Ust-Kutsky District - Ust-Kutsky District - Wikipedia

Ust-Kut
, a city in Russia, the administrative center of the Ust-Kut district of the Irkutsk region, within the Bratsk diocese. Located at the confluence of the Kuta River and the Lena River, 610 km northeast of Irkutsk (by air). The Baikal-Amur Mainline passes through the city. There is a large river port, airport, and railway station here. Population: 44,805 people (2012) [1].

• On the map: Yandex.Map, Google map

One of the oldest settlements on the river. Lena. The city stretches along the river for 40 km, while at the same time being only 1.5 - 2.5 km wide.

Toponymy

Ust-Kut is often called a city with three names, since three toponyms are identified with it: Ust-Kut (city and airport), Lena (railway station), Osetrovo (port).

Settlement

was founded at the mouth of the Kuta River (from Evenk. kuta - wetland).
Hence the name - Ust-Kutsky (in the old spelling - Ust-Kutskaya) fort, later the village of Ust-Kutskoye. Gradually, the shortened name of the village, fixed when the status of the settlement changed, came into common use - Ust-Kut. When the name is declined, the stress is not preserved and goes to the ending: in Ust-Kut, from Ust-Kut
, etc.

Ethnic name: Ustkutians

(masculine and feminine forms:
Ustkutyanin, Ustkutyanka
).
form ,
often used by central and regional media, is considered incorrect.

Lena station

named after the Lena River, which goes back to the Evenk people. elu ene (“big river”).

Port Osetrovo

named after the workers' village included in Ust-Kut in 1954.

Walking around old Ust-Kut

The city streets are like museum halls: you can wander alone, looking at the silent exhibits, or you can be accompanied by a guide, and then history will come to life in the stories of a knowledgeable person, and each house will “tell” about who lived here and how, what worked as they loved and suffered. So, Svetlana Konstantinovna Pshennikova, a well-known local historian in the city, and I decided to walk along the streets of old Ust-Kut, because it is from here that the village of Ust-Kutskoye originates, which later became a city of three names, one of the largest transport hubs in Eastern Siberia.

Ust-Kut local historians managed to quite accurately determine the original location of the fort that arose at the confluence of the Kuta and Lena rivers. According to the rules of town planning that existed in the seventeenth century, in the center of any settlement, a church was always built first, around which huts, trading shops and villagers' houses were built. Moreover, no matter what happened to the church (whether it burned, fell into disrepair or was rebuilt), it was always built on the site of the previous one. After all, the place for the temple was not chosen by chance; construction was always preceded by some kind of indicating sign. Today, the place where the old Church of the Savior stood is reminded of by three centuries-old spruce trees, miraculously preserved after the fire. When Soviet power was established in Ust-Kut, the church was closed, OSOAVIAKHIM was located in the premises of the former temple, and in 1936 it was completely burned down. Old-timers recall that the weather was absolutely windless, and the church burned like a candle for several days. The church park remained until 1950, when construction of the city party committee building began, when not only it was destroyed, but also the cemetery that used to be attached to the church, where priests and noble villagers were buried. There was also a priest’s house here, where the last rector of the Church of the Savior, Alexey Podgorbunsky, lived before the revolution. In the twenties, a kindergarten was set up in his house, the main attraction of which was a gramophone with a single record of waltzes. All kindergarten events took place to this musical accompaniment. Svetlana Konstantinovna remembers well how, when digging a foundation pit for a new district committee building, the remains of the buried were thrown out and how the boys played with skulls, putting them on sticks. Isn’t that where the disrespectful attitude towards the graves of ancestors, so clearly demonstrated these days, originates, but we’ll talk about this a little later. Local historians from the ninth school are trying to identify the historical place where the fort was located by laying out a public garden named after the pioneer Ivan Galkin, but all their efforts without the broad support of the public and current patrons of the arts have not yet brought tangible results.

Among others who actively developed the Lena lands were merchants. Several merchant families were known in Ust-Kut, famous not only in the village, but throughout Russia and far beyond its borders. The father of Alexander Nikolaevich Alekseevsky was an exile, but his acumen and resourcefulness made it possible to amass considerable capital, and his son inherited not only a trading business, but also became a famous fur expert, whose opinion was listened to even in America. In Ust-Kut, the Alekseevskys owned several houses, one of which has survived to this day. It stands on the shore of the once deep-water Kuta; opposite the house a pier was built where Alexander Nikolaevich’s steamship, which he owned as a share, landed. The fate of Alexander Nikolaevich after the revolution was tragic. There was no place for him under Soviet rule, his property was requisitioned, Alekseevsky himself settled in a gatehouse at the church and worked as a watchman at OSOAVIAKHIM. Old-timers recall that at exactly 12 o'clock he would ring the church bell, thus marking the onset of midday. In the thirties, he was arrested based on slander, the investigator turned out to be a professional person and proved the innocence of Alexander Nikolaevich, but he never left the Kirensky prison and died of exhaustion.

Note Leizerovich Gorosfeld, by today's standards, could be called an individual entrepreneur, and his business - a family business. From his business, three trading shops have survived to this day, which still house shops. “Trade in meat and food supplies” - such a sign adorned the facade of the shop, now known as the “High Porch” store. In the courtyard of the shop there was a bakery where bread and delicious buns, pies and shangis were baked around the clock. Pastries and tea were an indispensable treat for the passengers of the ships that moored at the piers on Kut. The second Grosfeld store was known for the fact that after the revolution it changed names as the saleswomen changed in it: first it was “Zoin”, and then “Grushin”. The latter name was assigned to the trading establishment. In the third trading store, on Partizanskaya Street, after the revolution there was a teahouse for some time, but it was not a catering establishment for long, it was again converted into a store.

