Navy Nuclear Weapons Storage Bases
Scope
This record is best assessed as a distributed set of Russian Navy nuclear-weapons storage and handling sites, not a single installation. The 2006 U.S. National Intelligence Council report says all nuclear-weapons storage sites outside the Strategic Missile Troops fall under the 12th Main Directorate and that, in peacetime, nuclear munitions other than alert ICBM/SLBM loads are stored at such sites; FAS and later force-structure studies publicly identify matching naval sites at Olenegorsk-2, Vilyuchinsk, Abrek Bay, and several Northern Fleet support nodes. ([irp.fas.org](https://irp.fas.org/nic/russia0406.html))
High-confidence matches
The strongest public matches are placemark 2 to Olenegorsk-2/Ramozero, placemark 3 to Abrek (Chazhma) Bay in Primorsky Krai, and placemark 7 to the treaty-declared Severodvinsk SLBM loading facility adjacent to Sevmash; placemark 5 is also consistent with the Vilyuchinsk weapon-storage area across the bay from Rybachiy. An Olenegorsk municipal document separately places v/ch 62834 at Olenegorsk-2 coordinates matching placemark 2. ([fas.org](https://fas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Non_Strategic_Nuclear_Weapons.pdf))
Northern Fleet cluster
The Kola Peninsula placemarks fit a Northern Fleet nuclear-support network rather than one depot. Global Zero lists naval weapons nodes at a Severomorsk-area storage facility, Ramozero/Olenegorsk-2, a Zaozyorsk/Nerpichya-area weapons storage facility, and Yagelnaya/Gadzhiyevo; Murmansk regional sources separately place v/ch 69273 in Gadzhiyevo and v/ch 22931 in ZATO Zaozyorsk, which aligns with placemarks 4 and 6. FAS also identifies an apparent naval nuclear-weapons storage site 10 kilometers southeast of Severomorsk at coordinates matching placemark 1. ([globalzero.org](https://www.globalzero.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/global_zero_commission_on_nuclear_risk_reduction_report_0.pdf))
Pacific and White Sea logistics
Open-source imagery analysis describes Vilyuchinsk as a naval missile and warhead support complex: when not deployed on SSBNs, SLBMs and their warheads are stored across the bay from Rybachiy, with dedicated loading piers, a missile depot of roughly 60 earth-covered bunkers, and a separate two-bunker warhead area under renovation as of 2014-2015. Global Zero likewise describes Chazhma/Abrek Bay as an SLBM storage facility for SLBMs, SLCMs, and other naval weapons, while UNIDIR notes that Severodvinsk and Okolnaya were Russia’s two declared SLBM loading facilities under START reporting. ([fas.org](https://fas.org/blogs/security/2015/09/pacificfleet/))
Confidence limits
Open sources reviewed here do not publicly confirm current warhead inventories, bunker assignments, or the exact present-day role of every unit number in the placemark set. Placemark 7 is clearly a missile-loading point rather than a bunker field, and some Kola placemarks are best treated as associated weapons-handling or support nodes instead of independently confirmed warhead depots. Confidence is highest for the Olenegorsk-2, Abrek Bay, Vilyuchinsk, and Severodvinsk identifications, and lower for the precise naming of the remaining Severomorsk/Zaozyorsk/Gadzhiyevo nodes. ([unidir.org](https://unidir.org/files/publication/pdfs/a-new-start-model-for-transparency-in-nuclear-disarmament-individual-country-reports-en-415.pdf?utm_source=openai))