Dejevo military and S-200 anti-aircraft missile base
Military town

Dejevo Military Base and its missile site are situated in the middle of Saaremaa near Lake Karujärve.

After the signing of the Mutual Assistance Pact on 15 May 1940 the Red Army began the construction of a large military base in Saaremaa covering 5000 hectares, including training and shooting grounds and a tank park. A picturesque sandy area surrounded by pine forests near Karujärve was chosen as the site for the base. The barracks were constructed by the state-owned enterprise Ehitaja. During the German occupation the complex was used as a prisoner-of-war camp. Amphibious tanks were stationed there after the war, with drills taking place in Lake Karujärve. During the 1960s, missiles were deployed in Karujärve. In 1966 the S-125 missiles here were joined by the more powerful S-200 missiles. In addition, the base supplied all of the other missile bases on Saaremaa with missiles being assembled on site. During its heyday there were 500 soldiers serving here. Locals and the wives of the officers were given jobs at the Marat sewing factory at the military base. In 1959 the military base and its branch in Sõrve were named Dejevo in honour of the alleged soviet hero Vladimir Deyev, who had been killed in action. 

The occupying forces abandoned Dejevo in 1992. The buildings were ransacked and later demolished.

Currently the concrete building of the former control centre, overgrown garages, foundations of the barracks and gravel-walled missile batteries remain.