A town located in the far north-east of South Zagoria, close to the border with the Russian Federation, Krasnostav and its surrounding settlements are home to many of the country's Russian settlers and citizens of Russian heritage. Because of this, tensions between native Chernarussians and their Russian counterparts have often escalated into outright clashes between the two ethnic groups.[1][2][3]
Accordingly, locals are suspicious of the government's attitudes towards their presence, particularly with Novigrad's reluctance to apply equal condemnation to anti-Russian extremist groups like the National Party.[3][4][5][6] At the height of the September Crisis[7], many locals in Krasnostav itself and the north-eastern region were outright in favour of the ChDKZ's uprising, with some even going so far as to openly aid the insurgents by supplying them food and offering shelter to fighters.[8][9]
Clockwise from top-left to bottom-left: - Black Mountain - Ostry - Klen - Olsha
Krasnostav lies at the base of four mountains and the surrounding forests:
The Black Mountain in the south-west (102-033). It has a height of 365 metres above sea level.
Ostry in the north-west (108-025). It reaches a height of 353 metres ASL.
Klen in the south-east (115-039). It has a height of 324 metres ASL.
Olsha in the north-east (129-025). It reaches a height of 211 metres ASL.
Of the four, only the Black Mountain lacks trails and is mostly inaccessible to ground vehicles. Visitors hoping to reach the castle ruins must hike through the forests to get to the peak.
Facilities[]
Medical clinic[]
A small villa-turned-clinic was formerly located on the western side of Krasnostav. It was run by Doctor Josef Sova, who had recently relocated to Krasnostav after his original clinic in the village of Pusta was ransacked by the ChDKZ.[10] For the brief period of time that it was operational, Dr. Sova was assisted by two staff members: an individual named Veyr, and Valentina Galkina, who ran errands for him as well as Father Fyodor Kovalenko, a priest who resided in Gorka.[11]
However, on October 16th, 2009[7], the clinic was targeted in a province-wide uprising staged by pro-ChDKZ partisans.[12] Dr. Sova, Veyr, and Galkina were all killed by the insurgents in seemingly coordinated attacks. Sova and Veyr were both lynched, with their corpses left hanging on a tree outside of the clinic in the aftermath. On the other hand, Galkina was shot in the head whilst driving along the road between the village of Dubrovka to Krasnostav.[13] The clinic was subsequently cordoned off and closed by pro-government militias.[14]
Security checkpoint[]
At the height of Operation Harvest Red, a security checkpoint was established along the road leading west towards Gvozdno. It was manned by U.S. Marines from the 27th Marine Expeditionary Unit (27th MEU).
↑ARMA 2 2009 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Operation Harvest Red, Manhattan, "We're being redeployed to the mountainous region in the Northeast around Krasnostav. We've established an FOB up there to help the CDF keep the locals under control. Despite most of Chernarus now being under nominal CDF control this region is proving troublesome for the brass on both sides of the alliance. A guerilla group called NAPA are harassing the Chedaki and normally that'd be fine by me, but they're not keeping their reprisals to combatants. The CDF simply don't have the right stuff for this kind of conflict (I'm tempted to say any type of conflict...) so once again we have to bail them out. I just hope this doesn't turn into another quagmire."
↑ARMA 2 2009 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Operation Harvest Red, Manhattan, "The Krasnostav area is a deeply divided region of Chernarus. Local attitudes toward the CDF (and their allies) are fickle at best. While we can expect some support from the local population there are many ethic Russian settlers in this area who feel threatened by the CDF/USMC presence and the legitimacy this could be seen to lend the anti-ChDKZ militias such as NAPA. Our goal is to minimize the conflict in this area, not encourage rival militia violence. NAPA activity is highest in the west where there have been some attacks on ChDKZ sympathizers, as well as direct firefights between NAPA and ChDKZ."
↑ARMA 2 2009 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Operation Harvest Red, Manhattan, "The Chernarussian Defence Force is in control of the majority of the country thanks to the swift and decisive involvement of the USMC. However, insurgency is on the increase. The Krasnostav area is still seeing heavy counter-insurgency fighting between the CDF, ChDKZSotnya remnants and NAPA guerilla groups. Although enemies of the ChDKZ, there is no 'official' line concerning the NAPA group's attitude toward the USMC and it's allies. They should be approached with caution. The ChDKZ are operating from the forests that dominate this area of operation, popping up for occasional hit and run strikes on weak targets. Forward Operating Base 'Manhattan' has been established east of the town of Krasnostav to deal with the conflict in this area. Immediate USMC intervention is needed to assist the CDF who largely lack the appropriate counter-insurgency training for this area of operations. Our role in the AO is to find and eliminate key ChDKZ personnel, camps, strong-points and supporters. Razor Team will redeploy from Elektrozavodsk and rendezvous at FOB Manhattan checkpoint 'Brooklyn'. From there Razor should report to Capt. Shaftoe re: their deployment in the AO."
↑ARMA 2 2009 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Operation Harvest Red, Manhattan, "This is quite a sensitive objective. A significant portion of the population give aid to the local militias. We have identified two civilians who are secretly helping the Chedaki in the AO. The main contact is Lev Nokolayev. He lives in Khelm but other than that we know very little about him. Make finding out more your priority. The other contact is a woman called Antonia Lagushina. she lives in a house in Gvozdno (see pictures), but frequently travels to Krasnostav. If you find her, arrest her and call in for further instructions."
↑ARMA 2 2009 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Operation Harvest Red, Manhattan, "Razor I've got some bad news. There's been some kind of organised lynching across the AO. Several towns have seen some sort of synchronised uprising and civil violence."
↑ARMA 2 2009 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Operation Harvest Red, Manhattan, "It gets worse Razor, there's been violence all over, they even killed the Doctor in Krasnostav. A Dr. Sova, I believe you'd met him in Pusta, so I'm sorry. I know you knew the woman helping the Doctor too. Valentina Galkina. She wasn't hanged with the others but it looks like they caught up with her on the road between Dubrovka and Krasnostav. Single shot to the head. I thought you should know Razor. Better I tell you now than you wander into town and see something unexpected."
