Demand in Britain for doomsday bunkers has soared after Vladimir Putin’s dramatic threats of nuclear war sowed fear and panic across the Western world.
UK firm Subterranean Spaces said enquiries surged at the weekend ‘100 per cent’ from February 2021, when the prospect of full-scale conflict in Europe still seemed remote.
Founder Charles Hardman said that on Thursday and Friday – the first two days of Russia’s lawless invasion of Ukraine – the company got 12 enquiries from families of three, families of four and one family of eight in London, Wales and even the French Alps.
Amazingly, he added: ‘People have even been asking if we supply kit formations – basically DIY shelters. As if people are going to build their own nuclear bunkers!’.
Bespoke shelters built by Hardman’s Subterranean Spaces, founded in 2018, cost at least £100,000, and multi-purpose bunkers containing videogame simulators, kitchens, and air filtration systems for a family of six can cost as much as £900,000.
Hardman advised it takes around four months to plan and build, adding that the shelters should be set up in a garden and not under a house. ‘What’s the point of surviving a nuclear blast if the house collapses on top of the bunker and you can’t get out?’, he mused.
And it appears that red tape doesn’t disappear, even in the event of a Third World War. ‘Of course, we also have to handle planning and need to get permission to build bunkers. Red tape won’t just go away’, Hardman went on.
The bunker boss added that Russian aggression since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, combined with the possibility of biological, chemical and cyber attacks by terrorist organisations or hostile state actors, had made getting a bunker ‘quite prudent’.
Fearful Britons have called a range of companies, including Texas-based company Rising S Bunkers, about getting a nuclear-proof bunker set up at home.
Its owner Gary Lynch said the firm has experienced a ‘1,000 per cent’ surge in demand from people in the UK, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Japan and the US.
UK firm Subterranean Spaces said enquiries surged at the weekend ‘100 per cent’ from February 2021. Founder Charles Hardman said that on Thursday and Friday, the company got 12 enquiries from families of three, families of four and one family of eight in London, Wales and even the French Alps. Pictured, company mock-up of a shelter
Pictured, the exterior of a nuclear-proof bunker built by Texas-based company Rising S Bunkers
Rising S Bunkers’ most expensive bunker retails for $8.35million and can fit up to 44 people
Russia’s foreign minister warns: ‘A third world war will be NUCLEAR and destructive’
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that a third world war ‘will be nuclear and destructive’ as the fallout of his nation’s invasion of neighbour Ukraine intensifies
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that a third world war ‘will be nuclear and destructive’ as the fallout of his nation’s invasion of neighbour Ukraine intensifies.
In a thinly veiled threat for NATO not to get involved in Ukraine, Lavrov said that any future world war would be fought with nuclear weapons – a statement that comes just days after President Vladimir Putin warned that any country sending troops to Ukraine would be met with severe consequences.
The foreign minister also claimed that Moscow was ready to enter a second round of negotiations aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine, and accused Kyiv of deliberately delaying the process at the request of the United States.
‘We are ready for the second round of negotiations, but the Ukrainian side is delaying [the process] at the behest of the Americans,’ said Lavrov, according to Russian news agency TASS.
Lavrov this morning also sought to justify the invasion of Ukraine by saying Russia’s forces ‘will not allow Ukraine to obtain nuclear weapons’, TASS news agency quoted him as saying.
There is no evidence that Ukraine has nuclear weapons, though Lavrov yesterday questioned why the United States continued to maintain nuclear weapons in European countries in spite of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
‘It is unacceptable for us that US nuclear weapons still remain in a number of European states in contradiction to the basic points of the Non-Proliferation Treaty,’ Lavrov told a Geneva conference on disarmament.
‘The bad practice of joint nuclear missions with the participation of non-nuclear NATO states continues. During such missions, the use of nuclear weapons against Russia is being practiced,’ Lavrov continued.
‘US nuclear weapons must have long been returned home, and the corresponding infrastructure in Europe must have long been eliminated.’
In a post on the Subterranean Spaces website, Hardman wrote: ‘The rooms act as versatile additional living space but also double as protected spaces with the specification and installation of Air filtration systems or “Scrubbers” that use advanced HEPA filters to purify the air from Pathogens such as Anthrax, Chemicals such as Sarin, Chlorine and Mustard gas and other Bio-chemical agents which may be potentially used in a terrorist attack.
