Russian nuclear facilities discovered exposed on the Internet

A recent investigation published on May 28, 2025, reveals that Russia has been conducting a large-scale modernization of its nuclear missile infrastructure for several years. German media Der Spiegel and Danish group Danwatch, uncovered leaked classified documents showing architectural plans, internal designs and procurement records for new military facilities. The documents also include satellite images of nuclear silos that support their claims.

Although the investigation does not specify to what extent the construction work faithfully follows the plans, experts linked to the investigation called the leak a “major security breach” for Russia and could make major new nuclear weapons bases vulnerable to attack. According to the Danwatch publication, more than two million documents related to Russian military contracts were obtained and analyzed in collaboration with Der Spiegel.

In December 2020, the Russian Parliament passed a new law that was to tighten procurement rules for the military after authorities found that military secrets were too often shared in tenders. Around the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry also created a new database of tenders for military purchases that would be closed to the public and only available to authorized Russian companies. However, officials from Russian military construction companies have continued to share sensitive documents in the public database. Danwatch and Der Spiegel collected such sensitive information from strategic nuclear weapons bases until summer 2024. They used various digital techniques to do so, including a network of servers located in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.