Russia upgrades secret Ural bunker tied to ‘Dead Hand’ nuclear command system

The facility, known as Object 1335 and codenamed Grot, is buried inside Mount Kosvinsky in Russia’s Sverdlovsk Oblast. Investigators analyzed millions of Russian military procurement records, construction documents, satellite imagery and accounts from former military personnel to reconstruct the scale and purpose of the complex.

Russia’s Defense Ministry began placing thousands of orders for work at Object 1335 in 2018, with major construction and fortification continuing through at least 2024, Danwatch reported.

Experts consulted by the investigation believe the work is connected to the modernization or reactivation of Perimetr, Russia’s backup nuclear command-and-control system.

“The simplest explanation is that the Russians are probably putting the Dead Hand back into operation,” Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear security expert at Stanford University, told Danwatch.

The Kremlin did not respond to questions from Danwatch, The Sunday Times and the Dossier Center about their findings.

Three Eiffel Towers’ worth of steel

Procurement documents reviewed by the investigators show the scale of the construction.

Between 2018 and August 2024, Russia ordered at least 22,000 metric tons of steel for Object 1335 — roughly three times the weight of the Eiffel Tower’s metal framework — along with 170 kilometers (106 miles) of steel pipes and 41,000 other steel components.

The orders also included at least 56,500 metric tons of cement; 13,000 tons of construction sand and crushed stone; around 600 kilometers (373 miles) of electrical cable; 14,000 lamps; 30 transformers; 21 electrical substations; 95 pieces of heavy machinery; 648 rock-drilling components; more than 200 explosion-proof electric heaters; and 182 ventilation units.

Danwatch said these were only the quantities it could document with certainty and that the true amount of material supplied to the facility was likely larger.

Per Goltermann, a professor at the Technical University of Denmark, estimated that the amount of cement alone could produce around 150,000 cubic meters (5.3 million cubic feet) of concrete.

“It is an enormous construction project,” he said.

The tenders also include mining ventilation equipment, filters designed to protect against chemical and biological agents and radioactive dust, as well as earthquake-resistant and explosion-proof electrical equipment.

One procurement document says Object 1335 was designed to contain control, communications and security systems as well as permanent facilities for personnel both on combat duty and during routine operations. Contractors were required to hold licenses from Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, for work involving state secrets.

Underground complex extends for kilometers

Construction records examined by the Dossier Center reveal at least 24 separate underground spaces connected to a compressed-air system.

The distance in a straight line between the facility’s main entrance and emergency exits is around 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles).

Former soldiers who served at the military unit guarding Mount Kosvinsky described the underground complex as vast. One said personnel could travel through the tunnels by bus because of the distances involved.

Satellite imagery analyzed by Danwatch shows extensive excavation around the mountain’s entrances and exits. Investigators also identified work on what appear to be six new entrances into the mountain.

In 2019, Russia purchased refrigeration equipment with a combined capacity of around 5 megawatts for Object 1335, according to the Dossier Center.

Such cooling capacity would be needed to dissipate heat generated by communications systems, transmitters, computer equipment and other electronics operating continuously inside an underground command facility.

Western products appear in Russian military documents

Investigators also identified Western-made products in documentation connected with Object 1335.

These included insulation from Danish company Rockwool, Danfoss valves, Italian K-Flex insulation, French Haulotte construction equipment and Swiss-made Belimo valves.

Some of the purchases occurred after the EU began imposing sanctions on Russia following its 2014 occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea, while imported products continued to appear in procurement documents after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The presence of Western products in Russian military procurement documents does not by itself establish that their manufacturers violated sanctions or export-control regulations, the Dossier Center stressed.

The products could have reached the project through Russian distributors, intermediaries or local subsidiaries, and determining legal responsibility would require tracing individual supply chains, the investigation said.

What is Russia’s ‘Dead Hand’ system?

Perimetr was developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War as a backup system intended to preserve Russia’s ability to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike even if the country’s political and military leadership, primary command posts and normal communications networks were destroyed.

At its core, the system provides redundant methods of transmitting nuclear launch orders.

One of its most unusual elements is the use of special command missiles. Instead of carrying a nuclear warhead, they carry communications equipment designed to fly over Russian territory and transmit encoded launch orders to surviving strategic missile forces.

The extent to which Perimetr can operate without human intervention has long been disputed.

Accounts of the original Soviet system indicate that while parts of the communication process could function automatically, the final decision to initiate retaliation remained with personnel at a protected command post.

Retired Russian Maj. Gen. Viktor Khalin, who participated in the original Perimetr program and later worked on its modernization, has claimed that upgrades gave Russia the technical ability to conduct retaliation in both “automated” and fully “automatic” modes.

Independent experts have not been able to verify that claim.

Russian Strategic Missile Forces veterans have also written in a military veterans’ publication that the modernized Perimetr system was returned to “combat readiness” in 2023, according to Danwatch.

Object 1335 built deep inside Mount Kosvinsky

Construction of Object 1335 began in the early 1980s after Soviet engineers identified Mount Kosvinsky as particularly suitable for a hardened communications facility.

The mountain’s geology was considered both physically strong and unusually favorable for transmitting radio signals through rock, according to historical material uncovered by the Dossier Center.

Long-wave and short-wave radio centers were constructed tens and hundreds of meters underground.

In 2004, Russian military authorities formally designated Grot as the foundation of a reserve command post for the General Staff, according to documents cited by the Dossier Center.

The investigation found that another modernization program began in the mid-2000s. Khalin wrote that a new Perimetr command element was developed between 2005 and 2010 and subsequently sent to Object 1335.

Andy Weber, a former U.S. assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs, told the investigators that the latest construction appeared consistent with an effort to keep the system operational.

Tom Røseth, an expert on Russian security policy at the Norwegian Staff College, stressed that Perimetr was designed primarily as a retaliatory capability rather than a first-strike system.

The modernization, he said, suggests Russia is strengthening the facility against potential attacks while placing renewed emphasis on nuclear deterrence.