The Russian military today (Wednesday) began a series of strategic nuclear exercises, and carried out a series of launches of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, alongside flights of heavy bombers – all this, in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although this is a routine exercise held every year, it comes at the height of serious tensions, perhaps almost the worst ever, between Washington and Moscow, against the background of the fear of using nuclear weapons and a dirty bomb in the war in Ukraine.Yesterday, the American CBS network reported that Russia informed the US of the start of the drills, in a move that could have prevented the escalation of tensions. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the start of the drill that it was “training for a massive nuclear attack in response to the possibility of a nuclear attack by the enemy”.

During the exercise, Putin spoke, again focusing the discourse on the possibility of using unconventional weapons in the war in Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of preparing to bombard Russian forces with a dirty bomb. “We are aware of Ukraine’s plans to use a dirty bomb in the war,” he said.

Last night, the Central Energy Company of Ukraine reported that Russia is “conducting secret and suspicious operations” at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, and it is estimated that they are collecting nuclear waste that may be used by them in assembling a dirty bomb. The West is certain that Russia is preparing to use such a bomb on the battlefield in such a way that it can accuse Ukraine of the act – and then perhaps even gain an “excuse” for using nuclear weapons.

Russia’s killer engineer unit exposed

On October 10, the Russian army began a massive attack, almost unprecedented of its kind since the beginning of the war, during which hundreds of Russian cruise missiles were launched at cities in the Ukrainian hinterland. In recent days, it is evident that the main emphasis given in the West after the Russian attacks is mainly regarding the Iranian drones that were transferred to the Russian army. However, the missiles fired at the home front also pose a serious threat, and perhaps even more serious than the threat of the drones, in an attempt to calculate the level of damage they caused.

In the Russian attacks, according to the estimates, dozens of Ukrainian citizens were killed during the last two weeks, and at the same time between one-third and one-half of the country’s energy infrastructure and power generation were severely damaged. The Ukrainian government is already calling on citizens to significantly reduce consumption, to try and deal with the demand after the damage to the power plants.

A special investigation by the investigative website “Blingcat”, led by journalist Christo Grozev, and the newspapers “Insider” and “Der Spiegel” traced for nearly six months the special unit in the Russian army responsible for launching those missiles. 33 scientists, men and women, divided into three small units of about ten people each – who are responsible for classifying and selecting the targets, and for launching the missiles until they hit.

Units of engineers and missile programmers are considered an important part of the broad main computer center of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (CVG). Among other things, the investigation shows that a significant part of the members of those units were stationed in Syria in 2016-2021, and took an active and significant part in planning the list of targets and launching the missiles there. In addition, some of them even carry on their uniforms a number of military medals considered for their performance and service over the years, including even medals awarded by President Putin himself.

Each of these three units is tasked with a different type of missile, and meticulously works on appropriate firing plans for missiles from the sea, air and land. Over the past few days, it has been reported that many of the missiles launched at Ukraine come mainly from Russian warships in the Black Sea, but this is only one of several ways that the Russian military is facing. In this context, it is important to mention the report from the last few days according to which Iran is preparing to deliver advanced surface-to-surface missiles to Russia, this against the background of reports of a Russian shortage of precision ammunition.

According to the report, the direct commander of the engineer unit responsible for launching the missiles is Colonel Igor Bagniuk. Another important member of the unit is Major Andrey Ivanyutin. The same Ivanyutin appears in a photo of Russian President Putin and Syrian President Assad from a joint meeting in Damascus in January 2021. By examining the information of the phone calls conducted by Agniuk and other known members of the unit, the investigative editors were able to track down each and every one of the dozens of members of the unit, and tried to confront him with a series of questions.

For example, Captain Sergey Eliain, who spoke to Baganyuk over 30 times over the phone over the past four months, claimed to the journalists who contacted him that he was self-employed in the army using the “freelancer” method, and was unable to provide adequate answers when confronted with the fact that he was photographed wearing a uniform. Another member of the unit who encountered the journalists’ questions was Artem and Danov, who confirmed his name to them, but denied their claims vehemently and claimed that he works on a farm, and even offered them a detailed explanation of how to butcher a pig and pluck a chicken.

Tracking and documentation of the phone calls of Baganiuk and his subordinates from the weeks before October 10 show a spike in communication between them beginning on October 2, and peaking on October 9. That day, Baganiuk alone made 11 calls to his engineers, the day before the wave of attacks on Ukraine began. In the two weeks before October 2, a real lull was detected in those conversations between the members of the unit, in a way that corresponds in full harmony with the fact that in those two weeks there was a real lull in the launches towards Ukraine.

Following the jump in talks already on October 2, there is a growing assessment among the investigative editors that the explosion attributed to Ukraine on October 8 at the Kerch bridge, leading to the Crimea peninsula, was not the clear and direct cause of the attacks that began two days later. On the same Monday when the massive attacks began, Putin officially announced that the attacks were in response to the bridge explosion, however, the evidence on the ground may point to other plans.