On his journey to BeijingRussian President Vladimir Putin was accompanied by one Baggage very special. In a video published by the Ria Novostoi news agency, the Moscow leader can be seen on the red carpet on the way to a meeting. Behind him, a few steps away, they continue walking two officers the Navy in uniform, each with one black briefcase.
One of them is the so-called Cheget, the device that allows Putin to order a nuclear attack. Named after a mountain in the Caucasus, the “atomic baggage” is always within reach of the President of the Federation, but it has not appeared in space for years. “There are suitcases that should not be missing from any Putin trip,” wrote Ria Novostoi.
Rather ominously, state media today showed footage of Putin followed by officials carrying the Russian nuclear football through Beijing.
“There are certain suitcases without which no Putin’s trip is complete,” said Ria Novosti https://t.co/B22AJQzRZ5 pic.twitter.com/IOX43drDFh
– Max Seddon (@maxseddon) October 18, 2023
Traditionally, the Cheget is always worn by a high-ranking member of the Russian naval force. It is essentially a Communication system Sure, who can connect the president with his people? military leader and with you Missile troops via the so-called secret command and control network Kazbek. Even the defense minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of the Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov I own a “doomsday briefcase.”
In 2019, Russian television Zvezda showed thisinternal of a cheget full of buttons. In particular, in the “Command” section there were two: a white one that said “beginand a red one for “delete“. However, the briefcase does not directly activate the Federation’s nuclear arsenal. If Putin sent the order, the General Staff should send it Authorization codes to the individual commanders of the nuclear sites who would take care of the activation procedures of the nuclear warheads. There is also an alternative system known as Scopewhich would allow Russian military leaders to fire missiles directly, bypassing all intermediate command posts.
The Russian briefcase functions in the same way as its much more famous, colloquially American counterpart football or more formally: Presidential Emergency Satchel. She is also always available to the President of the United States when he is not in the White House. Like the Cheget, it serves as a communication system with the Pentagon, through which the leader in Washington can order a nuclear attack. The first version of the briefcase, created during the presidency of Eisenhower in the 1950scontained only a series of emergency documents that could have allowed the United States’ number one leader to order a nuclear attack against you enemy power.