Skrunda

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Skrunda



City rights	1996

Location of Skrunda within Latvia
Location	56°40′N, 22°0′E
Other names	Schrunden
Mayor	Nellija Kleinberga
Number of city council members	9
District	Kuldīga District
Area	7.912 km² (3 sq mi)
Rural territory	257.908 km² (100 sq mi)
Elevation	50 m (164 ft)
Population	2,637
Density	333 /km² (862 /sq mi)
Postal code	LV-3326
Calling code	+371 33
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Homepage of Skrunda

Skrunda (pronunciation (help·info)) is a city in Latvia.

[edit] Soviet Military Complex

The small town of Skrunda, 150 km from Riga in Latvia, was the site of two Hen House radars built in the 1960s. The 60-meter structure was to have been one of the most important Soviet stations for listening to objects in space; Soviet early warning radars.

Pursuant to an agreement “On the Legal Status of the Skrunda Radar Station During its temporary Operation and Dismantling”, signed by Latvia and the Russian Federation on 30 April 1994, the Russian Federation had been allowed to run the Hen House station for four years, after which it was obliged to dismantle the station within eighteen months. The deadline for dismantling was 29 February 2000. Russia asked Latvia to extend the lease on the Dnepr station at Skrunda for at least two years, until the new Daryal station under construction near Baranovichi became operational. Riga rejected these requests, and the radar was closed on 04 September 1998.

In a joint New year statement, the presidents of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania urged Russian President Boris Yeltsin to complete the pullout of all Russian troops from the region, as promised, in 1994.

All materials of value where stripped from the site, leaving the concrete remains of the 60 buildings that comprised the former complex. The area is now a nature reserve.