WORLD : Soviets Reveal A-Test Near Troops
The Soviet Union today revealed for the first time it dropped an atomic bomb near Red Army units in 1954 to test the effects of the blast and soldiers’ ability to fight on irradiated ground.
“After the atomic strike, there were not only no landmarks left on the terrain, but the area itself became unrecognizable,” said the armed forces daily Red Star. “However, the troops fulfilled their assigned tasks completely.”
The newspaper, which entitled its article “The Explosion We Can Now Talk About,” said the bomb was dropped from a plane in the south Urals. It did not report any casualties, or address the long-term health problems caused by radiation and how the soldiers may have been affected.
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