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Emba

  • Location
    200km from Aktyubinsk, Mugodzharskiy Rayon, Aktyubinsk Oblast
  • Type
    Nuclear-Test Site
  • Facility Status
    Non-operational

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The site was created in 1960, covering an area of 7,000km. In 1995, Kazakhstan and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement whereby Russia could lease the site for a period of 10 years. In addition to Russian troops, Kazakhstani surface-to-air missile troops reportedly conduct launches at Emba. 1 In November 1999 the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces completed the relocation of personnel, military property, and technical equipment from Emba to Kapustin Yar, Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, and ended their lease of the test site. 2

Sources

  1. Richard F. Kaufman and John P. Hardt (eds.), The Former Soviet Union in Transition, Joint Economic Committee Congress of the United States, p. 788, 1993; Merhat Sharipzhan, “Kazakh Russian Military Cooperation,” NISNP E-mail correspondence, 1 November 1996; Vladimir Berezko, “They Should Come Up with a Red Book for Emba,” Krasnaya zvezda, p. 26, September 1996, FBIS-SOV-96-209-S.
  2. “Ispytatelnyy poligon ‘Emba’ perekocheval iz Kazakhstana v Rossiyu,” Krasnaya zvezda, p. 1, 20 November 1999; WPS Oborona i bezopasnost, No. 138, 24 November 1999.

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