‘Additional Structural protection and vital storage capacity can also be provided in the Basements along with water filtration and storage as required.
‘Providing secure and safe accommodation is also a priority for some high net worth Individuals who require “Panic rooms” and secure accommodation in the event of an intruder alert.
‘The basement is an ideal room given its location and the provision of secure phone lines, independent from the main house network allow for emergency communication to be maintained at all times.
‘If you are considering a secure “bunker” style basement, do give us a call and discuss your requirements with us. We are very happy to talk you through the options and costings with you an can provide full quotations where required.’
On Thursday, Rising S Bunkers sold five survival shelters and has resorted to buying even more supplies from a hardware store to keep up with the rapidly increasing demand.
Lynch told The Sun: ‘Typically, I’ll sell between two and six shelters a month – and usually winter is a quiet time for us.
‘The phone hasn’t stopped ringing and we’ve been sending out so many quotes. The interest isn’t just isolated to the US, it’s everywhere.’
Lynch also said that most of the interest in doomsday bunkers are coming from customers who are afraid Russia will expand the war to other countries outside of Ukraine that could prompt another global conflict.
He said their fears are justified, saying: ‘Just look at what’s going on. [Vladimir Putin] is threatening nuclear war, saying it would be something the world has never seen.
‘The world has seen Hiroshima. And if what they are threatening is worse than that then, by all means, we should all be worried.’
This isn’t the first time the company has seen an increase in demand for their all-steel underground bunkers, storm rooms, and bomb shelters as the threat of nuclear war has increased in the previous years, but Lynch said the Ukraine situation is unprecedented and fears are high.
‘Don’t make fun of or criticize people that have valid fears,’ Lynch said. ‘They want nothing more than to protect their loved ones in a terrible, terrible time. The only way you can prepare yourself to fail is by not preparing.’
The company’s bunkers are buried 11ft under the ground and can be outfitted with grow rooms for food, fitness centers, elevators, swimming pools, sauna, theaters, firing ranges, bowling allies, laundry rooms, and more.
Customers have ranged from professional athletes to celebrities to politicians to tech companies, according to the Sun.
Rising S Bunkers has also sent safety shelters to Ukraine for the nation’s military since 2019. The shelters could be easily taken down, according to the website.
‘Since late 2019, Rising S Company was contracted to create multiple quick-up shelters that can be built, then taken down and moved quickly,’ the site read.
‘These shelters not only protect the Ukrainian forces from the Russian attack led by Putin but can also help when positioning and strength is needed quickly and efficiently.’
Ukraine’s leader has denounced Russia’s escalation of attacks on crowded cities as a blatant terror campaign, while Joe Biden warned that if Putin didn’t ‘pay a price’ for the invasion, the aggression would not stop with one country.
‘Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,’ Volodymyr Zelensky vowed after Tuesday’s bloodshed on the central square in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, and the deadly bombing of a TV tower in the capital.
He called the attack on the square ‘frank, undisguised terror’ and a war crime.
A Texas-based doomsday bunker company has seen a huge spike in sales since Russia declared war and invaded Ukraine last week and have products that feature living rooms and laundry rooms
General Manager Gary Lynch sold five units alone on Thursday, the first day of the invasion and has resorted to buying more supplies from a hardware store to keep up with the rapidly increasing demand from across the world
The bunkers can be customizable to fit all types of aesthetics
The bunkers can feature benches and security doors to all types of needs
An $85,500 model features four bunk beds and a queen-size bed, as well as a TV/DVD combo and food storage
This $288,000 bunker has two double beds and two queens, as well as closets, a composting toilet, and a painted interior
The bunkers are buried 11ft under the ground to provide ultimate safety
Russian rouble plunges to record LOW against US dollar as sanctions hammer Putin’s economy – while nation’s biggest lender Sberbank QUITS European market after losing BILLIONS in ‘abnormal cash outflows’
The rouble continues to tank, hitting a record low against the dollar yesterday evening, rallying slightly before dropping again today
Russia’s rouble has plunged even further against the pound and dollar today as its biggest lender Sberbank has shut down its European arm after ‘abnormal’ amounts of money started pouring out following the invasion of Ukraine.
The bank has lost 97% of its value on its London listing in the past fortnight and has told shareholders that significant ‘cash outflows’ have damaged the business outside Russia.
The bank said its subsidiaries in Europe were also facing an ‘a threat to the safety of employees and branches’, according to Russian news agencies.
