USSR Base
Soviet Pillbox
Description
The pillbox, a standard enclosure
providing excellent protection, was constructed of such durable
materials as concrete and rebar. As
the art of shelling advanced,
defenders were driven into ever more hardened positions.
In the USSR, a great many bunkers
were strengthened along the "Molotov
Line," a system of defensive fortifications stretching about 100 km. It was created to replace the "Stalin
Line," as the boundaries of the
USSR expanded with the accession of the Baltic States, Belarus and western Ukraine.
This new line stretched from the Baltics
to the Carpathians. The size of these pillboxes depended
on the facilities and weapons required. Some held 8 to 10 troops, while the larger ones fit 30 to 40
men.