Russia modernizes nuclear bases near Europe
Photo: Russia frightens the West with a nuclear bomb (Russian media)
Russia is modernizing its nuclear bases near Europe, and one of them is located 270 kilometers from Sweden. Moscow wants to cause panic among Europeans, SVT reports.
New satellite images from Planet Labs show that at least five Russian nuclear weapons bases have been created and modernized near Sweden in recent years.
"We know this and have been following this for a long time. This concerns both Russian investments in nuclear weapons capabilities and the development of a new doctrine," said Swedish Defense Minister Pål Johnson.
Bases modernization
New satellite images from May 2025 show, among other things, that:
- At the Osipovichi base in Belarus, a Soviet nuclear weapons storage facility behind three levels of fencing is being modernized with a new loading platform for rail transport and air defense systems, according to nuclear scientists from the US organization FAS.
- In Kaliningrad, the nuclear weapons base was modernized with new buildings, triple fencing, and new communication capabilities, 270 kilometers from the Swedish territorial border. According to the Polish government, about 100 tactical nuclear weapons are stored in Kaliningrad.
- Many new buildings have been constructed on Novaya Zemlya; experts call this base the most important nuclear weapons testing and testing base in Russia.
- On the Kola Peninsula, about 50 bunkers have been built to store submarine ballistic missiles, as well as a pier for loading missiles onto submarines.
Moscow's desire to cause panic
Experts call Russian nuclear weapons Russia's most important trump card. The country's political leadership likes to brag about its weapons and regularly frightens the outside world to achieve its goals in the international arena.
"Russia has lowered the threshold of the nuclear threat, and since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we've seen this done more than 200 times at various political levels," says Pål Johnson.
William Alberque, a senior fellow at the Pacific Forum who previously worked on nuclear weapons policy at NATO, argues that Russia is trying to turn Western fear into a weapon it can use.
Russia knows that these threats cause panic in the West, and that's why they've been experimenting with escalating nuclear threats for 25 years, and they use that whenever they want something to go their way, he said.
Moscow has reinforced its military bases near the NATO border. And Finland expects Russia to further build up troops along their common border after the war in Ukraine ends.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia and the United States possess about 90% of all nuclear warheads. Their arsenals remained stable until 2024, but both countries are implementing large-scale modernization programs.