Last night the rouble plunged to a record low against the dollar – before rallying slightly this morning before dropping again as sanctions batter the economy. It was was down around 3.5% on the day versus the dollar today, at 108.6, having weakened to a record low of 117 per dollar yesterday evening.
The Russian stock exchange will not open for the third day running today as Russia’s central bank was forced to sharply hike its key interest rate in a desperate attempt to shore up the plummeting currency market – now at record low levels against the pound and dollar – and prevent the run of banks after being hit by a slew of crippling Western sanctions.
It came as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and Kraken, said they will not ‘unilaterally’ freeze the accounts of all Russian users despite pleas from the Ukraine government.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said a Russian delegation will be ready on Wednesday evening to resume peace talks with Ukrainian officials.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that ‘in the second half of the day, closer to evening, our delegation will be in place to await Ukrainian negotiators’.
He did not indicate where the talks could take place, while there was no immediate word from Ukrainian authorities about their plans.
The first round of talks on resolving the Russia-Ukraine war were held near the Belarus-Ukraine border last Sunday. They produced no breakthrough, though the two sides agreed to meet again.
Zelensky has accused Russia of trying to force him into concessions by continuing to press its invasion.
Biden used his first State of the Union address to highlight the resolve of a reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked to re-arm the Ukrainian military and adopt tough sanctions, which he said have left Putin ‘isolated in the world more than he has ever been’.
‘Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson, when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos,’ Biden said.
‘They keep moving. And the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising.’
As Biden spoke, a 40-mile convoy of hundreds of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced slowly on Kyiv, the capital city of nearly three million people, in what the West feared was a bid by Putin to topple the government and install a Kremlin-friendly regime.
The invading forces also pressed their assault on other towns and cities, including the strategic ports of Odesa and Mariupol in the south.
As the seventh day of the war dawned Wednesday, Russia found itself increasingly isolated, beset by the sanctions that have thrown its economy into turmoil and left the country practically friendless, apart from a few nations like China, Belarus and North Korea.
Leading Russian bank Sberbank announced on Wednesday that it is pulling out of European markets amid the tightening Western sanctions.
As fighting raged, the humanitarian situation worsened. Roughly 660,000 people have fled Ukraine, and countless others have taken shelter underground.
The death toll was less clear, with neither Russia nor Ukraine releasing the number of troops lost. The UN human rights office said it has recorded 136 civilian deaths, though the actual toll is likely to be far higher.
One senior Western intelligence official estimated that 5,000 Russian soldiers had been captured or killed in the biggest ground war in Europe since the Second World War.
Many military experts say Russia may be shifting tactics. Moscow’s strategy in Chechnya and Syria was to use artillery and air bombardments to pulverize cities and crush fighters’ resolve.
The UK’s Defence Ministry said it had seen an increase in Russian air and artillery strikes on populated urban areas over the past two days.
It also said Kharkiv and Mariupol were encircled by Russian forces and that troops had reportedly moved into the centre of a third city, Kherson.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had seized Kherson, though the claim could not be confirmed.
Ukrainian authorities said five people were killed in the attack on the TV tower near central Kyiv. A TV control room and power substation were hit, and at least some Ukrainian channels briefly stopped broadcasting, officials said.
Zelensky’s office reported that the site of the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial, which is adjacent to the TV tower, was also hit.
A spokesman for the memorial said a Jewish cemetery at the site, where Nazi occupiers killed more than 33,000 Jews over two days in 1941, was damaged, but the extent would not be clear until daylight.
Part of the Karazin National University campus in the city of Kharkiv is destroyed after being struck by a Russian missile which was seemingly intended for a nearby police or interior ministry building
Firefighters battle to put out a blaze in Kharkiv as the city came under renewed airstrikes today, with an official saying there is almost no area of the city left that has not been hit
The remains of a destroyed Russian military convoy are seen on a street in Bucha, to the south of Kyiv, on Wednesday morning
Civilians help construct makeshift barricades around the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia to stop Russia capturing it
Ukraine’s military said Russia today renewed its assault ‘on all fronts’, with paratroopers landing in Kharkiv, tanks and trucks rolling into the centre of Kherson, and strikes in Mariupol and Zhytomyr
Has Lukashenko accidentally revealed MOLDOVA will be invaded next? Belarus dictator addresses his security council in front of map that seems to detail Russia’s battle plan for Ukraine
Alexander Lukashenko has appeared in front of a battle map during a state TV broadcast which appears to detail Russia’s attack plans in Ukraine
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko appears to have indicated Vladimir Putin’s forces have plans to invade Moldova.
