On the day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a secret nuclear weapons base was placed on high combat alert.
That’s what Anton, a former officer in the Russian nuclear forces, told the BBC.
“Before that, we only had exercises. But the day the war started, the weapons were fully prepared,” he says.
“We were ready to launch forces into the sea and into the air and, in theory, carry out a nuclear attack.”
I met Anton at a secret location outside of Russia. For your own safety, the BBC will not reveal where you went. We also changed his name and will not show his face.
Anthony He was an officer at a top-secret nuclear weapons facility in Russia.
He showed us documents confirming his unit, rank and base.
The BBC cannot independently verify all the events he described, although they match Russian statements at the time.
Three days after troops crossed Ukraine’s borders, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces were ordered into a “special combat duty mode.”
Anton points out that the state of combat alert he set out on the first day of the war and claims his unit was “locked inside the base.”
“All we had was Russian state television,” says the former officer, “I didn’t really know what it all meant. I fulfilled my obligations automatically. “We weren’t fighting the war, we were just protecting nuclear weapons.”
The alert status was canceled, he adds, after two or three weeks.
Anton’s testimony offers insight into the top-secret inner workings of Russia’s nuclear forces.
It is extremely rare for service members to speak to journalists.
“They have a very strict selection process. They are all professional soldiers, not recruits,” he explains.
“There are constant checks and lie detector tests for everyone. The salary is much higher and troops are not sent to war. “They are there to repel or carry out a nuclear attack.”
The former officer says that life was strictly controlled.
“It was my responsibility to make sure that the soldiers under my command did not take any phones into the nuclear base,” he explains.
“It is a closed society, there are no strangers there. If you want your parents to visit you, you have to submit an application to the Security Service of the FSB (Russian Security Service) three months in advance.”
Anton was part of the base’s security unit, a quick reaction force that guarded the nuclear weapons.
“We had constant training exercises. Our reaction time was two minutes,” he explains with some pride.
Russia has around 4,380 operational nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists, but only 1,700 are “deployed” or ready for use. All NATO member states together own a similar amount.
There are also concerns about whether Putin could choose to deploy “non-strategic” nuclear weapons, often called tactical.
These are smaller missiles that generally do not cause widespread radioactive fallout.
Its use, however, would lead to a dangerous escalation in the war.
The Kremlin has been doing everything it can to test the nerves of the West.
Last week Putin ratified changes to nuclear doctrine, the official rules that dictate how and when Russia can launch nuclear weapons.
The doctrine now states that Russia can carry out launches if it is subject to a “massive attack” with conventional missiles by a non-nuclear State but “with the participation or support of a nuclear State.”
Russian officials indicate that the updated doctrine “effectively eliminates” the possibility of his defeat on the battlefield.
But is Russia’s nuclear arsenal fully functional?
Some Western experts suggest that their weapons mostly date from the Soviet era and may not work.
The former nuclear forces officer rejected that opinion as a “very simplified view of the so-called experts.”
“There may be some types of outdated weapons in some areas, but the country has a huge nuclear arsenal, a large number of warheadsincluding constant combat patrol on land, sea and air.”
Russia’s nuclear weapons are fully operational and ready for battle, he maintained. “The work to maintain nuclear weapons is constantly being carried out, it never stops for a minute.”
Shortly after the full-scale war began, Anton indicates that he received what he describes as a “criminal order”: to hold conferences with his troops using very specific written guidelines.
“They said that Ukrainian civilians are combatants and must be destroyed!” he exclaims. “For me, that is a red line: it is a war crime. “I have said that I will not spread this propaganda.”
High-ranking officers punished Anton by transferring him to a regular assault brigade in another part of the country. They told him they would send him to war.
These units are often sent into battle as the “first wave” and several Russian defectors told the BBC that “troublemakers” who oppose the war have been used as “cannon fodder.”
The Russian embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment.
Before he could be sent to the front, Anton signed a statement refusing to participate in the war and criminal proceedings were opened against him.
He showed us documents confirming his transfer to the assault brigade and details of the criminal process.
So He decided to flee the country with the help of a volunteer organization to help deserters.
“If he had fled the nuclear forces base, the local security service of the FSB would have reacted decisively and he probably would not have been able to leave the country,” he noted.
But he believes that since he was transferred to an ordinary assault brigade, the high-level security clearance system failed.
Anton states that he wants Let the world know that many Russian soldiers are against the war.
The volunteer organization that helps deserters, “Idite Lesom” [“Ve por el bosque”, en español]told the BBC that the number of deserters seeking help has risen to 350 a month.
The risks for those fleeing are also increasing. At least one deserter has died after fleeing abroad, and there have been several cases of men being forcibly returned to Russia and put on trial.
Although Anton left Russia, he indicates that the security services are still looking for him there: “I take precautions here, I work outside the registers and I do not appear in any official system.”
He explains that he has stopped talking to his friends at the nuclear base because it could put them in danger: “They have to pass lie detector tests and any contact with me could lead to criminal prosecution”.
But he has no illusions about the risk he himself runs in helping other soldiers flee.
“I understand that the more I do it, the greater the chance they will try to kill me.”
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