A former Russian army officer who served at a secret nuclear base has given an interview to the BBC after fleeing abroad.
He said that on the day the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, his military base was put on high alert. According to the officer identified in the interview by the name of Anton, until then they had only participated in exercises, but on February 24, the base’s weapons were ready for use and the unit was ready to act on land, sea and air. including a potential nuclear attack.
Anton stressed that service on such a base was subject to strict requirements. Only career military personnel were allowed into the facilities and underwent regular screening, including polygraph tests. Mobile phones and unauthorized people on the base were strictly prohibited, and it took three months to approve the parents’ visit. Despite the restrictions, the service received high salaries and exemption from participation in hostilities.
Three days after the start of the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the transfer of nuclear forces to a “special combat duty regime.” Anton said that in the early days of the war, his unit was isolated and had limited access to information, with only Russian state television. The base was deactivated two or three weeks after the conflict began.
The official denied claims that Russia has an obsolete nuclear arsenal. According to him, the country has a huge arsenal of warheads and carries out constant combat patrols on land, air and sea. The work to maintain combat readiness, he said, does not stop for a minute.
Shortly after the start of the war, Anton was asked to give lectures to soldiers based on instructions that Ukrainian civilians were combatants and subject to destruction. He refused to carry out this order, calling it a war crime. For this he was reprimanded and transferred to a combat unit with the threat of being sent to war.
In response, Anton signed a refusal to participate in hostilities, after which a criminal case was opened against him. For fear of being persecuted, he decided to flee the country with the help of the volunteer organization “Pase por el Bosque.”
Anton also commented on the recent launch of the Oreshnik ballistic missile towards Ukraine, which caused concern in Western countries. According to experts, the missile, equipped with multiple warheads, can carry nuclear weapons and is practically resistant to interception. The use of such weapons in war, even with conventional warheads, is considered an escalation of the threat.
Previously, Kursor wrote that a State Duma deputy fell into disgrace because of a T-shirt with Putin.
One of Putin’s henchmen, a deputy of the Russian State Duma, mocked on social networks with a T-shirt with an intercontinental missile.