If you walk along Sovetskaya Street (by the way, this street also changed three names: first it was Bolshoi, then Kolkhoznaya, new political trends affected it until it received today’s unified name in 1954) from the planned Galkin Square in a western direction, then on the right you will not You may not notice the large building of the Okhotnik store. Today, probably, few people know that this is the former house of the merchant Mikhailov. In Ust-Kut, Mikhailov had two houses, the second stood on the banks of the Lena. Next to the houses there were rich courtyards with buildings; he had his own pier and his own steamship. In those days, a special sign of superiority among the Ust-Kut merchants was precisely the ownership of their own pier and steamship, albeit on a joint basis with someone else. Mikhailov also owned a large apiary on the right bank of the Lena. Old-timers recalled that Mikhailov was not only rich, but also kind, he did not refuse help to anyone when they were slaughtering livestock, and he always delivered meat to those in need. After the revolution, a ministerial school was set up in one of Mikhailov’s houses, and later it became the Okhotnik store.

Opposite the Okhotnik store there is another public garden, the site of which has its own slightly dark history. Previously, there was a house on this site where the White Guard headquarters was located during the Civil War. After interrogation, captured partisans were shot here, on the banks of Kuta. Already in Soviet times, the house was demolished, and a memorial sign was erected at the site of the execution of nine partisans. The trees that grew around turned into a small park. In October 1989, the remains of the partisans Guta and Chaikin were moved here, and in 2001 another grave appeared here, after a flooded river washed away the remains of a 17th-century resident of Ust-Kut, who decided to bury them in the same park. Old-timers remember that before, half-rotten rectangular coffins (cossacks who settled in the Ust-Kutsk fort in the 17th century) were washed up on the banks of Kuta. The site of the park could indeed have turned out to be one of the historical ones, but today it is a pitiful sight. A lopsided cross, graves overgrown with weeds, heaps of garbage... All because they haven’t decided who will take care of this place. The descendants of the nameless Cossack who once explored these lands, and the red partisans who fought for a better life, turned out to be indifferent and ungrateful people. But nearby are the first school and the lyceum, whose high school students are quite capable of taking care of the square and graves, and “patriotic education” is probably included in the plans of these educational institutions. What is it filled with? Beautiful but empty words about the need to love your Motherland?

Previously, Bolshaya Street was famous for its Kurkutov houses, which were distinguished by their quality and beautiful decoration. It should be noted that our ancestors knew how to not only build strong, good-quality houses designed to accommodate more than one generation, but also decorated the houses with intricate patterns of wooden lace. And it doesn’t matter what was located in it: housing or shops. And today the remains of this lace and platbands have been preserved on some of Grosfeld’s houses and shops. Ivan Naumovich Kurkutov was also one of the exiles, but in Ust-Kut he gained fame as a carpenter, whose construction of houses was commissioned not only by peasants, but also by merchants. Unfortunately, today practically nothing has been preserved in Ust-Kut from the merchant style of houses and estates: during the construction of the first school, two-story merchant houses were demolished, and Alekseevsky’s house was mutilated beyond recognition. The extent to which these houses decorated the streets can only be judged today by the example of Kirensk. The first printing house of the Lensky Bolshevik newspaper was located in one of the Kurkutov houses. There is another remarkable house on Sovetskaya Street: the “Siberian Frenchman”. Ivan Petrovich Kasatkin received this nickname after he was drafted into the army in 1914 and ended up in the French Legion, which was formed by order of Nicholas II to provide military assistance to France. Ivan Petrovich returned home on a long road, through Morocco, and the villagers remembered him for the fact that he acquired civilized foreign habits in distant lands and loved to sing songs in French. When the Great Patriotic War began, Ivan Petrovich hung a map in his house and marked the places of hostilities with flags, saying that the Germans were strong, so there was no point in hoping for a quick victory.

But let’s return again to the square that once adjoined the Ust-Kutsky fort, where in the old days fairs were held and drinking houses stood, in Soviet times people gathered for rallies and May Day holidays, and now the St. Nicholas Church stands. Opposite the temple there are two more houses with an interesting history. One of them is notable for the fact that it was given by the merchant Grigory Davydovich Chertok to his daughter for organizing entertainment festivities. In this house, an analogue of the modern House of Culture, the Ust-Kutsk secular society gathered, balls were held, and local children looked with interest through the windows to see how local young ladies danced with visiting officers.

Nearby there is the house of a once wealthy Ustkut woman who tried to teach the villagers good manners: she hung a bell at the front door and did not open it to those who knocked on the door rather than ringing the bell. This is where Pochtovaya Street originated, of which a small “stub” now remains; it was almost completely destroyed during the construction of the first school. This street is famous for the fact that the Makrygin house was previously located on it, in which the famous revolutionary Leon Trotsky lived with his family during exile. It should be noted that the village of Ust-Kutskoye was mostly built up with five-wall houses. This is no coincidence. Such houses were built, as a rule, by wealthy peasants, and they were intended not only for their own housing; the second half of the house was rented out to people from outside, and mostly to political exiles, of whom there were up to seventy people in the small village. The exiles at that time were very educated, intelligent people, they had a very beneficial influence on local everyday life, and local residents treated them with respect. Many of the exiles subsequently settled in the village, became builders, merchants, and were hired to work on piers and ships. On Pochtovaya Street stood the former house of the merchant Lavrenty Ivanovich Chernykh, which he handed over to the village authorities before 1917 to set up a post office.

We walk from the square along Sovetskaya (Bolshaya) street, now in an eastern direction, and again, every house has an interesting story, worthy of a separate description. This is the house where the famous leader of the partisan detachment Kalandarishvili stayed, but it is notable not only for this fact. When viewed from the street, the house is one-story, but from the yard it is two-story. Why is it so, what was the reason for such architectural sophistication of the house builders? Perhaps someday it will reveal its secret to the curious. And here is house No. 121, where in the thirties, succumbing to the demands of the political moment, several Ust-Kut families created a commune, pooling all their property, even chickens. But it turned out that in order to live better, unification is not enough, you also need to work, and very soon the commune fell apart. On the eastern side, Bolshaya (Sovetskaya) Street overlooked the outskirts and a large meadow. The meadow was called “priestly” because the priests of the Church of the Savior were engaged in arable farming and growing vegetables. Alexey Podgorbunsky was no exception; after the church fire, he soon left Ust-Kut, and Georgy Vostretsov was repressed. In 1950, construction of the Western cargo berth of the Osetrovsky port began on these lands. Ust-Kut stepped beyond the boundaries of the usual settlement, began to grow in breadth, and climb up the slope of the hill. A new history of Ust-Kut has begun, which is no less interesting and fascinating, and is still waiting for its researchers and storytellers. After all, not only houses with interesting stories have been preserved; descendants of the Alekseevskys, Kurkutovs, Chertokovs, Chernykhs, Mikhailovs and others live in Ust-Kut. The destinies of these people were miraculously intertwined with each other and with other families who lived in past centuries. What do contemporaries know about them?

