Videos and witness accounts have revealed that on June 24, a contingent of Wagner military vehicles diverted east toward a Russian nuclear weapons base. Surveillance went cold after Wagner fighters reached the rural region surrounding Voronezh-45, but Western officials affirmed that Russian nuclear weapons were never in danger.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukrainian military intelligence, claims that Wagner fighters went much further and reached the nuclear base. He said their goal was to acquire small Soviet-era nuclear devices to bolster Wagner’s bargaining position. Sources close to the Kremlin in Ukraine and Russia suggested this operation inspired the hastily negotiated ceasefire between Prigozhin, Putin, and Lukashenko. U.S. officials stated they could not corroborate these reports, and had no indication that nuclear weapons were ever at serious risk. Matt Korda of the Federation of American Scientists noted that nuclear arms are stored disassembled, and activating such weapons would require cooperation from the 12th Directorate.
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