MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. More than 300 fighter planes from the Red Army's Navy and Air Defense Forces, along with reinforced ground-based air defenses, created an "iron dome" for the Allied delegations during the Yalta Conference in 1945, according to declassified documents from the Central Archive of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). The release of these documents coincides with the 80th anniversary of the Yalta Conference, which took place from February 4 to 11, 1945, in Crimea, where the post-war world order was shaped and discussions regarding the creation of the UN were held.

"Given that Crimea was still within reach of Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe in the winter of 1945, additional measures were implemented to reinforce air defenses," the FSB stated in an accompanying memorandum.

These measures are detailed in a report from Lavrentiy Beria, the Commissar of the NKVD (Internal Affairs Ministry) of the USSR, to the State Defense Committee’s chief Joseph Stalin on January 27, 1945 - just two days before the train carrying the Soviet delegation departed for Crimea. In this report, Beria elaborated on the establishment of a protective "iron dome" over the area designated for the trinational meeting of the anti-Hitler coalition’s leaders.

Air Defense

"To ensure the air defense of the Yalta-Ai-Todor-Simeiz area, we deployed 76 medium-caliber guns, 120 small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery pieces, 99 anti-aircraft machine guns, and 65 anti-aircraft searchlights," the memorandum noted. "The available artillery and anti-aircraft weapons enable us to concentrate fire from 4 to 12 medium-caliber batteries on a single target in daytime, and to conduct barrage fire at night over each protected object within a 3-4 km width, with a fire density of 6 to 12 batteries in one layer."

For the air defense of the Crimean coast, 160 fighter planes from the Navy’s Air Force and the Red Army's fighter aviation were allocated. This included Yak-3 and Yak-9 aircraft, as well as several Kittyhawk night fighters provided under the Lend-Lease program. Most of the pilots were experienced in night operations.

"During the day, the planes will intercept enemy aircraft over the sea at a distance of 100-150 km and throughout the entire territory of Crimea, while at night they will operate outside the range of anti-aircraft artillery," Beria stated in the report.

The port of Sevastopol, where Allied ships arrived, was protected by 57 medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns, 74 small-caliber artillery pieces, and 80 fighter planes. In ideal weather conditions, the number of fighters on duty was to be increased to 150.

Defense of Allied Aircraft

To defend the Saki airfield, the primary base for Anglo-American aircraft, 155 anti-aircraft guns were stationed.

"The air defense batteries at the airfield are designed to conduct seven-layer fire effective at altitudes of up to 9,000 meters, directed fire up to 4,000 meters, and barrage fire at distances of up to 5 km from the airfield," the report stated.

The fighter group deployed at the Saki airfield consisted of 32 aircraft, including 26 Airacobras and six Kittyhawks.

"In addition, the airfield at Sarabuz housed two regiments of 55 Yak-9 air defense aircraft, which would also be dispatched to cover the Saki airfield," Beria reported.

To further strengthen airfield defenses, the Navy’s Air Force command borrowed 90 fighters and an anti-aircraft artillery regiment consisting of 54 guns, as outlined in the report submitted to State Defense Committee head Joseph Stalin.