Several years ago, while collecting material for “Tales of Lost Projects,” I spent a week in the Irkutsk regional archive and, among other documents about our city, I came across the memoirs of one serviceman, this is what he wrote: “And the village of Ust-Kutskoye is located on a rather lively place, and peasant, willing, trade and craft people live in it. And they organize fairs here, where they sell furs, salt, fish and game. And the people in the village, for the most part, are kind, friendly and hospitable.” A lot of water has flown under the bridge in Lena since these notes were written; many events, sometimes unnoticeable, sometimes fateful, have happened on Ust-Kutsk land. So is it possible today to breathe new life into this microdistrict, turn it into a cultural center, a monument of antiquity, as is done in many cities, and make it attractive for ethnographic tourists? Or should we come to terms with the fact that soon everything here will change, something will be destroyed, something will be rebuilt, and from the memory of our descendants, along with the destroyed houses, the very memories of how it all began, what famous people have been here will disappear. You can, of course, reject all this as unnecessary historical trash, throw it away like worn-out clothes, but what one of the sages said haunts me: a people who does not remember and does not preserve its past has no future.

Vera Tayurskaya,

photo by the author

Story

Ust-Kut is the third Russian settlement on the territory of the modern Irkutsk region and the second existing in our time. Of the existing ones, only the city of Kirensk (1630) is older than Ust-Kut. The regional center of Irkutsk was founded 30 years later than Ust-Kut.

Some events in the history of Ust-Kut

Russian pioneers appeared at the mouth of the Kuta in the late 1620s. In 1628 (according to other sources - in 1629), the Cossack foreman Vasily Bugor set up a winter quarters here. The year of foundation of the settlement is considered to be 1631, when a detachment led by Ataman Ivan Galkin founded the Ust-Kut fort.

The development of the fort as a permanent settlement is directly related to the name of Erofei Khabarov. In the 1630s, on the outskirts of the Ust-Kut fort, he founded a saltworks, started arable land on the Lena, and organized a pit race.

Located at the end point of the Lensky portage, Ust-Kut has become an important transport hub for the development of Siberia and the Far East. Plank ships were prepared here for the Northern Expedition of Vitus Bering. The expeditions of Dmitry and Khariton Laptev, Vladimir Atlasov and Stepan Krasheninnikov, Grigory Shelikhov, and Gennady Nevelsky passed through the prison.

Already in the 17th century, near the fort on the Lena and Kut, a chain of small villages was formed that made up the Ust-Kut volost. Until the 19th century, Ust-Kut was the site of large fairs. The population of the volost was also engaged in arable farming, worked at the salt plant, and served the communication routes - the Lensky portage and the Yamsk tract.

For many years, Ust-Kut served as a place of exile for political prisoners. In the fall of 1900, Leon Trotsky served his exile in the village. A large number of exiled Poles who took part in the 1863 uprising worked at the salt plant.

During the Civil War, battles broke out in Ust-Kut for access to the gold mines of the Lena Basin. On November 13, 1919, the village, abandoned by units of the retreating Russian army, was occupied by partisans under the command of Daniil Zverev.

In 1926, a hospital was opened for the first time in Ust-Kut, the village became the center of the newly formed Ust-Kut region. In 1928, on the site of a closed salt plant, the Ust-Kutsky resort was opened, famous for its unique healing mud.

In 1941 - 1945, more than three thousand Ustkut residents took part in the Great Patriotic War, more than a thousand of them did not return. For participation in battles, four residents of Ust-Kut received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union: Ivan Antipin, Mikhail Andreev, Alexey Pesterev, Pyotr Tyurnev.

In 1943, the village received the status of a working settlement (urban-type settlement).

In July 1951, the first train arrived in Ust-Kut on the newly built Taishet-Lena railway line. Also in 1951, the first stage of the Osetrovsky river port, in the future the largest in the USSR, was commissioned. With the completion of its construction, the city becomes a major transport hub on an industrial scale, serving most of the “northern deliveries”.

On July 29, 1954, Ust-Kut was given the status of a city of regional subordination by merging the working settlements of Ust-Kut and Osetrovo. In 1963 - 2004 it was a city of regional subordination.

In 1974, Ust-Kut was declared the starting point of the all-Union Komsomol construction project - the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. The headquarters of the Western Section was located in the city.

In 1996, the city's population reached a historical peak of 62.4 thousand people, after which it began to decrease due to population migration.

Flood 2001

In 2001, the city suffered from the Lena flood. In Ust-Kut, all coastal streets were flooded, including in the city center, and buildings in private sectors were destroyed. Some neighborhoods were deprived of bus service due to flooding of routes. Spills in Kuta also led to short-term flooding of the P419 highway and erosion of the railway embankment in some areas.

Accidents on heating networks 2001

In the winter of the same year, as a result of a number of accidents at boiler houses, the central microdistricts of the city were left without heating. Classes were canceled at schools, residents of multi-storey buildings equipped their apartments with stoves, but the emergency situation was not introduced until December 24, when one of the residents of Ust-Kut got through to the television “Direct Line” with the President of Russia. After the catastrophic situation became known to the general public, the city hastily repaired heating equipment and replaced networks. On December 27, the mayor of the city, Vladimir Korneiko, who was on vacation at that time, resigned.

