Wagner fighters wanted to capture nuclear weapons during their recent uprising and reached Voronezh-45 nuclear base

The head of the Defense Intelligence of the Defense Ministry, Kyrylo Budanov, said that during the uprising, the Wagner private military company (PMC) fighters intended to seize nuclear weapons and reached the Voronezh-45 nuclear base.

He said this in an interview for Reuters.

According to the interview, during the uprising, a group of military machinery of the Wagner PMC deviated from the movement towards Moscow and turned east along the highway in the direction of the Russian military base, where nuclear weapons are stored. It is noted that their trail "broke off" about 100 km from the Voronezh-45 nuclear base.

Budanov said that the Wagner fighters had reached much further. According to him, the militants got to the nuclear base and intended to take possession of small Soviet-era nuclear devices in order to "raise the stakes" in their insurgency.

"Because if you're willing to fight to the last, it's one of the facilities that really raises the stakes," he said.

The head of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence noted that the only obstacle to the fighters of the Wagner PMC and nuclear weapons was the door of the nuclear storage.

"The storage doors were closed, and they did not get to the technical section," Budanov explained.

According to him, the Voronezh-45 is equipped with small nuclear devices that can be carried in a backpack.

The publication emphasized that Budanov did not provide evidence for his claims and refused to say what, if any, discussions had taken place with the United States and other allies regarding the incident. He also did not say why the fighters later retreated.

It is indicated that a source close to the Kremlin confirmed part of Budanov's story. According to him, Wagner's contingent "managed to get into the area of special interest, as a result of which the Americans were worried because nuclear ammunition is stored there."

Also, a source in eastern Ukraine, which is temporarily occupied by the aggressor state Russia, who is familiar with the matter, said that this caused concern in the Kremlin and allegedly gave the impetus for a hasty end to the uprising on the evening of June 24, with the mediation of the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Oleksandr Lukashenko.

At the same time, American officials expressed doubts about this. Asked whether Wagner's fighters had reached the base and were trying to obtain nuclear weapons, White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said: "We cannot confirm that report. We have had no indication that nuclear weapons or the materials were at risk."

Budanov is reportedly the first official to suggest that the Wagner fighters are close to acquiring nuclear weapons and further escalating the armed insurgency, which is widely seen as the biggest challenge to the power of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, during the uprising, the Defense Express publication suggested that the owner of the PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, could seize warehouses with nuclear weapons and a significant number of Russian nuclear power plants to completely change the balance of power.

This was also stated by the partisan movement ATESH. There was a possibility that the Wagner PMC was preparing to seize nuclear weapons warehouses in the territory of the Russian Federation during the uprising.

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