Russia is modernising its closest nuclear weapons storage facilities to Britain, new satellite images appear to show.
Vladimir Putin is believed to store at least 100 atomic missiles in Kaliningrad, his most westerly region, on the Baltic Sea, around 880 miles from British soil.
It is among five key nuclear sites in the west of the country being upgraded by Russia amid fears of a third world war.
Satellite images from Planet Labs were highlighted by Swedish broadcaster SVT and show that in Kaliningrad, Putin’s suspected nuclear weapons storage sites have undergone significant reconstruction.
Putin is known to station Iskander-M missiles in Kaliningrad, which has land borders with two NATO states, Poland and Lithuania.
These could not reach the UK, but a stash of Kalibr-NK cruise missiles has more than enough range to do so.
The 9M729 (SSC-8) cruise missile is also likely warehoused in Kaliningrad and could strike the UK.
Another key site, the Asipovichy base in Belarus, a former Soviet nuclear storage facility which is around 1,000 miles from the UK, is also being renovated.
Satellite imagery shows new air defence installations, a new loading platform for rail-based logistics, and high security fencing.
Radiation monitors are known to be here, and storage for iodine prophylaxis – indicating the likely basing of nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles. Similar mystery buildings have been erected at both sites.
On the top-secret Kola Peninsula, Russian forces have built a dozen storage bunkers that have emerged over the past decade at Gadzhiyevo base, some 60 miles from NATO territory in Norway.
A new building is also underway at Novaya Zemlya, a remote Arctic archipelago where Putin is feared to be preparing for the first nuclear bomb tests since the Soviet era.
The site was inspected in recent days by Russian politicians with high-level military experience.
Lt-Gen Andrey Gurulev posted from the location: ‘You know, there’s a lot of fascinating stuff I could say about the test site – but sadly, I cannot. The only thing I can say is – we’re fully combat-ready.’
Novaya Zemlya is notorious for its role as a Soviet nuclear test site in the Cold War. The Tsar Bomb – the most powerful nuclear bomb ever detonated – was tested there on October 30, 1961.
The explosion was so large that it caused shockwaves that circled the Earth multiple times, and its mushroom cloud reached more than 37 miles into the sky.
A total of 130 nuclear tests were conducted on Novaya Zemlya by the Soviet Union between 1955 and 1990.
Of these, 86 were atmospheric, 39 underground and three underwater, according to declassified documents.
Improved nuclear facilities come amid heightened tensions
Russia’s improved military facilities come amid intense global tensions not just with Russia, but in other areas of the world.
Fears are rising that the US and even Gulf states will become involved in the war, but it is unlikely that it will result in a global conflict.
Jason Pack, fellow at Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and host of the Disorder Podcast, told Metro that the Iranian regime is ‘really weakened’.
He said: ‘The Iranians don’t have the capability to bring us to World War III.
‘It is much more likely to see the Iranian people rise up against the regime than we are to see the Iranians like land some decisive blow against Israel.’
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