Despite the fact that Ust-Kut experiences subsequent winters more prosperously, the city has repeatedly introduced a state of emergency due to a lack of fuel, and the expression “freezing Ust-Kut” has become a newspaper cliche.

• Ust-Kutsk fort
• Curse of Forgotten Cemeteries

REGIONAL CENTER

If you draw diagonals from the imaginary “corners” of the perimeter on the map of the Irkutsk region, then at the point of their intersection there will be... Ust-Kut! I've wanted to visit here for a long time. And not just because this is the very geographical center of our vast territory. There are so many things that intersect here that would be enough for the status of the “northern capital” of the region.

FROM POSTROG TO THE “BUILDINGS OF THE CENTURY”

Located at the confluence of Kuta and Lena, the city has its own rich and interesting history. It began with a prison in 1631 - 30 years earlier than Irkutsk . From the very beginning, Ust-Kut was destined to be an important link in the political and economic life of not only the region, but the entire country. Here were the training bases for the northern expeditions of Bering, Laptev, Shelikhov and other famous Russian explorers. In merchant Russia there was a large salt plant and a transshipment base for gold miners and hunters. Among the exiled celebrities was Comrade Trotsky himself, who fled from here with the help of local peasants, and during the civil war this strategic point became a zone of hot hostilities. The troops of Kolchak’s generals Perkhurov and Kappel walked through the local taiga, and the legendary Red commander Daniil Zverev fought with them.

In Soviet times, Ust-Kut also became an important transit hub with the largest river port and shipyard - most of the northern imports and exports were carried out through this city. Well, the significant year 1974, when BAM began from here. And in our time, this area should become part of the new “construction site of the century” - the Vilyuy highway with access to the northern lands all the way to Yakutsk. Well, isn't there a reason to go here?

But here’s the problem: driving an ordinary passenger car to Ust-Kut along the short route through Zhigalovo is unsafe for the car, and little was known about the full picture of the 1000-kilometer route through Tulun and Bratsk. More precisely: the road to Bratsk has been studied, I also had the opportunity to travel along different sections of the BAM, but the 400-kilometer section from Bratsk to Ust-Kut remained incognito. The circle of close acquaintances either knew nothing about it, or knew vaguely, saying that there were unimportant areas, but without details. However, there is a regular flight “Irkutsk-Ust-Kut”, and it is not a “Ural”-rotation bus that runs on it, but an ordinary intercity bus, with a standard travel time of 19 hours. And if so, it means that you can take off in an ordinary car. On the Ford Focus, for example.

NOT A WALK

There was no goal to get there as quickly as possible by bus or train. You could say I was driving in tourist mode, saving fuel and other resources. It turned out in 15 hours. Driving to Tulun is now a relaxing experience; even in the once problematic Tulyushka there is now a smooth section of asphalt. Reconstruction was also carried out in Kuitun. The line to Bratsk is patchy: in some places the asphalt is good, in others it’s rubbish, including a one-way section with two lanes. The concrete is well preserved, and the large potholes along the edges of the slabs show signs of repair and are nothing serious. The well-known fraternal “highway” does not cause criticism, and the roads through the city have a tolerable surface and signs.

And here it is! Soon, behind the monumental dam of the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station, like an Egyptian pyramid, a faded sign appeared with the inscription “Ust-Kut 382 km.” A completely unknown section for me begins with the regional highway P-419. At first everything goes well, quite smooth asphalt with visible markings. But after a couple of tens of kilometers it turns into not the most joyful gravel, with a red tint from clay soils. The weather is rainy, the wheels splash through the sticky slush, the car is slowly turning into a kind of “jug” with a characteristic matte “airbrushing”, but the main thing is that the load on the suspension is quite decent. It’s easy here in a big jeep, but it’s hard in a passenger car. Hill after hill, turn after turn, and the rocky ribbed “road” has no end in sight. Then the asphalt again, though partially “bombed”, and that too didn’t last long.

It became clear that out of the 200 billion rubles that the construction of the 2,800-kilometer Vilyuy requires, not a penny has yet been allocated for the Ust-Kutsk section and nothing is foreshadowed yet. There are three uncovered pieces on this route, with a total length of almost 130 km! And the most grueling 70-kilometer route runs closer to Ust-Kut. It is also the most insidious for passenger cars, since this is where such a local natural anomaly as “growing stones” is most manifested. Every year, along with the harvest, summer residents collect pebbles from the garden beds in buckets, which themselves “climb” out of the ground, and large boulders spoil already unimportant roads.

I managed to come into contact with one of these “active” boulders. At that “blind” bend it was absolutely invisible, the speed was about 40, and then there was a strong metal blow in front under the body. “That’s it, the pan is in the trash, the oil is all over the engine or gearbox, or the suspension arm is bent, which is also no better” - these lightning-fast thoughts, a thousand kilometers from the dealership center, made everything inside go cold. I stop, look under the bottom - something is dripping, but it’s not clear whether it’s oil or dirt (it’s raining outside). Near the boulder with a sharp ridge are two pieces of plastic protection for the engine compartment. I'm waiting for the oil pressure light to come on. It doesn’t light up, I move on, the city is still about forty kilometers away.

It’s good that upon arrival in Ust-Kut we immediately had the opportunity to drive onto the overpass and inspect the bottom. I was lucky: the stone landed on the stretcher. The Focus looks durable, made of double layers of steel. All that remains is a scratch and a dent, which cannot disturb the geometry of the suspension. The plastic protection fits tightly onto the subframe in this place, part of the edge of which crumbled from the impact - that’s all the losses.

But even without this adventure, the road from Bratsk to Ust-Kut cannot but be remembered. The feeling of separation from the “mainland” is quite strong - the places here are quite remote. The main part of the route goes along a monotonous taiga corridor - without any Vista points (observation platforms), campsites and other joys of road infrastructure. There are few cars, there are only a few cafes or two, and there are signs like on the moon, except that the signs “Take care of the forest” often flash. There are too many populated areas, and some of them are located away from the road. Cellular communication is only available in their immediate vicinity. There is a picturesque “exit” to nature only on the bridge over the Ilim River, and then the landscape brightens up the hardships of the route only closer to the goal, when the road begins to hug the river and is adjacent to the railway track.

