Russia almost activated a nuclear suitcase to attack the US in 1995

A Norwegian Black Brant rocket. Photo: BI.

Since the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan at the end of World War II, the situation that pushed the world closest to a nuclear war was on January 25, 1995, when the Russian President's nuclear briefcase was opened and prepared to be activated to launch a devastating attack against the United States, according to Business Insider.

It all started when a Norwegian scientific research agency planned to launch a Black Brant rocket from the northwest of the country to study the aurora phenomenon without paying any attention to the political and military situation in the region at that time.

The four-stage Black Brant rocket that was launched was large and capable of flying 1,500 km, enough to reach close to the Russian border, but the head of the agency only briefly informed Russian officials about the launch.

Just seconds after the missile was launched, the Russian military's early warning radar system detected it and mistook it for an intercontinental ballistic missile launched from a US Trident submarine. The watchdog at the Olegegorsk radar station, which had not been informed of the Norwegian launch plan, immediately reported to superiors that this could be a US nuclear attack on Russia.

After the end of the Cold War, the Russian leadership at that time was very wary of the United States. Initially, when informed, Russian military commanders suspected that the United States was carrying out an electromagnetic pulse attack to disable Moscow's radar system, paving the way for a full-scale attack at the earliest, so they had to act as soon as possible to respond.

Inside a scrapped Cheget suitcase. Photo: Wikipedia.

The situation became climax when the Brant missile separated its first fuel stage, signals on the Russian radar screen showed that it was most likely a ballistic missile carrying multiple nuclear warheads.

What followed was a tense five-minute period, as the missile reached an altitude where Russian radar could no longer track it. During this time, Moscow’s leaders had to decide whether to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike before it was too late.

The information was reported to the then Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the nuclear suitcase Cheget was immediately brought to him in preparation for launching a nuclear response. The commanders of Russian nuclear ballistic missile submarines were ordered to be on the highest level of combat readiness, able to fire immediately after receiving the order.

However, Mr. Yeltsin did not seem to believe that the United States was carrying out a surprise attack on Russia and did not rush to make a decision. Five minutes later, the missile reappeared on the radar screen and the Russian military saw it heading harmlessly toward the sea. It was several weeks before the Russian people were informed of this dangerous incident.

According to VNE