Wagner Troops Reached Secret Nuclear Site During Mutiny—Ukraine Intel Chief

Ukraine's head of military intelligence has said that Wagner Group mercenaries tried to acquire nuclear devices during their mutiny against Russia's military establishment.

Kyrylo Budanov told Reuters that fighters from the mercenary group headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin had reached a nuclear base near the city of Voronezh with the intention of getting small Soviet-era nuclear devices.

"If you are prepared to fight until the last man standing, this is one of the facilities that significantly raises the stakes," he told the agency.

Budanov's claims, which have not been independently confirmed and have been disputed by some experts, follow speculation over the aftermath of the events of June 24, when Prigozhin's fighters seized military facilities in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.

Russia expert, Mark Galeotti, founder and CEO of London-based Mayak Intelligence, told Newsweek that Budanov's comments were intended "to stir up trouble inside Russia."

With the aim of overthrowing Russia's military establishment, the mercenaries advanced on Moscow before Prigozhin called off the mutiny following a reported deal in which the Wagner chief and his comrades went into exile in Belarus.

Voronezh is roughly halfway between Rostov and Moscow and hosts Voronezh-45, one of Russia's 12 nuclear weapons storage facilities.

Wagner military vehicles diverted east on a highway and headed towards Voronezh-25, according to videos posted online and interviews with local residents, independent Russian language news outlet Agentsvo reported.

It said Wagner mercenaries reached the town of Talovaya where they fought with the Russian military, shoooting down a Ka-52 "Alligator" helicopter.

Budanov told Reuters that Wagner fighters were unable to get hold of nuclear weapons because "the doors of the storage were closed and they didn't get into the technical section."

Reuters said that a Kremlin source corroborated part of Budanov's claims, telling the agency that some Wagner fighters "managed to get into a zone of special interest" sparking U.S. concerns and spurring the Kremlin to seek an end to the rebellion, which was negotiated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Newsweek has emailed the Ukrainian and Russian defense ministries for comment.

Matt Korda, from the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, told Reuters it would be "virtually impossible for a non-state actor" to get past the security measures Russia would have in place.

In addition to Wagner fighters not knowing how to detonate a bomb, he said the weapons would be "in a state of incomplete assembly" requiring specialized equipment to put together and the co-operation of someone within the Russian defense ministry's 12 Directorate.

"Part of Budanov's brief is clearly to stir up trouble inside Russia, whether organizing sabotage attacks or spreading divisive rumours," said Galeotti.

"These claims seem to reflect his desire to make Russians all the more alarmed at the failure of the Kremlin to control Wagner, and thus regard Putin as having blundered by not preventing this feud from becoming a crisis," he said.