REMAINS OF LUXURY

So, with two elements racing - a train on the left, and the powerful Kuta on the right - you roll into the city, which freely stretches along the beautiful floodplain of two majestic Siberian rivers. The area is surrounded by green meadows and surrounded by relict mountain ranges covered with dense taiga, with a series of intricate rocky outcrops that look like the ruins of ancient fortresses - the nature here is magnificent! But it is harsh: on the very first evening, the famous midge “teared off” the exposed skin until it looked like a smallpox patient, so measures had to be taken. At the same time, the longest days of the year gave this latitude such a romantic phenomenon as white nights - of course, not as light as day, but the sky did not completely darken.

Interestingly, Ust-Kut has its own bypass road, which offers magnificent bird's-eye views of the city. The local bread they bake is tasteless, but the souvenir “Ust-Kut gingerbread” (similar to the Tula one), baked according to an exclusive recipe, is very good. It also has its own resort, famous throughout Russia: nothing remains of the pre-revolutionary salt plant; in its place, back in the 30s, a mud spa sanatorium arose, which is successfully operating to this day.

Other man-made attractions include the remains of the once largest river port in the USSR, Osetrovsky, as well as the famous river school, where guys from all over the country went.
The airport is located 10 km from the city, on a mountain, with once good asphalt leading to it, but now it has potholes. And of course, the Lena railway station, which went down in the history of the country as the starting point in the 10-year epic construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. Actually, BAM was not invented in the 70s. They planned to lay railway tracks in the north of Eastern Siberia and beyond in Tsarist Russia. The real prototype of the current BAM existed in the first five-year plans of the Soviet regime: in the mid-30s, research was carried out in the region and, as an alternative to the Trans-Siberian Railway, hundreds of kilometers of single-track road with two dozen stations were even built in the east. The war prevented further development, and the rails and even the bridge trusses were partially dismantled and sent to Stalingrad. The new, “Brezhnev” BAM was designed anew and started from the western part from Ust-Kut. Before this, the city was a dead end for land transport: from Taishet a railway line came here, launched in the early 50s as a kind of prologue to the BAM, and then cargo and people moved by water or along winter roads.

Since 1974, Ust-Kut has become the “Baikonur” of the all-Union construction; it houses the headquarters of the western section of the BAM, which was built by Komsomol volunteer detachments, and mainly by visitors from the western and southern regions of the country. For example, many young people from Ukraine came here, some of them remained to live here. People were captivated by the strong nature, new relationships were formed, and prospects emerged.

One of the most impressive topics of BAM is its unparalleled contract for the supply of foreign equipment. About 10,000 trucks of the legendary Magirus-Deutz brand, specially prepared by the Germans for the Russian North, mostly “went to war” through Ust-Kut. At one time, the “Magirus” served the Wehrmacht army, and here, in conditions of impassable taiga, bitter frosts and complete impassability, the legion of their descendants “puffed” on the great construction site of once undefeated socialism. Quirks of history!

Soviet propaganda did not advertise this fact, but the orange Magirus essentially became one of the symbols of BAM. Going to Ust-Kut, I thought to see something like a monument or other traces of their “exploits”. But I didn’t find anything like that. Although from time to time, and while still in good health, you can see dump trucks on the roads here with the characteristic unique roar of diesel engines. That’s all the reminder of that epoch-making “mobilization”, and for Magirus-Deutz BAM to some extent became a “demobilization chord”, because it was after this contract that the old German .

Now Ust-Kut cannot be called prosperous: no new buildings are visible, everything bears the stamp of long-term post-Soviet survival. The city's road infrastructure is far from being in the best shape, and suburban roads require off-road vehicles. So, before I had time to recover from the incident with a “broken” bottom on the highway, I had to cross a stream over rocks to get to my friends’ dacha plot. And this was the best of the roads, since the other one to this dacha cooperative was only possible with tractor equipment.

NON-TAIGA DEAD-END

Over the entire period of “modern times”, if anything was heard about the city in the country, it was in connection with cataclysms. In 2001, the residents of Ust-Kutsk experienced two disasters: cold and severe flooding. Due to the defrosted heating system, people in city apartments, like in besieged Leningrad, were forced to heat potbelly stoves. And only a “call to a friend”, when the boy addressed the President live on TV, the situation was quickly resolved. However, the lack of hot water in the summer is still a common occurrence for most areas of the city, and the administration does not seem to care about this.

River management makes a depressing impression. Of several large parts of the river port, only one is operational today; in the cargo terminals of others, only mountains of rusty scrap metal are visible. And the Lena itself is somehow shrunken, shallow, as if in crisis: work on deepening the shipping channel has clearly been suspended. Of the numerous enterprises, including several powerful SMP (construction and installation trains), after layoffs, wild privatization and other social disasters, only a few remained afloat. People, especially young people, leave whenever possible.

However, the city is not dying. The era of alienation is being replaced by something else, illusory for now, but still promising. Some enterprises are functioning, and new jobs are appearing, including on a rotational basis at new northern fields. Someone finds here a platform for developing an honest business. The massive outflow of the population (up to 1,500 people annually!) seems to be decreasing recently, but such a sign of prosperity as the vehicle fleet is clearly growing. Including due to new foreign cars purchased from Irkutsk, and more often even Krasnoyarsk dealers (here, by the way, in general the supply is more and more “Western” than Irkutsk). Only Russian brands have their own dealers.

Yes, the commitment to the domestic automobile industry and, in particular, to jeeps, is still evident, which is understandable. The former and “forced” cult of the Niva on BAM no longer exists; the severe need for SUVs is solved in a much more varied way, but the main sales of classic VAZ models occur in these areas.

