Base 3 computers were just a historical curiosity, they were never produced at scale. Less than 100 were ever made. All Soviet computer series - BESM, Minsk, Ur

Base 3 computers were just a historical curiosity, they were never produced at scale. Less than 100 were ever made. All Soviet computer series - BESM, Minsk, Ural, Iskra, M-series - were binary, with the only exception of Setun series. It never played a considerable role. So that's just an urban myth.