A perfectly preserved nuclear launch site in the Ukrainian countryside
Blast From The Past: Inside Ukraine's Last Nuclear Missile Base
- By Amos Chapple
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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."
