghan conditions was tested at
delegation to Vozrozhdeniye Island, November 1998.
the PNIL.33
28 It appears that no clear border demarcation yet exists
between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan on the territory of
Vozrozhdeniye Island. Whereas the northern part of the island
is owned by Kazakhstan, the airspace over the island is Infrastructure and BW Development
controlled by Uzbekistani air traffic authorities, and the
The BW test site on Vozrozhdeniye Island
southern part of the island is under the authority of the
Uzbekistani Ministry of Defense. Residents of Aralsk recalled was divided into a testing complex in the
that Uzbekistani authorities prevented the mayor of the city southern part of the island and a military
from traveling to the island by helicopter. A similar incident
settlement in the northern part where officers,
happened to some Kazakhstani fishermen in 1994 when they
landed on a part of the island that Uzbekistani authorities some with families, and soldiers lived. The
claimed was their territory. In May 1998, the authors of this settlement had barracks, residential houses, an
paper and BBC television journalists, who had permission
elementary school, a nursery school, a cafeteria,
from the Kazakhstani government to travel to the island by

helicopter, were forbidden to approach the island by
Uzbekistani authorities. 30 Rimmington, “Conversion of BW Facilities,” pp. 2-3.
29 Previously, Vozrozhdeniye Island and the city of Aralsk 31 Interview with NCB specialists; Rimmington, “Conversion
were used as exile camps for kulaks (private farmers) by the of BW Facilities,” p. 3.
15th Special Commandant’s Office of NKVD (People’s 32 Interview with an official from the US Department of
Commissariat of Internal Affairs, later the KGB). One such Defense (DOD), May 1998. The Aralsk military base was an
settlement in Aralsk was named “New America.” Gennadiy important source of jobs for local residents, who supplied the
Kruglyakov, “Kazakhstanskiye ‘Solovki’” ( “Kazakhstan’s troops with food and other services. Civilians also worked
‘Solovetskiye’ Islands”), Kazakhstanskaya pravda, October 28, among sailors on dry cargo barges and tankers. Interview with
1998, p. 3. The Red Army’s Scientific Medical Institute, local citizens in Aralsk and Kzylorda pilots, May 1998;
established in 1933, was transferred to Kirov in 1942 and is Darmenov, “Ostrov Vozrozhdeniya.” Rimmington indicates
now known as the Scientific Research Institute of that over 1,000 people were stationed at the island.
Microbiology. Rimmington, “Conversion of BW Facilities,” p. Rimmington, “From Military to Industrial Complex,” p. 86.
2. 33 Darmenov, “Ostrov Vozrozhdeniya.”
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