Still, I was lucky that I didn’t have to study the infrastructure of car service centers for personal reasons. Well, maybe with some searching on a tip I used a car wash: they washed the clay well, quickly, but the cost was the same as the average in Irkutsk - 200 rubles just for the body. The fuel supply is good, but more expensive. There are different gas stations, including branded ones from large chain stores, where you still risk filling up with high-octane gas.

I ask the gas station attendant directly: “Is your 95 very bad?” At first he hesitated, but then he supported the brand: “No, it’s normal, they’re pouring it in.” I also filled the tank full, and then did not notice any deviations in the operation of the engine. I returned in dry, hot weather. The gravel areas were mercilessly dusty, and the sun was generously hot up to +35. There were no incidents, although there were many other people’s emergencies along the way, most of them shifting with serious consequences. Apparently, the heat has its effect. I believe that one day it will be possible to safely get to Ust-Kut entirely on asphalt. During the construction of the BAM, it was believed that there would be enough railway communication for all occasions. It is now obvious that the North cannot live without the development of roads.

Vasily LARIN, photo by the author

Automarket+Sport No. 08/2011

Geography

Geographical position

Ust-Kut is located in the central part of the Irkutsk region in the upper reaches of the Lena River at the confluence of the Kuta River.

The city is built primarily along the left banks of rivers. The length from west to east in a straight line is about 28 km; along river beds - about 34 km (excluding Turuk).

Distance from Ust-Kut to Irkutsk:

1. by rail - 1385 km (Ust-Kut - Taishet - Irkutsk);
2. on roads - 973 km (Ust-Kut - Bratsk - Tulun - Irkutsk);
3. by direct air - 510 km.

The nearest cities are Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsky (107 km to the west), Kirensk (174 km to the north downstream of the Lena).

Climate

The climate of the city is sharply continental. The average temperature in January is −25 °C, in July +17 °C. Minimum temperature -58 °C, maximum (in the shade) +42 °C.

Annual precipitation is 350 mm. In winter - in the form of snow. In the off-season (spring and autumn, as well as at the beginning and end of summer), hail is common.

The territory of the city is equated to the regions of the Far North.

Relief and geological structure

The city is located on the territory of the Leno-Angara plateau, among hills covered with taiga, the relief is highly dissected, the absolute heights of the area are from 558 to 757 m above sea level.

Directly on the territory of the city there are reserves of unique healing waters and mud. Therapeutic agents: radon 15 ncurie/l (43 Mache units) sodium chloride brines containing bromine, which are used in diluted form for baths; silt mud of the lake. Treatment of diseases of the organs of movement and support, gynecological, peripheral nervous system[3].

Near the city there are proven reserves of hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas).

Soil cover

The soils are predominantly soddy-carbonate and soddy-podzolic. Meadow and floodplain soils of medium and light loamy mechanical composition.

Map

Ust-Kut: photo from space (Google Maps) Ust-Kut: photo from space (Microsoft Virtual Earth)

a brief description of

Located in the north of the Lena-Angara plateau, at the confluence of the river. Kut to Lena, 610 km from Irkutsk (by air). River port (on the Lena). Railway station. River and railway transshipment point cargo.

The climate is sharply continental. The average temperature in January is -25C, in July +17C. Precipitation is 350 mm per year, mainly in summer.

3 km from Ust-Kut there is a balneological and mud resort of the same name. Sanatorium, water and mud baths. Mineral springs were discovered in the 17th century. Russian explorer E.P. Khabarov. Used for medicinal purposes since 1908. The resort was founded in 1925.

Territory (sq. km): 56

Information about the city of Ust-Kut on the Russian Wikipedia site

Historical sketch

In 1628, the foreman Vasily Bugor built a winter hut near the mouth of the Kut River. In 1631, Russian explorers led by Ataman Ivan Galkin founded near the mouth of the river. Kut Ust-Kutsk fort. The hydronym Kuta is associated with the nature of the river valley: Evenki kuta - “peat swamp, swampy place, quagmire.”

In 1639, servicemen E.P. In Khabarovsk, saltworks were opened not far from the prison.

In the middle of the 17th century. The fort, having lost its military significance, became an important pier where cargo coming from Ishim and Upper Lena was concentrated.

Workers' village of Ust-Kut since 1943. City since 1954. Formed by the merger of the villages of Ust-Kut and Osetrovo (urban settlement since 1938, 3.3 thousand inhabitants, 1939).

Economy

Shipyard, timber industry enterprises, dairy plant.

Main enterprises

INLAND WATER TRANSPORT

CJSC "Verkhne-Lenskoye River Shipping Company"
, Irkutsk region, Ust-Kutsky district, Ust-Kut, st.
Proletarskaya, 1 Offers:

Culture, science, education

River School.

Museum of Local Lore.

Monuments: to the partisans who fell for Ust-Kut (1957), to the partisan commander of the Civil War D.E. Zverev (1969) and others.

Universities of the city

Osetrovsky branch of the Novosibirsk State Academy of Water Transport (in Ust-Kut)
666793, Irkutsk region, Ust-Kut district, Ust-Kut, st. Volodarsky, 65

Architecture, sights

Ust-Kut stretches along the Lena River for 30 km and consists of separate microdistricts connected by a single road-street.

Transport accessibility

Ust-Kut is the center of the Osetrovo-Lena transport hub, the largest in Eastern Siberia. Railway and waterways intersect here. Year-round access to the federal highway network is provided.

Ust-Kut is the center of the Osetrovo-Lena transport hub, the largest in Eastern Siberia.

Railways and waterways intersect favorably here. There is an airport capable of receiving large transport aircraft. Year-round access to the federal highway network is provided.

Railway transport

Ust-Kut is located on the East Siberian Railway. The main railway station is Lena. In addition to it, the city is located:

cargo-passenger stations: Ust-Kut, Yakurim, Lena-Vostochnaya;

exclusively cargo stations: Lena-Perevalka, Portovaya, Yakurim-Perevalka. (In a single technological process with the port of Osetrovo.)

