Russian deserter reveals war secrets about guarding nuclear base

According to Anton, on the day of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the nuclear weapons base where he served was put on high combat readiness.

“Before we only had practices. But on the day the war began, the weapons were fully deployed,” says the former Russian nuclear force officer. “We were prepared to send forces into the sea and into the air and theoretically deliver a nuclear strike.”

I met Anton in a secret location outside of Russia. For its own protection, the BBC is not revealing where. We also changed his name and don’t show his face.

Anton was an officer at a top secret nuclear weapons facility in Russia.

He has provided us with documents confirming his unit, rank and base.

The BBC is unable to independently verify all of the events he describes, although they are consistent with Russian statements at the time.

Three days after troops poured across Ukraine’s borders, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces were deployed ordered into “special combat duty”..

Anton says there was a battle alert on the first day of the war and claims his unit was “trapped in the base.”

“We only had Russian state television,” says the former officer, “I didn’t really know what it all meant. I have automatically fulfilled my duties. We didn’t fight in the war, we just guarded the nuclear weapons.”

The state of alarm was lifted after two to three weeks, he added.

Anton’s testimony offers a glimpse into the top-secret inner workings of Russia’s nuclear forces. It is extremely rare for military personnel to speak to journalists.

“There is a very strict selection process there. Everyone is a professional soldier – not a conscript,” he explains.

“There are constant checks and lie detector tests for everyone. The wages are much higher and the troops are not sent to war. They are there to either deter or deliver a nuclear strike.”

The former official says life was tightly controlled.

“It was my responsibility to make sure that the soldiers under me didn’t take phones with them to the nuclear base,” he explains.

“It’s a closed society, there are no strangers there. If you want your parents to visit, you must submit an application to the FSB security service three months in advance.”

Anton was part of the base’s security unit – a rapid reaction force that guarded the nuclear weapons.

“We had constant training exercises. “Our response time was two minutes,” he says with a hint of pride.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, Russia has around 4,380 operational nuclear warheads, but only 1,700 are “deployed,” or operational. All NATO member states together have a similar number.

There are also concerns about whether Putin might decide to use “non-strategic,” often tactical, nuclear weapons. These are smaller rockets and generally do not cause large-scale radioactive fallout.

Nevertheless, their use would lead to a dangerous escalation of the war.

The Kremlin has done everything it can to test the nerves of the West.

Just last week, Putin ratified changes to nuclear doctrine – the official rules that dictate how and when Russia can fire nuclear weapons.

The doctrine now states that Russia can launch if it faces a “massive attack” with conventional missiles by a non-nuclear state, but “with the participation or support of a nuclear state.”

Russian officials say the updated doctrine “effectively eliminates” the possibility of defeat on the battlefield.

But is Russia’s nuclear arsenal fully operational?

Some Western experts have suggested that its weapons are largely Soviet-era and may not even work.

The former nuclear force officer dismissed this opinion as a “very simplistic view of so-called experts.”

“There may 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 patrols on land, at sea and in the air.”

Russia’s nuclear weapons are fully operational and combat ready, he claimed. “The work of maintaining nuclear weapons is carried out constantly, it does not stop even for a minute.”

Shortly after the full-scale war began, Anton said he received what he called a “criminal order” to lecture his troops while following very specific written guidelines.

“They said that Ukrainian civilians were combatants and should be destroyed!” he shouts. “That’s a red line for me – it’s a war crime. I said I will not spread this propaganda.”

Senior officers reprimanded Anton by transferring him to a regular assault brigade in another part of the country. He was told that he would be sent to war.

These units are often sent into battle as the “first wave” and a number of Russian deserters have told the BBC that “troublemakers” opposed to the war were 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 a criminal case was opened against him. He showed us documents confirming his transfer to the assault brigade and details of the criminal case.

He then decided to leave the country with the help of a volunteer organization for deserters.

“If I had run away from the nuclear force base, the local FSB security service would have reacted decisively and I probably would not have been able to leave the country,” he said.

But he believes the high-level security clearance system failed because he was transferred to a regular assault brigade.

Anton said he wanted to let the world know that many Russian soldiers were against the war.

The volunteer organization Idite Lesom, which helps deserters, has told the BBC that the number of deserters seeking help has increased to 350 per month.

The risks for refugees are also increasing. At least one deserter was killed after escaping abroad, and there were several cases in which men were forcibly returned to Russia and tried.

Although Anton has left Russia, he says the security services there are still looking for him: “I’m taking precautions here, working according to the rules and not appearing in any official system.”

He says he stopped speaking to his friends at the nuclear base because he could put them in danger: “They have to take a lie detector test and any contact with me could lead to a criminal case.”

But he has no illusions about the risk he takes by helping other soldiers escape.

“I understand that the more I do this, the higher the chance that they might try to kill me.”