Vladimir Putin expands nuclear weapon base after test killed five in radiation disaster

Putin has built three new test facilities at the compound (Image: Getty / Google Earth)

Vladimir Putin has expanded a nuclear weapons base in Russia where five people were killed after a missile exploded while testing in 2019. New satellite images show construction work taking place inside the frozen site of Nenoksa, including three new facilities the size of football pitches.

The naval compound, which is over 60,000 square meters wide, is located around 40 miles west of Arkhangelsk in northern Russia. The new facilities are surrounded by double-barbed wire fences and are being built near a railway line. As reported by The Sun, the line is being used to transport missiles into Nenoksa.

As well as the three new facilities, there is also a missile launch pad, a missile blast deflector pad and positioning masts at the base. The facility has taken around two years to build.

The latest Google Earth images show two missile containers pointed towards the White Sea. There are similar blue containers at other missile testing facilities in Russia, including the Kapustin Yar in Astrakhan region.

Nenoksa has been used for testing the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile, which is named Skyfall by NATO. However, it is unkown what other missoile tests will take place at the new site that was previously a forest.

The missile is one of Putin's new weapons and is powered by a mini-reactor. It's claimed to have an unlimited range but tests show it is still in development.

The new facility includes three halls which are each the size of a football pitch (Image: Google Earth)

According to The Barents Observer, the satellite images also show the hypersonic Tsirkon, the Oniks and different versions of Kalibr being tested at the new facilities. It's also reported that Russia is developing other new long-range cruise missiles.

In August 2019, a cruise missile exploded during an experiment at the Nenoksa site. It killed five people and detectors recorded a radiation spike to 20 times their normal level.

Russia's state nuclear agency added that a further three people were injured in the blast. Rosatom said in a statement that the disaster happened while testing "isotopic power sources in a liquid propulsion system".