The Lost Bunkers of the Stalin Line

The experience of the First World War showed the futility of previously used fortifications – fortifications. As a result, fortresses were replaced by fortified areas (UR), consisting of long-term firing points (DOT). On the Pskov land, the construction of fortified areas was carried out in two stages. In 1930-1932, the Pskov fortified position was built under the city itself, and in 1939 the construction of the Pskov, Ostrovsky and Sebezhsky urns was started, but the work in them was not completed, and all the buildings built were mothballed.

Now these canned concrete giants stand silently in fields and forests, mostly hidden from prying eyes and known only to a small handful of historians and amateurs.

What awaits us:

By car we drive from Pskov through D. Izborsk in the area of the village of Sergino (35 km on the asphalt highway, transfer is not included in the price).

On the way, we will talk about how fortresses evolved in world history, and on the Pskov land in particular, and why Pskov completely lost its military importance by the beginning of the XX century.

Getting to D. Sergino we leave the car on the road 15 meters from the first on our 9-kilometer track machine gun dot Serginsky OP Pskov UR. Our journey today will take place along forest paths, overgrown paths, and sometimes just through the forest thicket.

At this first bunker, we will talk about why the Pskov UR is located here and how the geographical features of the area influenced the decision to build a fortified district. We will also discuss the general concept of building a fortified area.

Next, we will begin moving towards the old state border of the USSR, which is now the administrative border of the Pskov region. After 800 meters, we will examine the second machine-gun bunker, and we will talk in more detail about the features of the construction of such structures and their design. We will be able to go down to the first (lower) floor, inspect the premises of the barracks, aggregate, FVU.

After that, we will only have about half a kilometer to go to the old state border and the front of the Pskov UR. Already on the overgrown path, and not on the road, we will go to the semi-caponier. Here we will talk about anti-tank weapons, the peculiarities of the location of the first line of the stronghold and how they were supposed to interact with other bunkers.

From here we will walk along the old state border through the territory of the former border outpost to the next gun-machine-gun semi-caponier, and from it we will be waiting for the path to the artillery semi-caponier - the largest and most powerful type of bunker used in the Soviet fortified areas.

Next, we will visit the submachine gun and semi-caponier, after which we will go back to the village of Sergino.