Zvezdny, Perm
June A half hour drive away from Perm is an “urban-type settlement” called Zvezdny (“Stellar”). It’s a ZATO (which stands for “closed administrative-territorial formation” in Russian), like Sarov, Seversk or Zheleznogorsk. The formerly secret Perm-76 should not be confused with Zvezdny Gorodok (Star City). Zvezdny (Perm-76)MapYou can immediately tell that this place used to be secret.  Zvezdny All that remains of that secrecy today is a fairly basic security checkpoint.  Boxes with the town’s name hang on the poles.  Along with so-called vertical greening pots (the name was invented by landscape designers when they decided to hang flowers from street poles).  The rest is just your typical Russia.  Nasha Russia (“Our Russia,” the title of the Russian version of the sketch comedy series Little Britain). Fuck. Every apartment building entrance has information about various service organizations stenciled onto the door. 
Your building is serviced by MUE HMU “Guarant.” Address: 15 Lenina St. Hours of Operation: There’s nothing else space-related in the town except for rockets on the children’s playground.  There’s a regular military base.  There’s a fire department with binary phone numbers.  In case of fire call 01. From a cell phone: U-tel 010, MTS 010, Megafon 010, Beeline 001 They love firefighters here.  Military personnel are entitled to modern quality construction:  They used to build somewhat better buildings not that long ago, some even had French balconies (that’s when the exterior wall has a door without an actual balcony).  Even though the town is small, it has its own unique features. There’s a sign on every house warning about snow falling from the rooftop (like in Seversk).  Beware of snow falling from roof Truck tires are the primary decorative element. They’re carved into swans, roses, you name it (like in Tonga or Микронезии).  There’s a gas pipe leading to every house, equipped with an anti-rat cone (we can recall the decorations at the train station in New York).  One building was once officially well-kept (we can recall Belfast).  Well-Kept Building So it is written, so it shall be done.  USSR Victory. The traditions of fathers — into the deeds of sons! PermMapPerm is notable in that the locals always designate it as “Perm City.” As if there’s anything else in the world called Perm.  Welcome to Perm City! They also like to paint guard booths with diagonal stripes in Perm, like it was done before the revolution. This tradition should be kept alive and cherished.  In the month that I was gone, small but pleasant changes have taken place in the city. The first letter П (the Cyrillic equivalent of P), which is the city’s logo, has been erected.  The green line—a downtown pedestrian route that passes through all the major tourist attractions—has been created.  A graffiti mural of unreal size has been spray-painted (it’s pretty weak from an artistic point of view).  Giant concrete letters that say “Power” have been installed right in front of the building where power presides. It’ll look good from outer space.  But the most striking change is the addition of surveillance cameras on street poles downtown. The cameras themselves might have gone by unnoticed, so they were connected to thick bright orange cables. And now you can see them from a mile away in all their glory.  |
