Military Museums

World War II Museum & Victory Park

The Victory Park is a huge complex of expositions and monuments which was set up in 1995 as commemoration of the World War II. There are the museum, the memorial church of St. George, the Holocaust memorial synagogue, the memorial mosque, the open air military hardware exhibition, and a number of sculptures. The Museum's exposition includes six dioramas of key battles of the USSR and the Nazis. At the open-air grounds military fans may see more than 350 samples of armaments and engineering constructions from the both sides of the conflict. To look at photos of Victory Park & WWII Museum.

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Monino Air Force Museum

The Central Air Force Museum at Monino is Russia's biggest aviation museum and one of the biggest in the world. More than 170 aircraft are on display either in the hangars or in the open air area. All of them are real and many were delivered to there by the air on their own. It is a must see for any aviation enthusiast. Among the most interesting exhibits are the biggest aircraft of the early 20 century "Ilya Muromets", World War II' La-7 of Ivan Kozhedub, Soviet "Concorde" (Tupolev-144), Tupolev-95 (Bear on classification of NATO), the biggest transport helicopter Mi-12. To look at photos of Monino Air Force Museum.

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Space Museum & VDNKh

The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics was founded in 1981 and reopened in 2009 after the total reconstruction. Visitors may see the very first rocket engine designed by Tsander, cosmonauts' space suits, space dogs, models of a moon-rover and sputniks. Kids may experience flight simulators and try astronauts' food. The exhibits include a life-size model of the space station Mir's core module and original reentry vehicles of spacecraft Soyuz. To look at photos of Moscow Space Museum.

The VDNKh, or the Exhibition of the People's Economic Achivements, was ambitious project run in 1939 to showcase the USSR's achivements in all fields of economics. On the grounds of 580 acres were built dozens of exhibition pavilions, laid out gardens and presented champion cattle from all over the country. Today's VDNKh is just an empty shell of its wonderful past but still worth visiting. It is a nice park and a manifestation of optimism which supplied Soviet people with energy for many decades. To look at photos of VDNKh.

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Stalin's Bunker

The bunker for the Supreme commander-in-chief of Red Army Joseph Stalin was completed just before the World War II. The place for the secret object was chosen in Izmaylovo in the north-east of Moscow, and a huge stadium on top was intended to serve as its false front. In the Stalin's bunker visitors may have a look at the Session Hall of the Supreme commander-in-chief, his office and recreation room, a dining room and a high command room.

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Kubinka Tank Museum

The Kubinka is one of the most awesome museums of armoured fighting vehicles in the world. There are tanks from WWI, WW II, and the Cold War. Some of them were produced in the USSR, some were captured as war trophies and provided by the Allies as lend-lease supplies. The museum houses many unique vehicles, such as the Panzer VIII Maus (a German super heavy tank), Troyanov super-heavy tank, tank MK5 of 1918 production, light tank Vickers-Armstrong (series of 1937). Permission to the museum for foreigners is required as it is located on the Russian Army armour testing base, just outside Moscow.

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Borodino Panorama Museum

The museum contains a unique circular painting which depicts a particularly dramatic moment of the heroic battle between Russian army and Napoleon's Grand Army in 1812. The Borodino combat lasted 15 hours and cost both armies 100 thousand lives. The panorama was painted by Franz Roubaud for the 100th anniversary of the fight. In 2012 the museum's exposition was enriched a lot on the occasion of the 200th jubilee of the war. There are some historical documents, canvases, military uniforms, maps of the 1812 war. To look at photos of Borodino Panorama Museum.

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Taganka Cold War Bunker

The Cold War Museum was arranged on the base of the former Strategic Defence Command Post Tagansky, the only Cold War secret military shelter open to the public at present. The post was allocated underground at the depth of 60 meters and started operating in 1954. In a global nuclear war the center would have been one of the main command posts of the Soviet government. There is a number of tours and interactive games arranged by the staff of the museum. Half an hour "express" tour is usually enough to get an idea about the place. Preliminary booking of a tour is required. To look at photos of Taganka Bunker.

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Central Museum of Armed Forces

Visiting the museum might be useful for those who are interested to retrace the formation and development of the Soviet Army. The most well-presented part of the exposition relates to the period of the Russian Civil War and the very beginning of the WWII. The highlight of the collection is the victory banner raised over the Berlin Reichstag in 1945. The post-war time is documented rather briefly, though you will find the story of the downing of the U2 Gary Powers' spyplane in the 1960s, as well as some notes about the submarine "Kursk". Some military hardware is parked around the outside of the museum's building.

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