Rare footage was shown of Russian president Vladimir Putin in Beijing accompanied by officers carrying the so-called nuclear briefcase which can be used to order a nuclear strike. The Russian leader, after a meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, was filmed walking to another meeting surrounded by security and followed by two Russian naval officers in uniform each carrying a briefcase.
Russia's nuclear briefcase is traditionally carried by a naval officer and is known as the "Cheget" (named after Mount Cheget in the Caucasus Mountains). The briefcase is with the president at all times but is rarely filmed.
"There are certain suitcases without which no trip of Putin's is complete," the Kremlin correspondents of state news agency RIA said. In another clip, Vladimir Putin walks out of a meeting in Beijing with the naval officers again filmed as he walks down some stairs.
The US president also has such a device - called the “nuclear football” that holds the codes that the leader would use to authenticate an order to launch nuclear missiles should he or she not be at the White House.
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This comes as Russia's parliament took the first step towards revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and its top lawmaker warned the United States that Moscow might even abandon the pact altogether.
{{/usCountry}}This comes as Russia's parliament took the first step towards revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and its top lawmaker warned the United States that Moscow might even abandon the pact altogether.
{{/usCountry}}The briefcase is, therefore, a secure communication tool that links the president to his military top brass and therefore to rocket forces via the highly secret "Kazbek" electronic command-and-control network.
The Russian defence minister also has a nuclear briefcase and the chief of the general staff may also have one.
In 2019 as well, one of the briefcases with an array of buttons was seen. In a section called "command" there were two buttons: a white "launch" button and a red "cancel" button.
Vladimir Putin is visiting Beijing on his second known trip outside the former Soviet Union since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.