War in Ukraine: nuclear missiles buried under the sea, what is the secret Russian project Scythian that worries NATO?

NATO Has Been Monitoring This Matter for Some Time. According to an investigation carried out by the German television channels WDR and NDR, Russia is pursuing a secret program to deploy nuclear-capable missiles in the White Sea, near the Arctic.

This program, called “Scythian” or “Skif,” aims to bury ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear warheads in underwater silos several hundred meters deep, in order to protect them from any enemy attack. These would be practically undetectable by foreign forces.

An International Legal Loophole

These missiles would be transported to the site through the city of Severodvinsk, on the shores of the White Sea, 1,000 km north of Moscow. Here is where the vessel “Zvezdochka” – 96 meters long and about 18 meters wide – capable of carrying heavy equipment, maneuvers in the high seas or in the icy waters of the Arctic.

Capable of remaining submerged in silos for a very long period, these missiles would then benefit from a remote activation mechanism to carry out launches once an official order is given.

NATO intelligence services monitoring believe that intervention by the Sarov submarine, an experimental vessel previously linked to secret trials of advanced maritime technologies, is also possible for laying the silos.

The German media based their investigations on statements from intelligence officials, military personnel, and experts, as well as their own analysis of satellite images and Russian databases.

Russia has been working on the “Scythian” project for several years by exploiting a legal loophole in the disarmament treaty on the seabeds of seas and oceans. This text, signed on February 11, 1971, by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the USSR, prohibits nuclear weapons only in international waters, not in its own coastal areas.

Therefore, the location of Russian silos must necessarily be less than 12 nautical miles (about 22 km) from the coast, according to the Convention on Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone.