Russian deserter reveals: Nuclear weapons were set on alert the first day of the Ukrainian invasion

In the revelation that she had put her nuclear weapons on hand since the 1st day of the invasion into, a Russian soldier, who deserted, proceeded. On the day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, Russia’s nuclear forces were put in full state of war readiness, according to the former Russian nuclear power officer. Anton (fake for his protection) described that the weapons were ready to be launched on land, sea and air, with a possibility of a nuclear strike taking place. “Before that, we only had exercises. But the day the war began, the weapons were fully prepared,” noted the former Russian nuclear force officer. “We were ready to unleash forces at sea and air and, theoretically, carry out a nuclear blow,” he said in an interview he granted to the BBC from a secret location outside Russia. “All our duties were carried out mechanically. We were not involved in the war, we were just guarding nuclear weapons,” he said. The alarm was cancelled after two to three weeks. Anton’s testimonies offer a rare look at the internal functions of Russian nuclear forces. “There is a strict selection process. No soldier enters the bases, only professional soldiers,” he explains. Personnel regularly undergoes tests and tests of lie detectors, while communication with the outside world is strictly limited. Russia has about 4,380 nuclear warheads, of which 1,700 are ready for use, according to the Federation of American Scientists. Despite the estimates of some Western experts that most of these weapons are old technology, Anton insists that Russia’s nukes are fully operational and under constant maintenance. Soon after the war began, Anton was ordered to give lectures to his soldiers using guidelines that, he claims, included war propaganda. “We were told that Ukrainian citizens are fighters and must be exterminated,” he confesses. “This was the red line for me,” he says. The senior officers reprimanded Anton by transferring him to a regular raid brigade in another part of the country. They told him they were gonna send him to war. Before being sent to the front, Anton signed a statement with which he refused to participate in the war and a criminal case was formed against him. Anton showed 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 voluntary organisation for deserters. “If I had left the nuclear power base, then the local FSB would have reacted decisively and probably couldn’t leave the country,” he said. But he believes that because he had been transferred to an ordinary assault brigade, the high-level security system failed. The volunteer organisation helping deserters, “Idite Lesom” told the BBC that the number of deserters seeking assistance has increased to 350 a month. Meanwhile, the risks are increasing for those who desert. At least one deserter was killed after fleeing abroad and there were several cases of men returning to Russia and being tried.