In a rare footage which surfaced on Wednesday sparked a host of speculations as Russian President Vladimir Putin was seen accompanied by officers carrying the so-called nuclear briefcase during his visit to China. The nuclear briefcases are reportedly used to ordering a nuclear strike
As per the footage, following a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Putin was filmed walking to another meeting surrounded by security and followed by two Russian naval officers in uniform each carrying a briefcase. In another clip, Putin was seen walking out of a meeting in Beijing with the naval officers again filmed just a few paces from Putin who grins as he walks down some stairs.
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The development came right after Russia's parliament adopted the first step towards revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty while its top lawmaker warned the United States that Moscow might even abandon the pact altogether.
About the briefcase: Why the eyebrows are raised?
Russia sticks to a tradition where a nuclear briefcase, known as 'Cheget' is carried by a naval officer. The name is coined after Mount Cheget in the Caucasus Mountains.
According to the Kremlin correspondents of state news agency RIA, "There are certain suitcases without which no trip of Putin's is complete,"
The briefcase apparently functions as a secure communication tool that keeps the president connected to his military top brass and the to rocket forces via the highly secret "Kazbek" electronic command-and-control network. Kazbek supports another system known as "Kavkaz".
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Besides Putin, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu too has a nuclear briefcase.
Before this, a similar ffootage on briefcases emerged in 2019 which displayed one of the briefcases with an array of buttons.
In a section called "command" there are two buttons: a white "launch" button and a red "cancel" button. The briefcase is activated by a special flashcard, according to Zvezda.
