The base close Jasnyj is 1 of the most urgent protected facilities in Russia. It is there, since 2019, that the Awangard hypersonic missiles, 1 of the latest atomic weapon transportation systems and the eye in Vladimir Putin's head, have been deployed. Secrets of this place have leaked into public circulation, which may prove to the Russians a very costly failure.
The atomic arsenal is simply a key resource of the Russian Federation, its "insurance policy", guaranteeing not only safety but besides impunity of many activities. The war in Ukraine, dramatically reviewing the thought of the capabilities of the Russian conventional army, only highlighted the meaning of "atomical". They know this in the Kremlin, hence the large emphasis on modernising both atomic weapons themselves, its carriers and all the infrastructure essential to preserve the possible of strategical forces.
Modern Russia operates somewhat differently than the USSR – soldiers no longer carry out works related to the construction or expansion of military facilities. The Army uses the services of civilian contractors, and selects them by tendering. The data needed for their implementation, including construction plans, schematics, equipment and location information (for example, underground bunkers) and another classified and confidential information, were found on the Internet. And journalists from the Danish portal “Danwatch” and German magazine “Der Spiegel” found access to them.
Unreasonable entrepreneurs
Several years ago, the Russians realized the leak of the public procurement system. At the end of 2020, State Duma passed a bill exacerbating procurement rules for the military and another uniformed services. A closed database was created in the Ministry of Defence, available only to verified national companies. But this procedure was of small use, due to the fact that participants of tenders published secret information – for example as attachments to their own offers – in public databases. Looking at them, journalists “Danwatch” and “Der Spiegel” discovered 2 million different documents.
A large part of them concerns the base of strategical rocket troops close Jasnya in the Orenburg Oblast. Cosmodrom is 1 of eleven Russian installations from which intercontinental rockets can be launched. The documentation collected by reporters included tendering for the facility, carried out until the summertime of 2024. Thanks to it, it was possible to recreate the base plan in the smallest details, including the layout of underground tunnels. Among the revealed data are descriptions of another safety systems nuclear bases, specifications of electrical fences, seismic and radioactive sensors, peculiar explosion-resistant doors and many another infrastructure components.
No comment from the Ministry
According to the materials obtained, all Russian atomic bases have been demolished in fresh years and placed again. The circumstances of these investments are interesting. "Documents uncover that the Russian army besides relies on Western companies' products on 1 of the most secret construction sites in the world. The construction materials (...), Knauf's products from the city of Iphofen in Lower Franconia, are peculiarly demanding,” says the weekly magazine “Der Spiegel”. In an interview with journalists, the company's representatives have ensured that they cooperate only with entities independent of the Russian authorities and cannot control what happens to the materials sold to them.
Returning to the point – according to Danish and German journalists, the obtained data gives a good orientation on the scale of modernisation of Russian atomic infrastructure. "The fresh Times" quotes a erstwhile British intelligence officer. In his opinion, the information that can be obtained through file analysis makes the base in the Orenburg Oblast susceptible to attack. “If individual sees how water is supplied, or how electrical cables are running, he can find where the weak points to hit are located,” says the American journalist. According to Tom Roset, a lecturer at the Norwegian Staff College (in an interview with the Moscow Times), a data leak can make Russia will gotta rebuild its bases.. “The change in infrastructure in these facilities costs quite a few money,” emphasises Roset.
The Russian Ministry of Defence has not yet commented on the case.
