LOCATION: Volgograd and Astrakhan Oblasts, Russia; Western Kazakhstan Oblast, Kazakhstan
ACTIVITIES: 
Kapustin Yar, also known as Fourth State Central Test Site or the State Central Inter-Service Test Site, occupies a total of 6.5 million hectares (65,000 square km), of which 1.5 million hectares (15,000 square km) are situated in Kazakhstan.[1,2]  Created in the 1930s, Kapustin Yar was used as a space center and testing ground for Soviet missiles.[2]  From 1957-1962, 10 nuclear weapons were detonated over the Kazakhstani portion of  Kapustin Yar.[1]  Following the break-up of the USSR, the Kazakhstani portion was leased to Russia.[3]  In November 1999, Russia transferred its Strategic Rocket Forces from the Emba Test Site in Kazakhstan to Kapustin Yar in Russia.[4]
Sources:
[1] Smantay Tleubergenov, Poligony Kazakhstana (Almaty:  Gylym, 1997), pp. 433-436, 480-481.
[2] Yuriy Golotyuk, "Kazakhstan Syndrome Has Reached Volgograd:  Oblast Duma Decides Questions of Kapustin Yar," Izvestiya, 7 March 2000, pp. 1-2; in "Russia:  Oblast Demands Payment for Space Test Site," FBIS Document CEP20000308000120.
[3] Kanat Shaymerdenov, "Nesmotrya na to, chto deputaty ne ratifitsirovali soglasheniya ob arende Rossiyey poligonov, oni vskore dolzhny blagopoluchno proyti cherez mazhilis," Panorama online edition, http://www.panorama.kz, No. 24 (390), 16 June 2000.
[4] "Ispytatelnyy poligon 'Emba' perekocheval iz Kazakhstana v Rossiyu," Krasnaya zvezda, 20 November 1999, p. 1; in WPS Oborona i bezopasnost, No. 138, 24 November 1999.{Updated 10/5/2000 KB}{Updated 11/9/2000 KB}
 

Page last updated 28 November 2000
For more recent developments, see the Delivery Vehicle Facility Developments file.

Comments or questions? Contact Cristina Chuen at MIIS CNS: Cristina.ChuenATmiis.edu

This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2003 by MIIS.

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