Kildin (also Kilduin;, North Sami: Gieldasuolu) is a small Russian island in the Barents Sea, off the Russian shore and about 120 km from Norway. Administratively, Kildin belongs to the Murmansk Oblast of the Russian Federation. Kildin Island is a plateau, up to 900 feet in elevation; it drops sharply to the sea on the north. Great granite masses rise from the sea and are carved into broad terraces. In the interior there is a relict lake, Lake Mogil'noe (or Molginoye), which is separated from Kildin Strait by an isthmus through which seawater filters that replenishes the lake. The brackish lake holds a unique species of cod (Gadus morhua kildinensis) that has adapted to it. The island is 15 km long by 5 km and 1 km wide at the widest part. Kildin Strait, which separates it from the mainland, is 15 km long and varies in width from 2 km to about 1 km. The water is deep so anchorage is only possible near the shore. The only safe anchorage is in Monastery Bay, at the South East end of the island. The bay gets its name from a fortified monastery that used to stand there but that the British destroyed in 1809 and of which no trace remains. According to the Norwegian Organization for the Protection of the Environment, there is a deposit of expended reactors from Soviet nuclear submarines on the island.

Coastal missile system

Since its establishment on the island in 1957, the regiment operated the S-2 cruise missiles and later the newer generation P-35. The missile complex was operated from underground facilities and was aimed at approaching enemy surface vessels. During World War 2 on the island were many tunnels, underground facilities for commanders, and storages. Back in the Soviet times, transport communication on the island was organized by the military. In the past, four vessels connected the island with the mainland. Nowadays, only one of them passes by, sailing from Murmansk to Ostrovnoy. The military left the island in 1995.

Lighthouses

There are three lighthouses on the island.

Notable incidents