Russian gamers race to prevent nuclear 'war'

The latest craze to hit Moscow is a war game where players race against each other to find nuclear codes

Russian officials play on fears by staging a massive nuclear drill

CNN
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The Russian voice blares from the loudspeaker. The nuclear bombs are to be launched within an hour.

Two Russians are racing to stop a nuclear attack on the United States in a room that looks like a bunker from the Soviet era.

The latest craze to hit Moscow is the quest of finding the nuclear launch codes, and deactivating a red button that has been hidden by a Russian general who was possessed.

It's a complete fantasy. Just an interactive game in a building located in a former industrial district of the city that harks back to Cold War fears.

It is a little worrying, but not because of the tensions that are currently raging with Russia. A nuclear war with the West was once again raised.

Maxim Motin is a Russian, who just finished the Red Button Quest. He said: "I am worried because both sides are giving very stupid information."

He added, "I know the normal people around the world do not want war."

Russian officials are preparing their nation for a possible conflict. They have stoked deep-seated fears about a standoff between Russia and the West, its old Cold War adversary.

The Russian TV broadcasts a massive training exercise that involves up to 40,000,000 people in the entire country. The government claims that the exercise is to help prepare for an attack by chemical agents or nukes.

Video shows emergency workers in protective suits and gasmasks leading the largest civil defense practice since the fall of the Soviet Union. The video suggests that the Kremlin is trying to get Russians take war seriously.

It is highly unlikely that Russia and the West will ever engage in a full-scale conflict.

Analysts claim that the principle of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) still works as a deterrent today, as it did in the Cold War.

Analysts say that with the growing tensions over Syria, Ukraine and the Baltic States, the small risk of contact and miscommunication, as well as escalation, between the nuclear superpowers, has become very real.

Fyodor Lukyanov, editor at Russia in Global Affairs (a prominent journal of foreign policy), says: "I do not think that nuclear war will happen."

He told CNN that "anything can happen" when two nuclear powers are using their military equipment in the same region, close together, and without proper coordination.

The Kremlin is keen to highlight this risk, as state television has been stepping up its rhetoric of hard-line in recent weeks.

In its flagship current affairs show, Russia's top state news anchor, Dmitry Kiselyev - dubbed the Kremlin's propagandist-in-chief by critics - recently issued a stark warning of global war if Russian and US forces clash in Syria.

He said that "brutish behavior toward Russia could have nuclear dimensions."

The Russian Defense Ministry has also revealed details about the latest intercontinental missile that it is adding to its nuclear arsenal.

The Satan 2, or as it is known, will be the most destructive weapon in the world, ensuring Russia's position as a leading nuclear power.

The apocalyptic setting adds an extra sense of reality to the fantasy quest that is being performed by players in Moscow.

Alisa Sokoleva is another Moscow gamer who said, "I'm aware that in Russian schools they now tell children that the US is our main enemy."

She adds, "It sounds absurd to me. I am absolutely certain that war is not possible."

The Russian players have deactivated a missile launch by cracking the launch code in the bunker. It seems that the United States has once again been saved by this virtual Russian nuclear strike.

Hopefully, we will also be spared a similar confrontation in the real world.