Wagner’s revolt spurred fears of a nuclear crisis

It’s been nearly a month since Yevgeny Prigozhin called off his mutiny against Russian leadership, and in the time that’s passed since the rebellion crumbled, there have been a lot of questions about what happened and why the rebels were allowed to walk free. 

Some of the lingering questions onlookers had about what sparked the rebellion, as well as what was said after it was all over, have been answered. But there are several issues that haven’t been properly answered—chief among them the capture of a nuclear base. 

The details surrounding what happened on June 24th when a contingent of the rebelling Wagner forces broke off to head towards a fortified Russian base which housed nuclear weapons are murky but here’s the gist of what we know happened according to reports. 

All we really know for sure is that a group of Wagner soldiers with their vehicles diverted from the main column marching on Moscow and headed east in the direction of an army base known to house some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons according to Reuters. 

The information was based on videos posted online as well as interviews with local residents but Reuters reported that the trail of the breakaway mercenaries went cold as soon as it reached more rural areas about 100 kilometers or 63 miles from the army base. 

What happened next has not been confirmed, and while Western officials have claimed the nuclear stockpile was never in danger of falling into the hands of the Wagner Group, Ukrainian and pro-Ukrainian sources claimed the mercenaries took control of the base. 

Kyrylo Budanov is Ukraine's military intelligence chief and in an exclusive interview with Reuters, he explained that the contingent of soldiers that broke away in the direction of army base Voronezh-45 were able to successfully take over partial control of the base. 

"This was one of the key storage facilities for these backpacks," Budanov explained to Reuters, referencing the small size of the nuclear weapons that he said were stored at the Russian military base. 

Photo credit: Twitter @ReneDuba

Their goal according to Budanov was to acquire a smaller Soviet-era nuclear weapon so that they could “raise the stakes” in their mutiny against Russian leadership in Moscow, though Reuters noted the Ukrainian intel chief didn’t provide any evidence for his claim. 

"If you are prepared to fight until the last man standing, this is one of the facilities that significantly raises the stakes," Budanov explained, adding that the group wasn’t able to get their hands on a device but they came so close that little stood in their way. 

The only barrier between the soldiers and their nuclear forces was the doors to the facility: "The doors of the storage were closed and they didn't get into the technical section," Budanov said, a claim corroborated by a source close to the Kremlin Reuters reported.  

The source told Reuters the Wagner contingent "managed to get into a zone of special interest, as a result of which the Americans got agitated because nuclear munitions are stored there.” However, This version of events has been challenged by Russian officials.

Speaking in response to Budanov’s claims, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that he did not have information on the allegations that Wagner Group forces were able to capture Voronezh-45 and speculated the claims were falsified according to Politico. 

American officials have also denied the claim, rebelling that Wagner Group mercenaries reached Voronezh-45. "We are not able to corroborate this report,” Adam Hodge, White House National Security Council spokesman, told Reuters when asked about the issue. 

Photo credit: Twitter @NSC_Spox

“We had no indication at any point that nuclear weapons or materials were at risk,” the National Security Council spokesperson added. So what are we to make of what Kyiv’s head of military intelligence told Reuters? Was Budanov working to discredit Russia?

The Telegraph noted Budanov likes to taunt Russia and pointed out previous dishonest statements he’s made in regard to Vladimir Putin’s health. So maybe Budanov was just playing the next move in Ukraine’s information war against Russia, or maybe not. 

We just don’t know the truth at the moment beyond the fact that a contingent of Wagner Group soldiers was heading in the direction of Voronezh-45, a Russian army base The Telegraph noted is one of 12 nuclear storage sites of its kind in Russia.