On the day of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Anton says the nuclear weapons facility he worked for was put on war alert.
Before this, we only did exercises. But on the day the war started, the weapons were enough,” says the former commander of Russia’s nuclear forces. “We were prepared to deploy troops by sea and air and, in theory, to carry out a nuclear attack.”
I met Anton in a secret place outside of Russia. For his protection, the BBC will not publish it. We have also changed his name and we are not showing his face.
Anton was a senior officer at a secret nuclear weapons facility in Russia.
He showed us the documents confirming his team, position and foundation.
The BBC cannot independently report all the events he described, although they do chime with Russian talk at the time.
The ex-policeman (L) spoke to the BBC in secret – his face red to hide his identity. [BBC]
Three days after troops poured over Ukraine’s borders, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia’s nuclear defense forces had been ordered to carry out a “special attack”.
Anton says a combat alert was in place on the first day of the war and says his team was “locked inside the base”.
“All we had was Russian government TV,” says the former official, “I didn’t know what it meant.” Then I did my duties. We were not fighting a war, we were just guarding nuclear weapons.”
The alert condition is removed, it adds, after two to three weeks.
Anton’s testimony provides an insight into the innermost secrets of Russia’s nuclear forces. It is rare for staff members to speak to the press.
“There is a strong selection process. Everyone is a professional soldier – no one is conscripted,” he explains.
“There are constant checks and lie-detector tests for everyone. The stakes are very high, and the military is not called to war. They are there to repel, or carry out, a nuclear attack.”
The ex-policeman says life is tightly controlled.
“It was my job to ensure that the troops under my command do not take mobile phones to nuclear sites,” he explains.
“That community is closed, there are no guests there. If you want your parents to visit you, you must send a request to the FSB Security Service three months in advance.”
Anton was part of the base’s security unit – a fast-acting force that protected nuclear weapons.
“We always practiced exercises. Our response time was two minutes,” he says, proudly.
Russia has around 4,380 operational nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists, but only 1,700 are “deployed” or ready for use. All NATO member states have the same number.
There is also concern that Putin may decide to deploy “non-programmed”, often called tactical, nuclear weapons. These are small spears that usually do not cause widespread radioactive fallout.
Their use however would lead to a dangerous escalation in the war.
The Kremlin has been doing everything it can to test the nerves of the West.
Just last week Putin approved a change to the nuclear doctrine – the official law that dictates if and when Russia can launch nuclear weapons.
The theory now says that Russia could launch if it comes under “massive attack” from conventional missiles by a non-nuclear country but “with the participation or support of a nuclear country”.
Russian officials say the updated doctrine “eliminates” the possibility of its defeat on the battlefield.
But are Russia’s nuclear weapons fully operational?
Some Western experts have promoted their weapons heavily from the Soviet era, and they may not even work.
The former nuclear chief dismissed that idea as “simplistic views from so-called experts”.
“There may be traditional types of weapons in some areas, but the world has a large nuclear arsenal, a large number of military forces, including constant military operations on land, sea and air.”
Russia’s nuclear weapons were fully operational and ready for combat, he said. “The work to protect nuclear weapons is done all the time, it never stops for a single minute.”
As soon as the war started, Anton said he was given what he describes as a “crime law” – to hold talks with his troops using specific documents.
“They said that Ukrainian citizens are soldiers and must be destroyed!” he says. “That’s a red line for me – it’s a war crime. I said I will not spread these lies.”
The senior officers reprimanded Anton and sent him to a regular raiding party on the other side of the country. He was told that he would be sent to the army.
These units are often sent to war as the “first wave” and several Russians have told the BBC that “troublemakers” who oppose the war have been used as “cannon fodder”.
The Russian ambassador in London did not respond to a request for comment.
Before he was sent to the army, Anton signed a document refusing to participate in the war and was charged with a crime. He showed us the documents confirming his transfer to the attack team and the criminal case.
He then decided to flee the country with the help of a volunteer organization for refugees.
“If I had escaped from the nuclear power station, then the local FSB Security Service would have acted effectively and I probably wouldn’t have been able to leave the country,” he said.
But he believes that, because he was transferred to a conventional combat brigade, the high-level approval process failed.
Anton said he wanted the world to know that many Russian soldiers were fighting the war.
A voluntary organization that helps those who leave, “Idite Lesom” [‘Go by the Forest’, in English, or ‘Get Lost’] He told the BBC that the number of people in the desert seeking help has risen to 350 per month.
The dangers for those fleeing are also increasing. At least one defector has been killed after fleeing the country, and there have been several cases of men forcibly returned to Russia and tried.
Although Anton has left Russia, he says that the security forces are still looking for him there: “I am careful here, I remove books and I do not appear in any government programs.”
He says he stopped talking to his friends at the nuclear site because he could put them in danger: “They have to take lie detector tests, and any contact with me could lead to criminal charges.”
But he is not deceived about the danger he is in by helping other soldiers escape.
“I understand when I do that, I increase the chances that they can try to kill me.”