A former nuclear officer in Russia revealed the inner workings of the Russian attack.
The man, known only by Anton, says the weapons are ready to go whenever they’re needed hidden in a secret base controlled by Vladimir Putin. This was said to be put in place on the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022. He even added the country was ready for an attack by sea, land, air, and even a potential nuclear strike.
Now, this is still in place and with recent news that Putin can strike if he feels his country is “in danger,” it’s though the country could strike at any point. Anton was an officer at a top-secret nuclear weapons centre and his identity is a secret to protect him from the state.
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(Image: Russian Defence Ministry)
He spoke to the BBC and revealed that on the first day of the conflict, he and his co-workers were placed in a special combat mode service, where they were locked inside the base. They only had Russian state TV.
Anton says they were aware they weren’t in direct war, but they were under strict instructions to guard the nuclear weapons from invasion. In there, they don’t accept conscriptions and only the top professionals were allowed in.
Anton’s job was to stop workers from taking their phones in or talking to outside sources about what was inside. Russia has around 4,380 operational nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
(Image: Russian Defence Ministry)
It is reported that only 1,700 are “deployed” or ready for use. The UK has around 225.
Some reports worry that Putin might utilise smaller nuclear weapons, which would cause less devastation with more contained explosions. Anton added: “There might be some old-fashioned types of weapons in some areas, but the country has an enormous nuclear arsenal, a huge amount of warheads, including constant combat patrol on land, sea and air.”
He revealed that the weapons of all calibre are constantly checked and maintained, and are ready to go at any moments notice.
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