Suspicions have emerged over an old Soviet nuclear missile base in Belarus which is thought to be being readied to host Vladimir Putin ’s latest deadly atomic weapons.
An “inspection” of the abandoned 369th missile regiment facility took place on Sunday, it has been claimed.
In Soviet times, missiles that could cause “dozens of Hiroshimas” were based here.
This might be the case again in coming times, though this would be even more devastating if Putin’s hypersonic nuclear missiles like Sarmat - Satan-2 - and Tsirkon (Zircon) are deployed.
A referendum in Belarus in February permitted the country to host nuclear weapons once more, and permanently act as a base for Russian troops.
The old nuclear weapons base, Zhitkovichi, is near Cheretyanka village, in the Gomel region of Belarus which borders Ukraine.
Military unit 42691, call sign ‘Sad’, hosted nuclear weapons from 1959 until 1996, five years after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Belarus in 1996 gave up its inherited nuclear arsenal which was returned to Moscow.
The revelation of a recent “inspection” at the base came from Belaruski Hajun Telegram channel, which monitors military activity.
An Mi-8 helicopter of the Belarusian Armed Forces took off from an air base in Machyulishchi to former military unit 41738 near the village of Volma (Minsk region) where so-called 'Platform 400.
Dome' is located, the command centre of Russia's Armed Forces in Belarus,” said the channel.
“At 14:50 that same helicopter took off from 'Dome' to Cheretyanka village, where the abandoned 369th regiment of strategic missile forces (military unit 42691) is located, and at around 17:00 it returned from Cheretyanka to Machyulishchi.”
The facility is around 1,195 miles from London, 165 miles from Kyiv, and 466 miles from Moscow.
It could be the most westerly base, with direct train connections used by Russians for nuclear weapons if they are again stationed here.
Kaliningrad exclave is closer to Western capitals but is wedged between Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea.
However, images show the base would need massive revamping to be equipped once more as a nuclear arsenal base.
“At the moment it is unknown whether repair work has begun there or not,” said Belaruski Hajun Telegram channel, which surmised that it may be necessary to.
In the past, the Topol strategic missile system was deployed here by the USSR.
So was the RSD-10 Pioneer intermediate-range ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead.
The channel noted that “over the past week several passenger aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces arrived in Belarus”.
Among them were a Tu-134 (RF-66053), which flew in on June 11 at 10.10am and left on June 12 at 6.50pm, and a Tu-154B (RA-85554), which arrived on June 8 at 1.30pm and left on the same day at 5.55pm for Perm.
A video from the site shows its rundown state some five years ago.
Reserve Colonel Mikhail Yakimets, the last political officer of the 369th missile regiment before it was disbanded, said it was once capable of triggering Armageddon.
“It comprised nine mobile-based ICBMs capable of launching missiles, both from stationary and field positions, equipped with nuclear charges of enormous destructive power. In other words, dozens of Hiroshimas," he said.
"'Almost 1,000 officers, warrant officers, soldiers [were based here].
“These were professionals, proficient in the most complex military equipment..."
Putin’s Satan-2 hypersonic missile has a range of 11,200 miles and can strike at targets at 15,880mph.
The 6,670 mph Tsirkon missile has a range of 625 miles .
