Ural mountains

Russia has reportedly brought back the Cold War-era 'Dead Hand' nuclear retaliation system, rebuilding a bunker complex in the Ural Mountains to house it. The semi-automatic system, known as Perimeter, was designed to launch nuclear weapons automatically if Russian leadership was decapitated. The report is drawing attention amid ongoing tensions over nuclear threats linked to the war in Ukraine.

Russia has carried out a major modernization of a secret underground command complex in the Ural Mountains linked to Perimetr, the Cold War-era nuclear retaliatory command system known in the West as 'Dead Hand'. The report, based on military documents, suggests Moscow is investing in keeping its Cold War-era doomsday infrastructure operational and upgraded amid ongoing tensions with the West.

A new investigation examines Facility 1335, a hardened nuclear bunker in Russia's Ural mountains, and links it to the Soviet-era 'Dead Hand' system, a semi-automatic mechanism designed to trigger a retaliatory nuclear strike if Russian leadership was decapitated. The report is drawing attention to Russia's Cold War command-and-control infrastructure and what it suggests about current nuclear readiness.