Until the end of the 1990s, the Panikha station operated on the western outskirts of the city. Many enterprises have their own access roads.

There are projects for the construction of railway lines to the north (Lena - Nepa - Lensk) and south (Irkutsk - Zhigalovo - Lena).

Passenger service

. Constant passenger service by long-distance trains:

• in a western direction - Moscow, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Kislovodsk. In the summer - Adler, Anapa, Novosibirsk.

• in the eastern direction - Severobaikalsk, Tynda.

Suburban trains go to the stations: Vikhorevka, Ruchey (to the west), Kirenga (to the east).

The first train arrived at Lena station in 1951 - then Ust-Kut was the end point of the Taisheto-Lena Railway under construction (now this is a section of the Eastern Railway, called Western BAM.) The road was put into permanent operation in 1958. In 1974, Ust-Kut became the starting point the resumed construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, the headquarters of the Western section was located here. In 1975, the only railway bridge across the Lena was commissioned today.

Air Transport

Ust-Kut Airport is located 10 km north of the city. Regular flights operate to Irkutsk. As of the end of 2010, transport links between the airport and the city are possible only by taxi and private cars. To serve the airport, route No. 101 “st. Lena is an airport,” but it was not operational during 2010. The question of its restoration is being raised.

River transport

Large river port of Osetrovo on the Lena River (engaged, among other things, in servicing northern deliveries).

Passenger service up the Lena to the village of Zhigalova, down to Peleduy. Carried out by motor ships of the Zarya and Polesie type.

Automobile transport

The road network connecting Ust-Kut with other settlements is poorly developed. The city is connected to the federal highway network via the regional highway P419 (exit to the Baikal highway through Bratsk to Tulun).

In 2007, the P419 highway was transferred to federal ownership and became part of the Vilyuy highway under construction.

To the east of Ust-Kut, a highway runs parallel to the BAM to Zvezdnoye and, formally, to Severobaikalsk (in fact, through traffic on the highway is impossible for most cars due to its poor condition).

Winter roads

. In winter, a winter road passes from Ust-Kut to the north through Mirny, connecting hard-to-reach areas of the Irkutsk region and Yakutia with the federal highway network. Other winter roads are also widely used.

City street and road network

. The central streets have asphalt pavement, while some peripheral streets have concrete pavement. The rest are without coverage. There is a bypass road for transit vehicles.

Bus service

12 city routes have been created in Ust-Kut. There is a network of suburban routes - to the Veteran dachas (Turuka village), the airport, the villages of Kazarki, Verkhnemarkovo, Niya. There is one intercity route - to Irkutsk. In the summer, transportation is also carried out in the direction of holiday villages, year-round to Kirensk by private minibuses. There is no bus station.

Distance from Ust-Kut to Irkutsk:

• by rail - 1385 km (along the Ust-Kut - Taishet - Irkutsk line); • by roads - 973 km (Ust-Kut - Bratsk - Tulun - Irkutsk); • by direct air – 520 km.

Nearest cities: Bratsk - 320 km, Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsky - 107 km to the west, Kirensk - 300 km to the northeast downstream of the Lena).

Religion

Since its foundation, the Ust-Kutsk fort was part of the borders of the Tobolsk diocese.

In the “Description Book” of 1699-1700 there is a mention of the prison-based Spasskaya Church. Over the course of two centuries, the temple was rebuilt several times.

Since December 1721, Ust-Kut was within the independent Irkutsk diocese.

In the 19th century, the Prokopievsky Church was built on the territory of the salt plant.

The people in the Ust-Kut region were little religious. This is stated in the report on the state of the Irkutsk diocese for 1911:

«Moral and religious life, apparently, has long frozen in the Lena expanses and so far nothing has been done to revive it. There are no religious and moral readings and conversations with the people

«.

The report on the state of the Irkutsk diocese for 1915 states that “ in the Kirensky district, for example, as a result of parishioners’ refusal to maintain the church and clergy, the Ust-Kutsk parish was closed

«.

During Soviet times, both Ust-Kut churches were destroyed.

By the early 1990s, a community of Orthodox Christians was founded in Ust-Kut - about 20 people. The community gathered in half of a two-apartment decommissioned house on Kotovsky Street. The head of the community was Ksenia Tarasovna Vitkovskaya.

In 1992, on the feast of the Epiphany, for the first time after a long break, a religious procession was held on the Lena River, in the area of ​​​​old Ust-Kut.

In 1993, a temple was opened in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

From 2006 to 2008, the local newspaper “Parus” ran a weekly column “The World of Orthodoxy.” During this time, more than 40 articles were published.

On October 5, 2011, the city became part of the Fraternal Diocese.

Temples

• Nicholas the Wonderworker
• Procopy of Ustyug (under construction)
• Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands (under construction)
• “Helper of Sinners” icon of the Mother of God, in the maximum security colony UK-20
• Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary

City infrastructure

The city stretches along the Lena and Kuta rivers. Its length along the river beds is 34 kilometers, while the maximum width of the building does not exceed three kilometers.

The city is not administratively divided, but in fact Ust-Kut consists of microdistricts and villages. Central microdistricts - Lena and Rechniki. Most of the social and cultural facilities are located here and most of the population is concentrated. The remaining microdistricts and villages are located both downstream and upstream of the Lena, built up mainly along the left bank. The right bank part is small and consists of two microdistricts. Residential areas alternate with industrial areas and abandoned unfinished urban facilities.

It is customary to separately highlight the old part of the city - the former village of Ust-Kut. Currently known as the "old Ust-Kut" microdistrict. The buildings here are predominantly one-story wooden. Historical buildings that are not included in the list of cultural heritage sites have been preserved.

The city is surrounded by taiga; it can be reached from anywhere in the city in no more than 30 minutes. At the mouth of Kuta there is Domashny Island, which is one of the recreation centers for the townspeople.

Above the city along its entire length rise hills with rock formations at the tops. Some of them have names and are the subject of some urban legends, for example, Devil's Rock, Bubnov Stone, Rooster, Peace and others.

