Urals

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 modernization of the secret "Perimeter" nuclear command complex in the Urals, according to news reports. The system, sometimes called a "dead hand," is designed to trigger a retaliatory nuclear strike if Russian leadership is decapitated. Details of the upgrade remain scarce given the facility's classified status, and the news is drawing attention amid ongoing tensions over Russia's nuclear posture.

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 retaliation system known in the West as 'Dead Hand', according to reporting by Danwatch based on military documents. The facility is believed to play a role in Russia's nuclear command-and-control infrastructure.

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.