From blueprint of bases to IT systems, Russia's nuclear secrets revealed online

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3 days ago

In an unprecedented leak of around 2 million documents, the expansion of Russian nuclear programme has been revealed online, ranging from the blueprint of missile bases to details of IT systems, power grids, and security arrangements. read more
In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on April 26, 2025. AP Photo
In the barren Russian Ural mountains' Yasny town, Russia built one of the world's most secure military complexes that houses the country's ground-based, long-range nuclear-capable missiles. But that was until yesterday. Today, the complex's insides are on the internet where you can take a virtual tour.
In an unprecedented scoop, Danish outlet Danwatch and German magazine Der Spiegel obtained around 2 million documents related to the Russian nuclear programme that reveal in exhaustive details the layout of nuclear weapons' complexes, the expansion of the nuclear weapons programme, and the security features in place at these top-secret sites.
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In the post-Cold War world, it is for the first time that such details have been obtained, according to Hans M Kristensen, the Director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
'Until now, we have only been able to monitor these bases from above using satellite imagery. Now, with the help of these unique drawings, we can now for the first time get inside the buildings and all the way underground. It's completely unprecedented,' Kristensen told Danwatch and Der Spiegel.
The photograph shows the satellite view of the Russian nuclear weapons complex in the town of Yasny. (Photo: Google Earth)
The scoop has been reported at a time when Russian war on Ukraine is in its fourth year. Throughout the war, Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin and his top aides, have invoked nuclear weapons. Dmitry Medvedev, a former President of Russia and a key ally of Putin, has threatened Western nations with nuclear strikes over continued support of Ukraine.
Inside Russia's nuclear weapons complexes — literally
While foreign governments as well as researchers can monitor Russian military complexes, or complexes of any country, from satellite images, the documents unearthed by Danwatch and Der Spiegel offer unprecedented inside those structures.
While it has been known from satellite images that Russia has been expanding its nuclear weapons capabilities for nearly a decade, exactly how it has been expanding has been revealed in these documents.
Consider this: the documents reveal what type of steel is supposed to be used in a nuclear weapons complex, how dense construction material should be, how thick insulation should be, whether ceiling beams should be exposed or concealed, and how long should lightning rods be, and what the quality of hinges on security windows should be.
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The documents have hundreds of original blueprints related to the nuclear warheads and missiles' storage sites. These documents also lay bare the IT systems, electrical installations, and water supply network, and heating and ventilation systems installed in such sites.
This is a screenshot of one of the documents that Danwatch has shared on the website as part of the trove of around 2 million part of their discovery.
The documents also reveal the multi-layer security arrangements. They show that bases have three layers of electric fences around the outer perimeter, seismic and radioactivity sensors, explosion-proof doors and windows, reinforced concrete buildings, and alarm systems with magnetic contacts and infrared (IR) sensors.
The internal layout is described such that it lays bare where soldiers eat, sleep, and relieve themselves. The documents also describe which rooms in the complex store the protective gear and where weapons are kept. Even control rooms of nuclear weapons complexes are mentioned in these documents.
'This is ultimate intelligence'
With such details, mounting an attack on such complexes or infiltrating such complexes in times of conflict would become much easier as you would know the weak spots, where weapons are stored, and what security arrangements are in place.
Former British intelligence officer Philip Ingram told Danwatch and Der Spiegel that these documents are 'the ultimate intelligence'.
'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,' said Colonel (Retired) Ingram, who served in the Intelligence Corps of the British Army.
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Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists said that the documents are the deepest dive yet into Russia's nuclear weapons programme.
'Your research is the deepest into the structure of these facilities that I have seen in the public domain. And we have to go all the way back to the buildings and systems of the 60s and 70s, where I remember seeing similar blueprints. Seeing it on these new systems, that's a whole new chapter,' Kristensen told Danwatch and Der Spiegel.