Russia is modernizing its nuclear bases near Europe — one of them is located 270 kilometers from Sweden — in Kaliningrad. In recent years, Russia has established and modernized at least five nuclear weapons bases near the country.
This is reported by the Swedish broadcaster SVT, citing relevant satellite images from Planet Labs, which show robot warehouses, testing grounds, and fenced-off railway stations.
"We have known about this and have been monitoring it for a long time. This applies to both Russian investments in nuclear weapons capabilities and the development of new doctrine," says Defense Minister Paul Johnson.
Satellite images from May 2025 show that the Russians are modernizing a Soviet-era nuclear weapons storage facility at the Osipovichi base in Belarus. It has triple fencing, a new platform for rail transportation, and air defense systems.
Russia has also upgraded its nuclear weapons base in Kaliningrad, 270 kilometers from Sweden, with new buildings, a triple fence and new communications. According to the Polish government, Kaliningrad holds about 100 tactical nuclear weapons.
New large-scale facilities have been built on Novaya Zemlya. Experts call this base the most important in Russia for nuclear testing.
And on the Kola Peninsula, approximately 50 storage facilities for sea-based ballistic missiles and a pier for loading missiles onto submarines were built.
“Russia has lowered the threshold for nuclear threats. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, such threats have been made at various political levels more than 200 times,” says Paul Johnson.
Experts call nuclear weapons Russiaʼs most important negotiating trump card, with which the Kremlin regularly intimidates the international community.
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