Wagner Group Fighters Came Close To Russian Nuclear Base During Mutiny: Report

<p>A section of the Wagner paramilitary group, which led a brief mutiny against Kremlin last month, came within touching distance of a Russian Army base that holds nuclear weapons, Reuters reported. Interviews with local residents revealed that the Wagner fighters reached up to 100 km from the Russian nuclear base, Voronezh-45. However, it is not clear what happened next.</p> <p>The revelation comes even as Western officials have repeatedly said that Russia's nuclear stockpile was never at risk during the rebellion, which ended after Belarus mediated a deal with Moscow.&nbsp;</p> <p>On June 24, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin directed his forces to march towards large Russian cities in a bid to remove several generals whom he accused of treason. However, Prigozhin later said his paramilitary group didn't march to overthrow President Vlamidir Putin's leadership.</p> <p><strong>READ | <a title="Wagner Mutiny: Russian President Putin Hails Military For Stopping 'Civil War'" href="https://ift.tt/fjAP9ix" target="_self">Wagner Mutiny: Russian President Putin Hails Military For Stopping 'Civil War'</a></strong></p> <p>Ukraine's head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, told Reuters that the Wagner fighters went further and reached the nuclear base in order to acquire small Soviet-era nuclear devices. Voronezh-45 is one of Russia's 12 "national-level storage facilities" for nuclear arms.</p> <p>"Because if you are prepared to fight until the last man standing, this is one of the facilities that significantly raises the stakes," Budanov told Reuters in an exclusive interview.</p> <p>However, the doors to the nuclear storage facility were closed and the Wagner fighters didn't get into the technical section, he further said.</p> <p>A Wagner contingent "managed to get into a zone of special interest, as a result of which the Americans got agitated because nuclear munitions are stored there," a source close to the Kremlin told Reuters.</p> <p>Another source in Russian occupied east Ukraine said the development led to panic in the Kremlin and provided impetus for a hastily negotiated end to the mutiny.</p> <p>Reacting to the Reuters report, White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said, "We had no indication at any point that nuclear weapons or materials were at risk."</p>