Russia's Secret Lab Runs Artillery Tests on Live Humans

A disturbing investigation has pulled back the curtain on a hidden Russian military facility where human beings are used as test subjects in live artillery experiments. The site, officially called the State Research Institute of Military Medicine, was set up with one core objective: determining which artillery systems are most effective at killing or incapacitating enemy soldiers on the battlefield. The findings have sent shockwaves through international security and human rights circles.
According to the investigation carried out by Proekt, an independent Russian outlet known for its in-depth investigative work, the institute has been operating under a unique legal status since 2015— the only institution within Russia's Defense Ministry officially permitted to conduct experiments involving human participants.

By Nikodem Baran | Last Updated: 14 Apr 2026

What Happens Inside the Facility
The institute is not just a research office. It includes a dedicated testing ground built to closely mimic real battlefield conditions, complete with replicated fortifications and military hardware. When experiments are conducted, volunteers are placed in proximity to artillery fire while researchers track their cardiovascular and nervous system responses in real time. Biological samples are also collected throughout the process, helping scientists measure how the human body is affected depending on how close a person is to an explosion.
To handle the inevitable medical fallout from such testing, a scientific clinical center was built within the institute in 2018. It operates with 100 beds and is equipped with intensive care, surgery, and therapy departments — facilities you would typically associate with a functioning hospital, not a weapons lab. In its very first year, the center logged over 300 cases involving individuals who took part in tests covering weapons, medications, and vaccines.
The scope of the institute's work goes beyond artillery alone. Researchers there also evaluate performance-enhancing substances, protective equipment designed for extreme environmental conditions, and emerging military technologies.

Ties to Chemical Weapons and the Salisbury Poisoning
Perhaps the most alarming detail in the investigation is what it reveals about the institute's role in Russia's chemical weapons program. The facility has been identified as a key participant in that program— a finding that raises serious questions about the nature and scale of Russia's ongoing weapons development activities.
The connections get darker still. The investigation found that the institute's director personally provided guidance to GRU military intelligence officers who were later linked to the 2018 Salisbury poisoning in the United Kingdom — the attack in which former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter were targeted with a nerve agent. That link places the institute at the center of one of the most notorious state-sponsored assassination attempts of the last decade, adding yet another layer of gravity to what is already a deeply unsettling story.

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