Znamensk, Astrakhan Oblast Znamensk, Astrakhan Oblast Znamensk () is a closed town in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia. Population: It was founded in 1948 as Kapustin Yar-1 to serve a missile test range known as Kapustin Yar. Town status was granted in 1962. The closed town was renamed Znamensk in 1992. The military testing range is officially known as 4GCMP (4th State Central Interspecific Test-site). Kapustin Yar is also the name of a nearby village. Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the closed administrative-territorial formation of Znamensk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal
Black Sea–Caspian Steppe Don River and Volga River which are about 60 km apart to the west of Volgograd. This article excludes the north slope of the Caucasus which is not steppe and has a distinct geography and history. Administratively it comprises (clockwise) the Astrakhan Oblast along the Volga, Kalmykia (west of Astrakhan oblast and reaching the Caspian in the south of the Volga), Northern Dagestan, the Stavropol Krai in the center-south, Krasnodar Krai in the west with its inclave of Adygea, southern Rostov Oblast in the northwest and the southern Volgograd Oblast in the north-center. The largest towns are Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd and