Putin’s nuclear secrets revealed in embarrassing and costly leak

Russia has spent billions reinforcing two nuclear bases but the construction and planning, from Putin’s most advanced nuclear weapons to toilet plumbing, has been uncovered in a public data base.

Millions of highly sensitive documents detailing Russia’s nuclear weapons plants have been uncovered in a public database by international journalists.

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In an extraordinary and embarrassing security breach, millions of highly sensitive documents detailing Russia’s nuclear weapons plants have been uncovered in a public database by international journalists.

Reporters for the Danish investigative outlet Danwatch and Germany’s Der Spiegel said more than two million documents have been found, including the top secret inner workings of two Strategic Missile Forces bases near the town of Yasny in the Ural mountains which were made publicly available by being attached to tenders for defence contractors.

Of enormous interest to western countries, the files reveal the inner workings of the two bases, the 621st Missile Regiment base, and the nearby 368th Regiment base, both of which are equipped with Russia’s advanced nuclear missiles, the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle that plays a central role in President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions to put Russia in front in an arms race against the West.

The media outlets report that the documents show the bases are protected by advanced sensor systems and enhanced protective materials around the Avangard bunkers, and the recent construction appears to be continuing, despite a raft of Western sanctions.

The documents also show how Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces are able to launch nuclear bombs from buried silos or vehicles, with the ability also to launch air and sea-based nuclear weapons from special bomber aircraft or submarines.

There are nearly 900 operational nuclear warheads at 11 missile site locations, with the buried silos ready at any given moment to strike European countries in under just 10 minutes, leaving cities totally destroyed.

Defence systems have been boosted with remote-controlled machine guns, automatic grenade launchers and air defences.

Danish nuclear weapons expert Hans M. Kristensen told Danwatch and Der Spiegel that the documents were “unprecedented, absolutely incredible”. He said they provided valuable insight into Russia’s priorities in nuclear modernisation and long-term strategic planning.

“Until now, we have only been able to monitor these bases from above using satellite imagery,” said Mr Kristensen, who is the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists.

“Now, with the help of these unique drawings, we can for the first time get inside the buildings and all the way underground. It’s completely unprecedented.”

According to the media outlets, the documents show how numerous nuclear facilities have been modernised over the past 15 years, with old buildings rebuilt and upgraded, including hundreds of new barracks, control centres, watchtowers and underground tunnels connecting buildings on the bases.

Other documents showed construction plans, security system diagrams, tunnel locations, motion sensor locations, technology plans, electric fence locations and toilet and plumbing layouts.

Air defence systems and electronic warfare systems are also included.

The bases have been protected with explosion-proof doors and windows, and each of the bases has been surrounded by three layers of electric fencing equipped with sensors for seismic events and radioactivity, the media outlets say.

One supplier appears to be the German manufacturer Knauf, which has Russian subsidiaries supplying cement, adhesives, insulation and gypsum. A Knauf representative told Danwatch that Russian subsidiaries sell locally manufactured goods almost exclusively to independent retailers and that Knauf cannot control who ultimately uses its products.

Analysts say the Kremlin will be forced to rebuild sections of the bases in a costly security move and that President Putin will be red-faced.

Philip Ingram, a former colonel in the British Army’s intelligence corps, told the two media outlets: “Material like this is the ultimate intelligence. If you can understand how the electricity is conducted or where the water comes from, and you can see how the different things are connected in the systems, then you can identify strengths and weaknesses and find a weak point to attack.”