Blast From The Past: Inside Ukraine's Last Nuclear Missile Base
Under this 121-ton steel door a nuclear missile once stood, aimed at the United States, and ready to launch.
After the collapse of the U.S.S.R., a newly independent Ukraine agreed to destroy its dozens of nuclear-missile silos.
But the commanders of this base near Pervomaysk, some 300 kilometers south of Kyiv, were allowed to leave their silo intact as a museum.
Today, the remarkable relic of Cold War brinksmanship is overseen by some of the same commanders once tasked with potentially destroying America.
The heart of the base lies through a 155-meter underground corridor...
...behind a 750-kilogram steel door…
...and at the bottom of a 40-meter shaft.
Inside this command center, a tour guide explains, Soviet officers spent years awaiting a command that would have signaled the end of civilization as we know it.
A model of the underground command center showing living and working compartments (bottom) under 10 floors of electronics and generators designed to keep the base running for 45 days in the event of nuclear war. Within its massive steel shell, the cylinder was suspended on shock absorbers to insulate the men and equipment inside from the earth-twisting power of a nuclear strike.
Deep underground, commanders on duty spent six hours in front of their keyboard, strapped into their seats in case an enemy missile struck. The men were not permitted to eat or drink while in this seat.
Local tour guide Olena Smerychevska (who works professionally as Elena Smerichevskaya) sitting at one of the two desks with access to the launch buttons.
The nuclear apocalypse would have begun with a direct command from Moscow…
...after which the launch code would be determined.
Once the code was entered, the two officers simultaneously needed to turn a key (right), then press the launch button (left). The "four hands" system made it impossible for anyone to launch a missile alone, according to the museum.
A model of the SS-24 Scalpel missile that would have blasted out of the silo.
A Soviet propaganda image of a missile launch. After streaking through space at a speed of around 7 kilometers per second, the Scalpel missile (known by the Soviets as "Brave Man") would have opened to release up to 10 individually targeted nuclear warheads.
An SS-18 Satan missile on display at the base. An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired from Pervomaysk could have hit New York within 20-25 minutes of launch. The targets for this base's Scalpel ICBM remain a secret, according to the museum.
Underneath the control room, a living space for off-duty officers conceals fail-safes described by former commanders. Behind the door at bottom right...
...was a safe for service weapons.
According to Smerychevska, off-duty officers relaxing beneath the command center were under orders to grab their pistols, clamber up, and execute comrades who refused to launch a strike. A military expert who spoke with RFE/RL, however, doubted this claim, saying the pistols were most likely for self-defense.
The subterranean living space also held a mixture of cutting-edge and ancient appliances. This microwave was installed in the base, reportedly before any Soviet homeowners had access to the technology.
This samovar was fixed in place to reduce the risk of a more modern electric kettle being dropped and wreaking havoc on delicate electronics.
Above ground, the base was ringed with an array of underground sensors and three fences. A current powerful enough to kill a person (or animal) pulsed through the wires of the inner fence (pictured).
These armored turrets, with machine guns mounted inside, were a last line of defense. Smerychevska says the bases in the area were so secret that even today some locals are reluctant to talk about them.
Today, with the base slowly becoming well-known, former military personnel working with tourists can make for an occasionally awkward mix.
Smerychevska says a visiting Swiss diplomat recently asked her about the delay between the launch button being pressed, and the missile blasting out of its silo.
Smerychevska says one of the former commanders of the base who accompanied the tour seemed surprised by the question. "He came to the Swiss group and said: 'That's a very sensitive piece of information, I think maybe you are a spy.' Everyone laughed, but the question was never answered."
Military trucks inside the base. Smerychevska says the cost of this one base could have paid for the construction of a city of 100,000 people.
The nuclear launch button (in center of photo). According to Smerychevska, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, some of the men who staffed Ukrainian bases like this moved to Russia to continue in the same job. "The crazy thing is, right now there is someone sitting in front of these buttons and thinking about pressing them."