Primorsky Komsomol Street in Bolshoy Kamen — Online Webcam
Bolshoy Kamen — A City on Ussuri Bay
The online webcam on Primorsky Komsomol Street offers a view of one of the key neighborhoods of Bolshoy Kamen — a city that remained classified for half a century and still preserves the atmosphere of a closed port. This settlement in Primorsky Krai is located on the eastern shore of Ussuri Bay, just 20 kilometers east of Vladivostok. Today, 38.3 thousand people live here on a territory spanning 120 square kilometers.
The city grew around a shipbuilding and repair plant, and its history is inseparably linked to the Pacific Fleet. Bolshoy Kamen was founded in 1947 as a workers' settlement during the construction of a ship repair enterprise, and it was granted town status on August 31, 1989, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. The name of the bay, and subsequently the settlement, came from a massive rocky stone that towered 150–200 meters from the shore on the northern side of the bay. Estonian fishermen once called this bay "Big Jug" for its distinctive shape, while the Chinese word "kushi" simply means "stone."
From a Closed ZATO to a Territory of Advanced Development
Since 1996, Bolshoy Kamen held the status of a closed administrative-territorial formation — a Presidential Decree of the Russian Federation dated July 19, 1996, transformed the town into a ZATO, also incorporating the territories of the villages Petrovka and Sukhodol. The closed-city regime imposed restrictions on foreign visitors and created bureaucratic barriers for investment. It was not until January 1, 2015 that the ZATO status was abolished, marking a turning point for the territory's development.
The government provided a transition period with additional subsidies: in 2015, the city received 340.6 million rubles, in 2016 — 328.6 million, and in 2017 — 328 million. Already in 2016, Bolshoy Kamen became one of the first cities in the Far East to receive the status of a Territory of Advanced Development, opening new opportunities for business and attracting federal investment.
Primorsky Komsomol Street: History and Features
Primorsky Komsomol Street stretches for 1,007 meters and runs through three districts of the city — the 6th microdistrict, Nakhalovka, and the 5th microdistrict. This thoroughfare changed its name twice: in 1956–1960, the central street of the settlement was Street 15, and in 1966–1968, Primorsky Komsomol bore a different name before reverting to its historical one.
In 2008, a four-story residential building appeared here at No. 39 — one of the examples of modern construction replacing the old housing stock. Today, the street connects residential quarters with cultural institutions and remains one of the busiest transport arteries of Bolshoy Kamen.
The City-Forming Enterprise — Zvezdochka Plant
The heart of Bolshoy Kamen is the Far Eastern Plant "Zvezdochka" (Star), without which the city simply would not exist. In November 1945, the Council of People's Commissars decided to build Ship Repair Plant No. 892 in Bolshoy Kamen Bay, and on July 9, 1946, Order No. 00174 of the Minister of the Shipbuilding Industry was issued to establish an enterprise for repairing Pacific Fleet vessels. The first production workshop was launched on December 3, 1954.
The plant became the primary base for repairing warships and nuclear submarines in the Far East. Among the pioneers of the enterprise and the city are directors Veniamin Pavlovich Dolgov and Vladimir Ivanovich Kushlin, senior technical supervision engineer Viktor Borisovich Bazhanov, Dmitry Mikhailovich Zhogin, and Varvara Petrovna Yeliseyetsva. Today, the plant is undergoing a large-scale modernization dubbed the "construction of the century" — it requires tens of billions of rubles from budgets at various levels.
Cultural Sites and Landmarks of the Street
On Primorsky Komsomol Street and in its immediate vicinity are concentrated the key cultural institutions of Bolshoy Kamen. Here you will find the city children's library, the city cultural center, and the museum and exhibition department. The museum complex includes the Museum of Labor and Military Glory and the Museum of the History of the "Novyy Mir" Collective Farm — both preserve the memory of the pioneers and the labor traditions of the city.
A monument to the ship repair workers of the Far Eastern Zvezdochka Plant was erected on the street — a tribute to those who ensured the fleet's combat readiness for decades. And on the neighboring Akademika Kurchatova Street, 19B, stands the real conning tower of submarine K-66 — one of the most unusual monuments in Primorsky Krai. In 2007, the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul was built in the city on Karla Marksa Street, 3v — designed in a classic Old Russian church style.
Beyond the city limits but within walking distance are Lazurnaya and Steklyannaya Bays, as well as the Primorsky Safari Park — places where locals and visitors to Bolshoy Kamen head for weekend getaways.
What the Camera Shows
The online camera on Primorsky Komsomol Street broadcasts a view of one of the central thoroughfares of Bolshoy Kamen in real time. In the frame — vehicle traffic, pedestrians, residential blocks of the 6th microdistrict, and fragments of the infrastructure surrounding the city's main street. The camera operates in live broadcast mode, allowing you to observe the life of a once-closed city that is now open to anyone who wants to see the Russian Far East without having to travel there.
