No one ever officially reports about the shelters of top officials of states in the event of a global catastrophe. There is information about bunkers and shelters that have already lost their significance. There are only various rumors about the rest. The public receives detailed information about the structure and purpose of such shelters only after information about them has been declassified.
Where, according to them, will the presidents the United States and Russia take refuge in the event of a nuclear war?
White House above and below ground
A number of media outlets persistently circulate information that the shelter not only for the President of the United States, but also for the entire administration is located directly under the White House lawn. Allegedly, there are five floors of shelters at high depth underground but information about what they are varies.
The description of the Situation Room is considered the most reliable.
This is a bunker under the White House with an area of 5400 square feet, created back in the 60s of the last century, at the height of the Cold War.
The New York Times wrote that the president and senior officials of his administration can descend directly from their workplaces into the Situation Room. The information is said to be quite reliable, since in 2001, during the attack on the Towers, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and other high-ranking officials took refuge in the Situation Room.
But the Washington Post, citing publicist Ronald Kessler, writes that the Situation Room is only part of the escape plan.
Allegedly, during the tenure of Barack Obama, an underground five-story bunker was built under the White House lawn within two years and not only the president and senior officials can fit in it. Presumably, it is possible to manage the country from ‘Obama’s bunker’ in an extreme situation, and also it houses a reserve command post for strategic assets.
There is information that there is an even older bunker under the white house that has existed since the Second World War.
Is the information reliable that the shelters of the US President and his administration are directly under the White House? This is unknown and still, it’s too obvious a target to hit. On the other hand, there is information that Obama’s bunker is located at great depths, which protects it from outside influence.
Old shelters
There are several presidential bunkers in the United States that have been declassified. Curious people and media representatives even managed to visit them to get an idea of the shelters of top officials.
Since the Kennedy family residence was in Florida, a shelter was set up nearby for the president’s family under the cover of a Coast Guard station. A bunker of 1500 square feet could accommodate up to 30 people. They penetrated it through a corrugated pipe. After passing through the decontamination chamber, people found themselves in a shelter shielded from radiation by layers of lead with everything necessary for supporting life. Since the president died, the bunker was no longer needed and for several years there were even excursions there.
Amother bunker was built by the Pentagon in case of nuclear war in the early 1950s on the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland. It is intended for representatives of the highest echelons of power and military generals of America. Three thousand people can be in Raven Rock at the same time. The computer operations center of the US Defense Systems Agency and the operational and tactical centers of the American naval and air forces are located here.
From bunker to bunker by rail
The US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) and American intelligence services have long known about the Russian system of secure command posts for senior leadership, about numerous backup channels of military command and communication.
In 2019, with reference to the Pentagon report, the world media published information about Putin’s alleged hideouts.
Presumably there are two of them – near the Kremlin and in the Ramenka area. An underground railway is allegedly laid between them, which also connects the shelters with airports and other strategic points. These are not just presidential bunkers.
The Pentagon reported two virtually underground cities for 10 thousand people, located at a depth of 1000 feet. Not only top officials and the country’s administration can take refuge in them, but also a command post can be deployed if necessary.
To provide life support for 10 thousand people, according to the Pentagon, two more bunkers were built in the Moscow region – they store an emergency supply of food and other resources.
A number of media outlets have repeatedly published information that a system has also been created in Putin’s underground shelters, which in Russia is called the Perimeter, and in the West – the Dead Hand.
To unlock codes for launching nuclear missiles in the Russian Federation, signals from the personal terminals of the President, Minister of Defense and Chief of the General Staff are needed. Allegedly, in the event of the death of all three, the backup Perimeter system will automatically give the command to launch all missiles at the enemy.
All secret bunkers and special towns in Russia are under the jurisdiction of the FSB and the Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President of the Russian Federation, so there is almost no information about them. Sometimes information about the system of secret bunkers and cities leaks to the media, mainly from declassified KGB archives.
Another underground residence of the Russian president and military command is located 37 miles from Magnitogorsk, on Mount Yamantau. The area is a closed city built during the Cold War and is often referred to in the media as “Putin’s bunker.” This is largely due to a story published in the New York Times in 1996 about the construction of a secret military base in the area. It is impossible to obtain documented information about what the Evil Mountain (as this hill is called) actually hides: the territory is well guarded and outsiders are not allowed there.