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
Astrakhan To this day, the beautiful city of Astrakhan holds plenty of history and attracts tourists by the thousands. After fraud was alleged in the mayoral election of 2012 and the United Russia candidate was declared the winner, organizers of the 2011–2012 Russian protests supported the defeated candidate, Oleg V. Shein of Just Russia, in a hunger strike. Substantial evidence of fraud was cited by the protesters but an official investigation failed to find significant violations. The activists from Moscow found it difficult to gain traction over the issue with local residents who, like most Russians, accept political corruption as a