Behind closed blast doors Danish and German journalists uncover detailed blueprints offering an unprecedented look inside Russia’s nuclear weapons silos
Russia is conducting a large-scale modernization of the underground silos that store its missiles with strategic nuclear warheads, journalists from the Danish investigative project Danwatch and the German publication Der Spiegel have discovered. The investigation, presented on May 28, states that Danwatch journalists obtained more than two million documents concerning Russian military contracts, which they then analyzed in collaboration with colleagues at Der Spiegel. Meduza summarizes their findings.
The journalists were able to obtain data about military facilities despite Russia’s growing restrictions on the release of such information. In December 2020, the State Duma passed a law tightening the rules on military procurement contracts, citing concerns about national security secrets often present in these records. Around the same time, Russia's Defense Ministry created a new database for military procurement, accessible only to vetted Russian enterprises. “However, officials from Russian military construction companies continued sharing secret documents in [older] public databases," reports Danwatch.
Journalists were able to obtain detailed data about Russian nuclear facilities, from the location of surveillance cameras to information about underground tunnels
The Danwatch project and Der Spiegel discovered secret blueprints revealing the layout of military sites with strategic nuclear weapons in the summer of 2024. Though the Russian authorities restricted access to these records, journalists were able to bypass these measures “using various digital technologies, including a network of servers located in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.”
“A major breach of Russia's security system exposed the most sensitive details of the country's nuclear modernization project,” Danwatch reporters explained. For many decades, researchers have monitored the development of Russia's nuclear forces through satellite imagery, but the hundreds of detailed blueprints accessed by the journalists now offer a look at how Russia's most heavily guarded facilities are structured.
The documents reveal that numerous new nuclear weapons facilities have been built across Russia. Some military sites were “practically razed to the ground and rebuilt from scratch.” In the modernization work, the Defense Ministry has also constructed hundreds of new barracks, guard towers, command centers, and storage buildings, and dug several kilometers of underground tunnels.
The trove of documents also exposes the scale of modernization underway in Russia. The records mention deliveries of steel, sand, cement, bricks, and other materials, as well as data on IT systems, electrical equipment, water supplies, heating, and ventilation.
The documents describe security systems in detail, including three rows of electric fencing around the outer perimeter of the military sites, seismic activity and radioactivity sensors, doors and windows capable of withstanding explosions, and alarm systems equipped with magnetic switches and infrared sensors. In some cases, the records even specify where and what surveillance cameras should be installed in buildings. Der Spiegel highlights that blueprints of the actual bunkers storing nuclear warheads were not publicly available.
The records reveal the internal layout of facilities, including descriptions of where soldiers eat, sleep, use the bathroom, and relax. They also describe the sports equipment the military uses, mainly treadmills and weights, as well as the games they play, such as chess and checkers. Additionally, there are descriptions of warning signs, such as “Stop! Turn around! Forbidden zone!” Journalists also learned where protective equipment is stored, the location of weapon cabinets and control rooms, and which buildings are connected by underground tunnels.
The two million documents obtained by journalists included hundreds of blueprints of Strategic Missile Forces sites in the city of Yasny in the Orenburg region. The documents present floor plans and furnishing details for facilities of the 621st and 368th missile regiments and describe the materials needed for construction and who should supply them.
Construction teams used materials from several Western companies for the nuclear facilities, including cement and plaster, adhesives, and insulating materials. There was particularly high demand for products from Knauf, reports Der Spiegel. After Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the German building materials company publicly distanced itself from its Russian business, but journalists at Danwatch and Der Spiegel say Knauf maintains full control over its subsidiaries in Russia. Meanwhile, company spokespeople have condemned “Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine” and announced plans to divest from Russia.
European military experts report that sites similar to those in Yasny have been equipped with “Avangard” strategic nuclear missile systems, writes Der Spiegel.
The investigation’s authors also obtained satellite images taken in the Yasny area, showing some buildings, including a distinctive circular watchtower. According to the journalists, the Yasny site is one of 11 locations in Russia from which missiles with nuclear warheads can be launched. Experts estimate that Russia has about 900 strategic nuclear warheads deployed in underground silos.
Experts say the blueprints should not have been publicly accessible in any form, and their release compromises Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces
The level of detail in the obtained materials renders Russia’s new nuclear weapons sites vulnerable to attack, experts told Danwatch. Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Program at the Federation of American Scientists, who has monitored the development of nuclear powers’ arsenals for decades, called it “absolutely incredible” that journalists were able to find such information about Russian nuclear facilities.
British military analyst Philip Ingram believes that the publication of these data indicates a “serious failure” in the Russian defense industry’s processes and procedures. “Such documents on extremely sensitive defense projects should not have been publicly accessible in any way, shape, or form. These records are of enormous value,” Ingram stated.
Norwegian military expert Tom Røseth believes the Russian authorities would obviously want to conceal such information, as its disclosure would make the facilities “potentially more vulnerable.” He notes that the documents confirm Russia’s upgrades to its strategic nuclear forces and reveal that “very real actions underpin [Moscow’s] stilted rhetoric about new types of weapons and infrastructure.”
Tom Røseth suggested that even though the two military sites in Yasny are presently at combat readiness, the publication of materials concerning these facilities will force Russia to make various adjustments, including reinforcing certain positions with concrete. “The problem is that changing infrastructure at these facilities costs a lot of money,” he added.
According to Hans Kristensen, the actions of the Russian authorities primarily indicate that the military is modernizing old Soviet-era systems, but these modernization efforts do not significantly change “the fragile balance between superpowers.”
Sources told Danwatch and Der Spiegel that Western intelligence services are closely monitoring the modernization of Russia's nuclear forces. The Danish Defense Intelligence Service told journalists that it “closely monitors the development of Russia's military capabilities, including changes to its nuclear facilities.” Western intelligence services called it surprising that this confidential information had become publicly available, Der Spiegel writes, but “on the other hand, Moscow seeks a certain degree of transparency: they want to show that they have these weapons.”
The investigation's authors contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry and asked whether military officials consider the public availability of these blueprints to be a security breach. The journalists also asked whether the documents might compromise security at the military sites. The ministry did not respond.