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Satellite images show that Russia has been building this facility for over two years. Open-source researchers at Tochnyi, an investigative project focused on reporting accurately on the Russia-Ukraine war, identified a site in Kaliningrad region—sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania—where construction began in March 2023 and is nearly complete. The site is located just south of an airbase used by the Russian navy’s Baltic Fleet.
According to Tochnyi, this facility appears to be a circularly disposed antenna array designed for radio intelligence or communication, similar to CDAA sites widely used during the Cold War. If operational, Russia could use it to intercept NATO communications and triangulate their positions.
Contacted via email, the Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to inquiries about the site.
The facility, around 60 miles from the Baltic coast, may span up to 1,600 meters in diameter. Analysis suggests its circular configuration with evenly spaced excavation points and radial development of excavations indicate potential future buried cables or signal feedlines. A security perimeter has been established.
Tochnyi researchers noted that the site’s unusual geometry, impressive size, remote location, and strategic significance made it stand out during routine satellite image reviews. By July 2023, a completed boundary wall, an access point with a checkpoint, and concentric circles were visible. Excavation points could host poles to support antennas.
The placement of such a facility in Kaliningrad, heavily militarized and strategically important to the Kremlin, makes it plausible for Russia to monitor NATO communications across Eastern Europe and the Baltic region. This installation would enable communication with submarines in the Baltic Sea or the North Atlantic and support passive intelligence gathering, aligning with Russia’s broader electronic warfare doctrine.
The site represents a bridge between Cold War technology and modern military doctrine, emphasizing deniability, surveillance, and information dominance.
This development comes as world leaders await outcomes from U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage on August 15. The summit marked Putin’s first trip to the U.S. in a decade but ended without notable progress. On Sunday, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff indicated that Putin expressed openness to a security guarantee for Ukraine resembling NATO’s Article 5 protection. However, Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov stated there are no plans yet for meetings between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
