How Westerners expressed fears about the safety of the nuclear arsenal amid the insurgency

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynn Tracy, during contacts on the situation with the insurgency Yevgeny Prigozhin, expressed hope that Russia’s nuclear weapons would be “in order”, and said that America had “nothing to do” in connection with this situation, said on June 26 in an interview with Russia Today Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to him, such risks were recognized by the Russian leadership. “We understand the consequences of a coup d’état in the largest nuclear power. Such a crisis will obviously not be limited to the framework of one country,” Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on June 24 (quoted by TASS).

In this regard, representatives of Western countries also expressed their fears. On June 26, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, expressed concern that “a nuclear power like Russia could enter a phase of political instability.” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the evening of June 25 stated on CNN that Washington “did not notice any changes” in the readiness of Russian strategic forces and did not change their readiness against the backdrop of Prigozhin’s rebellion. According to him, “instability in such a large country as Russia is always a concern.”

As the US Department of State reported on June 23, in the middle of the month (June 13–14), at the initiative of the United States, a working meeting of representatives and experts of the “nuclear five” countries (including China, France, Russia and Great Britain) was convened in Cairo to discuss nuclear weapons issues. “They discussed the reduction of strategic risks, as well as nuclear doctrines and policies in this area,” the US diplomatic agency said. The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the meeting.

During the June 23-24 rebellion, there was no threat to either civilian or military nuclear facilities, says a source close to the Defense Ministry, and Prigogine residents had no plans to create such threats. All sorts of messages about the intentions of PMC employees to seize nuclear weapons are elements of anti-Russian propaganda with transparent intentions, says Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine.

The 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (12th GUMO) is responsible for the protection of all storage facilities for nuclear weapons, both central and temporary, including strategic aviation airfields, laboratories, repair and technical bases and other related facilities, recalled the senior scientific employee of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (Geneva) Pavel Podvig. Some of these facilities are also located in the European part of Russia, where the events of the Prigozhin rebellion unfolded, the expert says. “Obviously, according to the procedure, the units of the 12th GUMO, in the event of an attack on objects, hold the line until reinforcements arrive. In principle, they are ready to repel attacks by heavy weapons, and the 12th GUMO itself is a serious institution with relevant traditions, you can count on them to fulfill their task,” Podvig believes.

The security units of the 12th GUMO include both conventional security units, close in state to motorized rifle units, and special units, explains Dmitry Kornev, editor of the Military Russia portal. According to him, the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) also have their own security units. “The protocols of both the 12th GUMO and the Strategic Missile Forces have been worked out, the lack of heavy weapons is compensated by the ability to immediately request fire support from the Air Force and the Ground Forces,” says Kornev. He also notes that even in the event of the capture of one of the storage facilities with the appropriate personnel, it is extremely difficult to detonate the warheads, they are equipped with complex code-blocking devices.