Bunker-42 Cold War Museum

Bunker-42 is a former Soviet nuclear command facility converted into an unusual Cold War museum. Located 65 metres underground beneath a nondescript building in the Taganka district, the complex includes communications rooms, dormitories, and a Soviet-era command centre that visitors can explore on guided tours.

The tours (in Russian with some English options available) take about 90 minutes and cover the history of Soviet nuclear strategy, the construction of the bunker, and the Cuban Missile Crisis period when the facility was on high alert. The space has been preserved with original equipment and has an appropriately claustrophobic atmosphere. Book ahead — tours run at scheduled times and capacity is limited.

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Bunker-42 was built between 1950 and 1956, bored 65 metres into the bedrock beneath Taganka, and was intended to serve as the wartime command centre for the Soviet Long Range Aviation command. Its existence was classified; the entrance on Kotelnichesky Lane was disguised as an ordinary building. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the bunker was placed on full alert. It was declassified after the Soviet collapse and has operated as a museum since 2010.

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