Ballistic Missile Site Museum

A short distance south of Kiev, in the middle of fertile fields, lies what was once one of the deadliest places on the planet – the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile site near the city of Pervomaisk.

During the Cold War it housed the unstoppable SS-18 (NATO - “Satan”) multiple nuclear warhead missiles with a combined power great enough to wipe out over a hundred Hiroshimas.

The 200 ton rocket with 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads could reach any place in the world within 28 minutes and penetrate the most sophisticated anti-ballistic umbrella.

In the early years of its long-sought independence Ukraine made a strategic decision to completely abandon its entire nuclear arsenal, which had ranked third in the world after Russia and the U.S.A.

In order to tell the world about the dangerous nuclear standoff of the past, one of the missile sites was preserved and turned into a museum.

It is the only museum of its kind where you can have a guided tour around facilities that once kept the world holding its breath.

We invite you to visit this place and learn about the missiles’ role in recent history, such as the R-12 missile that was deployed in Cuba during the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis of the early 1960s.

Among the displays are four generations of missile devices and internal mechanisms.During the guided tour you will be shown a presentation of the four main generations of missiles and will see rare footage of missile launches from a train, submarine, stationary silo and truck.

You will also see the state-of-the-art, multi-tier security system that guarded the base.

Next you will come to an actual silo and hear a presentation on how it was built to be able to launch the 200-ton projectile in just 6 seconds.

A special treat awaits you down in the maze of underground passages. Here you will find the command post, a 15-storey bunker, and descend on a special elevator to the control room - the heart of the missile site that houses many tons of complex equipment and the mysterious red button.

You will learn that the button is actually gray, and that it took more than just a push of the button to launch the missile. It required coordinated actions by a team of specially trained officers.

At the end of your tour you will be directed to the most dangerous missile of all - the SS-18 - now decommissioned, of course. You will hear that these missile carriers were and still are built in Ukraine and will learn how its designers made it so reliable and invincible.

Very few people have left the place without being deeply impressed and moved.

NovaMova offers a one day tour that includes transportation, tour guide and interpreting (if needed).