Putin’s war-mongering sidekick addressed security officials today while standing in front of a battle map that seems to show a planned operation from southern Ukraine into its tiny neighbour.
The map also showed proposed battle plans for Russian troops across the country.
It detailed Russian lines of attack heading into Ukraine, some of which have materialised in the first few days of the invasion – such as forces storming towards Kyiv from the north, and towards Kherson from Crimea.
But they also showed off several attacks that have yet to come to pass – with one even appearing to point from the port city of Odessa into Moldova, suggesting Russia plans to march troops into Ukraine’s neighbour.
Meanwhile Putin’s military has suffered an embarrassing string of defeats while trying to carry out precision strikes on key targets in an apparent effort to win the war quickly and convincingly.
That has raised fears that he is now about to deploy Russian heavy armour and artillery in an attempt to brute-force his way to victory – a strategy that could cause huge civilian casualties.
Zelensky expressed outrage on Wednesday at the attack on Babi Yar and concern that other historically significant and religious sites, such as St Sophia’s Cathedral, could be targeted.
‘This is beyond humanity. Such missile strike means that for many Russians our Kyiv is absolutely foreign,’ Zelensky said in a speech posted on Facebook. ‘They have orders to erase our history, our country and all of us.’
Russia previously told people living near transmission facilities used by Ukraine’s intelligence agency to leave their homes.
But Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Wednesday that the airstrike on the TV tower did not hit any residential buildings. He did not address the reported deaths or the damage to Babi Yar.
In Kharkiv, with a population of about 1.5 million, at least six people were killed when the region’s administrative building on Freedom Square was hit with what was believed to be a missile.
The Slovenian foreign ministry said its consulate in Kharkiv, located in another large building on the square, was destroyed.
The attack on the square, the nucleus of public life in the city, was seen by many Ukrainians as evidence that the Russian invasion was not just about hitting military targets but also about breaking their spirit.
The bombardment blew out windows and walls of buildings that ring the square, which was piled high with debris and dust. Inside one building, chunks of plaster were scattered, and doors lay across hallways.
Another Russian airstrike hit a residential area in the city of Zhytomyr.
Ukraine’s emergency services said Tuesday’s strike killed at least two people, burned three homes and broke the windows in a nearby hospital.
About 85 miles west of Kyiv, Zhytomyr is the home of the elite 95th Air Assault Brigade, which may have been the intended target.
In the southern port city of Mariupol, the mayor said the attacks were relentless.
Human Rights Watch said it documented a cluster bomb attack outside a hospital in Ukraine’s east in recent days.
Residents also reported the use of such weapons in Kharkiv and Kiyanka village. The Kremlin denied using cluster bombs.
Cluster bombs shoot smaller ‘bomblets’ over a large area, many of which fail to explode until long after they’ve been dropped. If their use is confirmed, that would represent a new level of brutality in the war.
The first talks between Russia and Ukraine since the invasion were held Monday, but ended with only an agreement to talk again. On Tuesday, Zelensky said Russia should stop bombing first.
Instead, Moscow made new threats of escalation on Tuesday, days after raising the spectre of nuclear war.
A top Kremlin official warned that the West’s ‘economic war’ against Russia could turn into a ‘real one’.
Inside Russia, a top radio station critical of the Kremlin was taken off the air after authorities threatened to shut it down over its coverage of the invasion. Among other things, the Kremlin is not allowing the fighting to be referred to as an ‘invasion’ or ‘war’.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said it had evidence that Belarus, a Russian ally, is preparing to send troops into Ukraine.
A ministry statement posted early Wednesday on Facebook said the Belarusian troops have been taken into combat readiness and were concentrated close to Ukraine’s northern border. Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has said his country has no plans to join the fight.
A senior US defence official said that Russia’s military progress, including the massive convoy, has slowed, plagued by logistical and supply problems.
Some Russian military columns have run out of petrol and food, the official said, and morale has suffered as a result.
Overall, the Russian military has been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to completely dominate Ukraine’s airspace.
The immense convoy, with vehicles packed together along narrow roads, would seemingly be ‘a big fat target’ for Ukrainian forces, the senior Western intelligence official said.
But it also showed Russia was comfortable that they would not come attack by air, rocket or missile, the official said.
