The Russian Ministry of Defense launched a project on electrified barriers near Moscow in 1941

The Russian Ministry of Defense launched a new historical project on its website dedicated to the creation of electrified barriers on the approaches to Moscow in 1941, based on archival documents that had not previously been presented to the general public.

The project is dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the start of the decisive battle for Moscow. The website of the military department published orders for the immediate deployment of the construction of a defensive line and special barriers, instructions for the combat use of electrified obstacles, reports on the use of electrical equipment in the Great Patriotic War, as well as personal files and award lists of the direct developers of the project.

“In the fall of 1941, during the battle for the capital, electrified barriers became an unexpected and effective defensive line,” notes the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The defense of Moscow has become one of the most striking examples of the mobilization of the efforts of the army and the population. Hundreds of thousands of Muscovites and hundreds of enterprises contributed to the defense of the capital, taking direct part in carrying out particularly important and top secret tasks. One of these tasks was the creation of electrified barriers.

By GKO Resolution No. 373ss of August 2, 1941, the People's Commissariat of Defense was required to “immediately begin creating soil electrification strips and anti-personnel barriers using stationary power plants and transmission lines on the defensive line.” An 18-day deadline was set for completion of the work.

The head of the Research Military Engineering Institute of the Red Army, military engineer of the first rank, Vladimir Ivanovich Zheleznykh, was appointed head of the work. The assistant to the head of electrical engineering work was the head of the NIVII spacecraft department, military engineer of the second rank, Mikhail Fadeevich Ioffe.

For the Moscow line of electrical barriers, it was necessary to build 38 underground transformer substations, dozens of switching points, and lay about 190 kilometers of cable lines. The construction of the first stage of the electric fence belt in the Khlebnikovo - Nakhabino - Krasnaya Pakhra - Podolsk - Domodedovo defense sector was completed by September 25, 1941. The length of the electric barriers was 150 kilometers. In the history of military affairs, the construction of these electric barriers was the most large-scale.

The operational report of the command post of the Western Front dated November 13, 1941 contains a mention of the combat work of units at the line of electric barriers. The document clarifies that the 303rd Engineering and Construction Battalion “is located at combat posts near the electric barriers and is ready for their combat use.”

The report of the head of the engineering service of the 9th Guards Rifle Division captured the death of a group of German infantrymen while trying to penetrate into the depths of the defense of the 258th regiment. “A group of six German machine gunners tried to penetrate into the depths of the regiment’s defense, came across electrified wire barriers and were electrocuted,” the document says.