Radio jamming station in Pažagieniai
Military equipment
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In Pažagieniai, Šilagalio st.
The Soviet Iron Curtain was breached by radio stations broadcasting from the West. The Soviets were not inclined to give in and already around 1946 took action against these “ideological diversions”. One of the “radio defense” measures was radio transmitters that suppressed or interfered with unwanted broadcasts. Five radio wave jamming stations were to be established in occupied Lithuania – in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. Back in 1952, the “600th object” was erected in Vilnius – three steel towers with antennas that emitted interference into the air were built (now Algirdo St., no longer extant). The last fifth station appeared near Panevėžys in Pažagieniai (“1656th object”). Its construction and installation work was completed around 1985–1986. More powerful new generation transmitters were installed here.
The era of such stations ended with Mikhail Gorbachev's "Perestroika". A radio and television station was established in the former Pažagieniai radio jamming station, which operates to this day.
Used sources and references:
Edvardas Šiugžda (par.), "When the free word was drowned in the noise...", in: "XXI amžius", 2016-12-30, available online: https://archyvas.xxiamzius.lt/numeriai/2016/12/30/fondasa_04.html .
Daiva Savickienė, "By radio waves - through the iron curtain", in: "Panevėžio balsas", 2022-05-23, available online: https://sekunde.lt/leidinys/paneveziobalsas/radijo-bangomis-pro-gelezine-uzdanga .
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The curtain of the Cold War and Soviet control, however, was not able to completely block the broadcasts of radio stations from the West. They also allowed freer speech to reach occupied Lithuania. This was one of the few gaps that could penetrate the curtain of Soviet control, ideology, and propaganda. The Soviets devoted a lot of effort and resources to suppress and disrupt these broadcasts.