Wagner PMC reached Russian nuclear base during mutiny, and closed door was one and only barrier – Budanov

The chief of Ukrainian Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said this in a comment for Reuters.

According to videos posted online and interviews with local residents, as Wagner's fighters moved north toward Moscow, some of the military vehicles turned east on the highway toward a fortified Russian army base where nuclear weapons are stored. But the observation stops approximately 100 km from the Voronezh-45 nuclear base.

Instead, in a comment to the publication, Budanov said that Wagner went much further. They had reached the base, he said, and intended to obtain "small Soviet-era nuclear devices" to raise the stakes in their insurgency.

"Because if you are prepared to fight until the last man standing, this is one of the facilities that significantly raises the stakes," the chief of Ukrainian intelligence emphasized.

According to Budanov, the door to the nuclear storage was the only barrier between Wagner PMC and nuclear weapons.

"The doors of the storage were closed and they didn't get into the technical section," he noted.

According to him, the Voronezh-45 base stores small nuclear devices that can be carried in a backpack: "This was one of the key storage facilities for these backpacks."

For unknown reasons, the mercenaries retreated and did not capture them.

A source close to the Kremlin and connected to the military confirmed Budanov's words. It is noted that Wagner's unit "managed to get into a zone of special interest, as a result of which the Americans got agitated because nuclear munitions are stored there," the source said, without specifying the details.

This allegedly caused concern in the Kremlin and served as the impetus for hasty negotiations to end the rebellion on the evening of June 24, mediated by the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

Instead, American officials expressed doubts about this statement of the Ukrainian intelligence officer. Asked whether Wagner's troops had reached the base and were trying to obtain nuclear weapons, White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said: "We are not able to corroborate this report. We had no indication at any point that nuclear weapons or materials were at risk."

The publication adds that the militants who went in the direction of Voronezh-45, breaking away from the main convoy, engaged in a firefight with Russian troops in the first village they reached. But then they traveled 90 km without any obstacles and drove through the center of the city, near which the military base is located. According to a report by UN scientists, this is one of 12 Russian "national-level storage facilities" for storing nuclear weapons. In the town of Talovaya, the column was attacked by a helicopter, which was shot down.

Prigozhin's mutiny in Russia

For several months, there has been a conflict between Yevgeny Prigozhin, the financier of Wagner PMC, and the Russian Ministry of Defense. However, the situation escalated quickly on the evening of June 23.

Allegedly, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Wagner base. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner PMC, announced a "march of justice" and stated that 25,000 mercenaries were heading to Moscow after the Russian leadership refused to hand over Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

On June 24, Wagner’s fighters took control of Rostov-on-Don, where they initially gathered around the headquarters of the Southern Military District, and then entered the city of Voronezh. Their convoys, which had diverted from the Ukrainian border, were moving towards Moscow. Military aircraft and artillery under Shoigu's control attempted to stop them. The units of Wagner PMC were last spotted in the Lipetsk region. In Moscow itself, defensive positions were established, trenches were dug, and all security forces were mobilized.

However, on the evening of June 24, the press service of the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, released a statement in which the head of the Wagner PMC stated that he was ready to stop the advance of his mercenaries' military convoys, which were already approaching Moscow, and to reach an agreement with the Kremlin. Prigozhin allegedly agreed on this during a conversation with Lukashenko.

Subsequently, Prigozhin and all his fighters left the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District. Russian leader Vladimir Putin promised that Prigozhin would be able to go to Belarus, and Russia would close the criminal case against him.

On the same day, Putin gave a speech in which he offered the Wagner PMC fighters three options for future actions: join the Russian Defense Forces, go to Belarus with other PMC members, or return to their families.

On June 27, the Federal Security Service of Russia announced that it dropped the criminal case related to the armed plot, in which Wagner PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was involved. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Wagner mercenaries would hand over heavy equipment to the regular Russian army.

On the same day, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus confirmed the arrival of Yevgeny Prigozhin in the country. According to him, the Wagner mercenaries who arrived with him would not guard the Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed there.

On July 3, the Russian mass media published photos taken by local residents showing the alleged Wagner camp in the Mogilev region of Belarus. Instead, Ukrainian intelligence noted that Prigozhin is unlikely to move all the fighters to Belarus and will not be there permanently. Apparently, it is about overturning part of the Wagner.

On July 6, Lukashenko announced that the Wagner fighters are in their field camps, and  Prigozhin is in Russia.

On July 10, Peskov said that 5 days after the mutiny, Putin met with Prigozhin in the Kremlin.

Read more on the events here.