Exclusive photos inside the Soviet Union's top secret underground bunker

Extremely rare photos taken inside a Soviet underground bunker, used for communications during the Cold War as well as propaganda with foreign countries, have just been revealed by a Russian news agency.

Hidden behind green gates, barbed wire and triple-layered steel doors is a top-secret underground bunker that is still used for secret Russian communications, Express reported. The bunker is located deep under a village in the Ural Mountains, 60km south of Ekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city.

Built to withstand a nuclear attack by the West, all life support systems in the bunker are self-contained to ensure the Kremlin can continue to function. Air is drawn from outside, then passed through special filters to avoid contamination, and the temperature in the bunker is kept at a maximum of 26 degrees Celsius.

During Brezhnev's time as leader, 230 people were deployed to this underground bunker in case of emergency.

"It all started at the height of the Cold War. Several large communications facilities like this were set up across the Soviet Union in the 1960s," said Valery Demenshin, an official at the Rostelecom telephone corporation, which operates the bunker.

According to Mr. Demenshin, the power of this underground bunker is very great. "In fact, you can hear every call in the country from here." The purpose of building the underground bunker was to ensure telephone communication in case Russia was attacked by a nuclear weapon or suffered a major disaster. In addition, from this bunker, the Soviet Union could broadcast propaganda information to the world.

The devices for creating and decoding codes were also placed inside the bunker under the village of Shchelkun. "Telephone wires were used to transmit important national information. In ancient times, all information, including top secret information, was transmitted that way. If you could connect to these wires and decode the codes, you could listen in on any important conversation," the official said.

From the outside, it is difficult to recognize the existence of an underground bunker. Currently, the area and depth of the underground bunker remain a state secret.

News agency 66.ru recently revealed the presence of the underground bunker. "Above the bunker is a 7-hectare plot of land, which in summer looks like a grass-covered hill, and in winter looks like a snowy field."

The website added that until the late 1960s, the equipment in the bunker was still used for foreign propaganda, but now it is only an exhibition. However, some Soviet-era equipment is still used for military communications.

If war or natural disaster occurs, this underground bunker will still play a key role in Russia's reconnection, 66.ru reported.

According to VNN