Heraldry

Coat of arms

near Ust-Kut first appeared in 1974 (officially it was not a coat of arms, it had the status of a sign). It was an emerald shield with images of a marten, an anchor and the inscription “1631.” against the background of a stylized image of the river mouth.

On February 10, 2009, a new coat of arms was adopted. The green shield depicts a golden sable, an anchor and a tower, symbolizing a prison. Heraldic description: “In a green field there is a silver raised left belt, once wavy curved (concave on the right), connected at the bottom left with a right belt of the same metal, also once wavy curved (concave on the right). The baldrics are accompanied at the top by a golden walking and turned sable, at the bottom by an anchor (like a sea anchor), also golden, and on the left by a log tower of the same metal, having a pointed roof and an arch without a threshold, with a smaller baldric running over the right support of the arch and behind the bottom of the left support.” .

Flag

city, also adopted on February 10, 2009, repeats the design of the coat of arms.

Population

Population dynamics of Ust-Kut

Demographic situation

Until the mid-20th century, Ust-Kut remained a large village with a predominantly peasant population, including families of exiles who settled here. The 1940s became a turning point, when the construction of the Osetrovsky river port and the Lena Railway began, for the construction of which workers flocked from nearby settlements and other regions of the USSR. In 1943, Ust-Kut acquired the status of a workers' village, and in 1954 it became a city with a population of about 20 thousand people, mostly workers. With the resumption of construction of the BAM in the 1970s, the city is experiencing a second wave of migration - thousands of young professionals are settling here, many from the Stavropol and Krasnodar territories, who patronized the Lena station. Following the builders, geologists arrive in Ust-Kut as part of several geological expeditions.

The city's nominal population continued to grow until 1996, when it reached a historical peak of 62.4 thousand people. (These data, however, do not reflect the real dynamics of natural growth and migration: in 1996, the working settlement of Yakurim was included in the city.) Since that time, there has been a massive outflow of population, reaching its maximum in 2001 - 2003: in two years the population of Ust-Kut decreased by 6.2 thousand people (more than 10% of the population). From 2010 to 2022, the population of Ust-Kut decreased by almost 5 thousand people.

Most of the city's residents work at water and railway transport enterprises, in state and budgetary organizations of the city, trade, as well as in the timber processing industry1.

Economy

The economy of Ust-Kut is based on the extraction of natural resources, forestry and the activities of enterprises at the railway-port transport hub.

Main enterprises:

• in the oil and gas complex - UKNG LLC (formerly UstKutNeftegaz OJSC - a subsidiary of Irkutsk Oil Company LLC; oil depot

• in the transport complex - Osetrovsky river port, Verkhne-Lenskoye river shipping company, OJSC "Alrosa-Terminal", ESR enterprises;

• in the forestry complex - Mikura LLC, Lenalesservice LLC, Veles CJSC, Lenaexportles CJSC, OIK-51.

The main branches of industrial production in order of decreasing volumes are mining, manufacturing, thermal power engineering. Most of the extracted natural resources are exported to other regions of Russia and China. The range of final products produced in the city is very small - mainly lumber and wood products. In addition, food industry enterprises—a bakery, private bakeries, and a dairy—produce products for the city’s needs.

Social sphere

Education

As of 2022, 12 general education institutions operated in Ust-Kut. Also available:

• State budgetary professional educational institution of the Irkutsk region “Ust-Kutsk Industrial College”;

• Branch of non-state educational vocational education “Irkutsk Humanitarian and Technical College”;

• Ust-Kutsk Institute of Water Transport (branch) of the Siberian State University of Water Transport (SGUVT)1.

Healthcare

Municipal healthcare institutions as of 2018:

• Central district hospital;

• Railway line hospital, including an ambulance station.

Private medical institutions:

• Doctor LLC (Rebrova-Denisova St., 8);

• Stomkomfort LLC (45 Rechnikov St.),

• ultrasound diagnostic room of Grigorieva I.N. (Kirova St., 124),

• LLC “Sanatorium “Eiseira” (Rechnikov St., 1a),

• LLC “Dental Clinic Proskokov IK” (Kirova St., 90 apt. 45) and others1.

Culture

The city has cultural centers, libraries, a museum, a children's art school, and a cinema.

River workers (city house of culture, Ust-Kut city)

Sport

As of 2022, the city had: one stadium, two children’s and youth sports schools, 42 gyms1.

Natives and residents

1. Zadorozhnaya Elena Anatolyevna, Bolsun Elena Ivanovna - track and field athletes, Olympic participants, natives of Ust-Kut.
2. Akulich Oleg Aleksandrovich is a Russian and Belarusian actor who spent his childhood and youth in Ust-Kut. Graduate of the Osetrovsky River School.
3. Markov Nektary Konstantinovich - Honored Teacher of Russia, local historian, in 1955–1984 director of Ust-Kutsk Secondary School No. 2, holder of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, honorary citizen of the city of Ust-Kut.
4. Trotsky Lev Davidovich - Russian politician, one of the leaders of the October Revolution, served exile in Ust-Kut in 1900.

Heroes of the Soviet Union (participants of the Great Patriotic War):

1. Andreev Mikhail Alexandrovich;
2. Antipin Ivan Nikolaevich;
3. Pesterev Alexey Ivanovich;
4. Tyurnev Pyotr Fedorovich.

Heroes of Russia:

1. Rudykh Alexander Vitalievich is a participant in combat operations in Afghanistan and other “hot spots”.
2. Sherstyannikov Andrey Nikolaevich - participant in the anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya.

Ust-Kut

(Irkutsk region)

OKATO code:
25244501
Founded:
1631
Urban settlement since:
1943
City since:
1954 City of district subordination (Ust-Kutsk district of the Irkutsk region)
Center:
Ust-Kutsk district
Telephone code (reference phone)

Deviation from Moscow time, hours:
5
Geographic latitude:
56°46′
Geographic longitude:
105°44′
Altitude above sea level, meters:
300 Sunrise and sunset times in the city of Ust-Kut