Owing to its position on the Trans-Siberian railroad, Khabarovsk was subjected to atomic bombing by the U.S. in May 1951. Vasili Yasevich had been walking through the woods towards the Amur when he saw the flash from Khabarovsk's destruction. It gave him the idea to claim to be a survivor from the outskirts of the city to explain his lack of papers if he managed to cross into the Soviet Union.