Information about the Russian Defence Ministry’s 12th Main Directorate, abbreviated in Russian as GUMO, has been tightly guarded, yet some aspects of the operations of this secretive division have been documented.
It is responsible for securing all nuclear warhead storage facilities, including strategic airfields, laboratories, and maintenance bases. The 12th GUMO is also trained to prevent potential attacks and respond to nuclear accidents.
“They guard those storage facilities, they perform maintenance as necessary, there’s a protection force against sabotage,” Podvig said. “And they would be responsible for delivering weapons to delivery systems.”
A Russian nuclear missile during a parade in Moscow’s Red Square (Photo: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)The 12th GUMO personnel serve separately from the regular military, he said.
Russia has the largest confirmed stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world, with more than 5,500 nuclear warheads, of which 1,710 are “deployed” – or ready for use – and supported by various strategic delivery systems.
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The standard weapons deployment procedure involves several steps, which vary depending on the type of weapon. Weapons are usually stored separately from their delivery vehicles, according to UNIDIR.
Gravity bombs, also known as unguided bombs, are stored in their containers assembled.
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“When this procedure is completed, the trucks deliver the containers to a designated point, where weapons are removed from the containers so that they can be mated with their delivery systems.”
“Fully assembled weapons at the airbase remain in the custody of the 12th GUMO troops until the very moment they are loaded onto an aircraft that is ready to take off, at which point custody is transferred to the flight crew,” according to UNIDIR.
“It appears that the 12th GUMO troops can keep nuclear weapons outside of the storage facility for some time, probably days and maybe even weeks,” the report states. “However, at some point the weapons must be returned to the base-level facility that provides conditions for long-term storage.”
Russia’s nuclear weapon storage sites are spread across the vast country, according to research by Russianforces.orgWhere does the 12th Main Directorate operate?
In addition to working at storage sites and base facilities across the mainland, 12th GUMO personnel also handle operations at the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in northern Russia – the country’s designated site for nuclear tests.
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The last nuclear test was conducted at the Novaya Zemlya test site on 24 October, 1990, according to Russian state news agency Tass. The Soviet Union had conducted more than 700 nuclear tests prior to that, according to Tass.
Ryabkov was clarifying comments by the head of the Novaya Zemlya test site, Rear Admiral Andrey Sinitsyn, who reportedly said nuclear tests can be conducted there “at any moment”.
As Vladimir Putin announced in 2023 that Russia will store some of its nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus, 12th GUMO teams were likely involved in the transfer, analysts believe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, visits military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia (Photo: Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)Operating in high secrecy
The 12th Main Directorate personnel operate in high secrecy and are reportedly forbidden from sharing details of their work with anyone outside their units.
The officer said training exercises were being conducted regularly and soldiers were not allowed to bring any phones to the nuclear bases. “Our reaction time was two minutes.”
“It’s a closed society, there are no strangers there,” he said.
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