Anton was an officer at a top-secret nuclear weapons facility in Russia. He has shown us documents confirming his unit, rank and base. The BBC is unable to independently verify all the events he described, although they do chime with Russian statements at the time.

Before that, we had only exercises. But on the day the war started, the weapons were fully in place - says a former officer of the Russian nuclear forces. - We were ready to launch the forces into the sea and air and,

Russia is ready for an attack at any moment, with several weapons on land, sea and a nuclear arsenal, according to a former nuclear officer who maintained them for years

Nuclear weapons were 'fully in place' on the day Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine, a deserter claims.