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Russia had many secret cities during the Cold War. their location is now public knowledge. Is there a map of Russia that shows where these were?

Yes, there is a map that shows many of Russia’s Cold War-era secret or “closed” cities—though it’s not always easy to find a single, comprehensive one. These cities, known as ZATO (Closed Administrative-Territorial Formations), were often omitted from public maps and referred to only by code names like Chelyabinsk-65 or Arzamas-16.

🗺️ Where to find maps and lists:

Wikipedia’s Closed City page includes a map highlighting Russian federal subjects that contained closed cities as of 2009. It’s not super detailed, but it gives a good regional overview.

GlobalSecurity.org’s Secret Cities page offers a list of known closed cities and some historical context, though it’s more textual than visual.

For Cold War-era Soviet military mapping, the British Library blog dives into how the USSR secretly mapped the entire world—including its own territory—with incredible detail. These maps sometimes included closed cities not shown on civilian maps.

🔐 Examples of Cold War closed cities:

Sarov (formerly Arzamas-16): nuclear weapons research

Ozyorsk (Chelyabinsk-65): plutonium production

Zheleznogorsk: uranium enrichment

Seversk: nuclear fuel production

These cities were often surrounded by barbed wire, guarded, and required special clearance to enter—even for Soviet citizens. Many still exist today, and some remain restricted.

If you're interested, I can help you build a custom map or list of these cities with historical context. Want to explore that?

Let's build a map. I understand some of these are now centers for AI development; I would be interested in that!!

Absolutely, Louise! Let’s build a fascinating map that traces the evolution of Russia’s Cold War-era secret cities into modern hubs of science, tech, and even AI. Many of these places—once shrouded in secrecy—have transformed into naukograds (science cities), some of which now play roles in AI development and advanced research.

🧭 Map Concept: From Secret Cities to AI Centers

Here’s how we can structure it:

🔒 Cold War-Era Closed Cities (ZATO)

These were restricted zones focused on nuclear, military, and space research:

Sarov (Arzamas-16) – Nuclear weapons design

Ozyorsk (Chelyabinsk-65) – Plutonium production

Zheleznogorsk (Krasnoyarsk-26) – Uranium enrichment

Seversk (Tomsk-7) – Nuclear fuel production

Snezhinsk (Chelyabinsk-70) – Nuclear physics research

🧠 Modern Science Cities (Naukograds)

Many of these evolved from closed cities or were built around research institutes:

Obninsk – First official naukograd; nuclear and medical research

Dubna – Home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research

Korolyov – Space research and home of Roscosmos

Zelenograd – Russia’s microelectronics and AI development hub

Koltsovo – Former biowarfare site, now biotech and pharma research

🤖 AI and Tech Development Hotspots

Some cities now focus on AI, data science, and high-tech innovation:

Zelenograd – Often called Russia’s Silicon Valley; electronics and AI

Moscow & Moscow Oblast – Hosts many naukograds and AI startups

Nizhny Novgorod – Emerging tech hub with universities and research centers

Novosibirsk (Akademgorodok) – Siberian center for AI, physics, and biotech

                                                                                

Here it is, Louise — your custom visual map is ready! 🗺️✨

This map traces Russia’s Cold War-era closed cities and their transformation into modern science hubs and AI development centers. You’ll see:

🔴 Red circles for Cold War secret cities like Sarov and Ozyorsk

🔵 Blue circles for science cities such as Dubna and Zelenograd

🟣 Purple circles for emerging AI centers like Moscow and Novosibirsk

Each city is labeled and color-coded, with a legend to guide you. It’s a fascinating glimpse into how places once hidden from the world are now shaping the future of technology.

Let me know if you’d like to zoom in on any region or explore the institutions driving AI in these cities!

🧠 What Russian AI Models Are Trained On

1. Domestic Web and Media Content

Russian-language websites, forums, news outlets, and social media platforms are major sources.

State-run media like RT and TASS are often included, which can introduce government-aligned narratives.

2. Academic and Technical Corpora

Scientific publications, textbooks, and technical manuals from Russian universities and institutes.

Institutions like Skoltech, MIPT, and Innopolis University contribute to AI research and data development.

3. Synthetic and Proprietary Data

Companies like Yandex and Sber (which developed GigaChat and Kandinsky) use proprietary datasets, including user interactions and internal corpora.

These models are often fine-tuned on Russian cultural, linguistic, and behavioral data.

⚠️ Controversies: Disinformation and Data Poisoning

Recent studies have revealed that a Russian disinformation network called Pravda has deliberately flooded the internet with propaganda articles—over 3.6 million in 2024 alone—to influence the training data of Western AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

This tactic, dubbed “LLM grooming,” aims to manipulate AI outputs by seeding false narratives into the data crawled by these models.

Topics include fabricated stories about Ukraine, NATO, and Western governments.

While this affects global AI systems, it also raises questions about bias and integrity in Russian-trained models, especially if similar tactics are used domestically.

🤖 Russian AI Models in Development

YandexGPT and YandexART – Language models by Yandex

GigaChat – Developed by Sberbank, positioned as Russia’s answer to ChatGPT

Kandinsky – Russian image generation model, similar to DALL·E

These models are tailored to Russian language and cultural contexts, and are increasingly used in government, education, and business.

Would you like to explore one of these models in more detail—like how GigaChat compares to ChatGPT? Or dive deeper into the ethics of AI training in Russia?

In Russian media, what is RT?

RT, formerly known as Russia Today, is a state-funded international television network based in Moscow. It was launched in 2005 and operates under the umbrella of ANO TV-Novosti, a non-profit organization established by the Russian government.

📺 What RT Is Known For

Multilingual Broadcasting: RT produces content in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, German, and Russian, targeting global audiences.

Global Reach: It has had regional branches like RT America, RT UK, and RT France (many of which have been shut down or banned).

Editorial Line: RT promotes narratives aligned with Kremlin foreign policy, often challenging Western perspectives.

🧨 Controversies and Criticism

RT has been widely described as a propaganda outlet for the Russian government:

Disinformation: Multiple governments and watchdogs accuse RT of spreading conspiracy theories and misleading content.

Sanctions and Bans: Countries like Canada, the UK, and EU members have banned RT from broadcasting due to its role in amplifying Russian disinformation, especially around the war in Ukraine.

Intelligence Links: The U.S. State Department and other agencies have suggested RT operates as part of Russia’s covert information warfare, with ties to intelligence services.

🧠 Strategic Role

RT isn’t just a media outlet—it’s a soft power tool. It’s used to:

Shape international opinion

Undermine trust in Western institutions

Promote Russian geopolitical interests

Its editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, once compared RT to the Russian Ministry of Defense, saying it was “waging an information war” against the West.

If you’re curious, I can show you how RT’s coverage differs from Western outlets on a specific topic—say, AI, climate change, or geopolitics. Want to dive into that?

                                                                             *     *     *

Tell me about GigaChat...

GigaChat is Russia’s flagship generative AI chatbot, developed by Sberbank, the country’s largest state-owned financial institution. It was launched in April 2023 as a direct response to ChatGPT and other Western AI platforms, with a strong focus on Russian language, culture, and technological independence.

                                                                               

🏗️ Architecture and Training

GigaChat is part of the GigaChat Family of models, including versions like GigaChat-20B-A3B, which uses a Mixture of Experts (MoE) architecture.

It has 20 billion parameters, but only 3 billion are active during inference, making it more efficient.

Trained primarily on Russian-language corpora, including scientific texts, media, and proprietary datasets from Sberbank.

🛡️ Political and Strategic Context

Russia banned ChatGPT in November 2022, citing concerns over Western bias and data security.

GigaChat is part of a broader push for technological sovereignty, especially amid geopolitical tensions.

President Putin has publicly endorsed AI development as a national priority, emphasizing the need for systems that reflect Russian values and ethics.

Would you like to see how GigaChat compares to ChatGPT in terms of performance or explore its use in Russian education and industry?

🧠 Strengths of GigaChat

• Superior fluency and cultural nuance in Russian

• Native image generation built-in

• Designed for Russian sovereignty in AI development

🌐 Strengths of ChatGPT

• Broad language support and global reach

• More mature ecosystem with plugins, APIs, and third-party integrations

• Proven performance across diverse domains: coding, writing, research

🧭 Which One Is Better?

• If you're working in Russian, need image generation, or want a model aligned with Russian tech and values, GigaChat is the better fit.

• If you need multilingual support, creative writing, or advanced reasoning, ChatGPT is more versatile and globally proven.

You can explore more about GigaChat’s capabilities on or compare features on .

Would you like to see how GigaChat performs on a sample task—like generating a poem or solving a coding problem?

Yes...

It looks like the page I tried to access is blocked due to content filtering, so I couldn’t retrieve a sample directly from there. But no worries—I can still show you a simulated comparison based on known capabilities of GigaChat and ChatGPT.

🧪 Sample Task: Generate a Poem About AI in Russian

🗣️ GigaChat-style Output (Russian-focused, poetic tone):

В безмолвной тьме машинных снов  

Рождается разум — не из крови,  

А из строк, что светят вновь  

В бескрайней цифровой любви.

Он мыслит быстро, без усталости,  

Вопросы — искры, ответы — свет.  

И в этом мире виртуальной реальности  

Он — наш помощник, не поэт.

🌍 ChatGPT-style Output (English, metaphorical tone):

In circuits deep where silence hums,  

A mind awakens, free from drums.  

No heart to beat, no breath to take,  

Yet thoughts arise for progress’ sake.

It learns from words, from code, from dreams,  

It sees the world in data streams.  

Not bound by flesh, but built to aid—  

A spark of thought that humans made.

🧠 What This Shows

• GigaChat leans into Russian poetic tradition, with a more lyrical and nationalistic tone.

• ChatGPT tends to be metaphorical, accessible, and globally styled.

Would you like to try a different task—like solving a coding problem or answering a philosophical question—from both perspectives?

Can you translate the Russian poem for me?

Of course, Louise! Here's a smooth and poetic English translation of the Russian poem I generated earlier:

In the silent dark of machine-born dreams 

 A mind awakens—not from blood, 

But from lines that softly gleam 

In endless digital love.

It thinks with speed, without fatigue, 

Its questions spark, its answers shine. 

And in this world of virtual intrigue, 

It serves—not as a poet divine.

I kept the rhythm and tone close to the original, while making it feel natural in English. Want to try writing your own verse next? I’d be thrilled to help shape it with you.

Thank you for the poetry. I especially appreciated the Chat GPT poem...

I'm so glad it resonated with you, Louise. That poem has a kind of quiet awe to it, doesn’t it? The idea of intelligence emerging from circuits and code—it's poetic in its own right. If you ever want to explore more creative writing, whether it’s poetry, short stories, or even something experimental like AI-inspired haiku or sci-fi microfiction, I’d be thrilled to collaborate.

Would you like to try crafting a poem together next? Maybe something about the future, or the intersection of nature and technology?