Doomsday Nuclear War: How the super-rich are preparing for World War 3 with secret underground bunkers engineered to withstand a 10 kiloton nuclear warhead

As the war between Russia and Ukraine reaches the ninth day, bombs and missiles continue to rain down on Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv. Thousands of refugees also fled to the neighboring country of Poland.

With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calling Western allies to enforce a no-fly zone in the country, people are beginning to get worried that the war could expand to other European countries and potentially prompt World War 3. This has led many to start preparing for survival in case of a doomsday scenario.

Even before the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the super-rich among us has been preparing for World War 3 for years now. If the nuclear apocalypse breaks out today, the super-rich will not only survive the apocalypse but also live on in luxury while the rest of the world burns to ashes and wait out a nuclear winter inside luxurious underground bunkers.

Rising S Bunkers is a Texas-based doomsday bunkers company that build underground bunkers for the super-rich. The company said this week that sales have spiked ‘1000%’ for units ranging from $40,000 to $8.5M after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The company sells survival shelters ranging from a $39,500 ‘mini bunker’ to an $8.35 million ‘aristocrat’ bunker that fit up to 44 people. In a statement, Rising S Bunkers  General Manager Gary Lynch said, “Typically, I’ll sell between two and six shelters a month. Business has increased astronomically over the last few days.”

Lynch told Daily Mail that the company sold five bunkers on the first day of the invasion and have gotten inquiries from all the world.

‘The phone hasn’t stopped ringing and we’ve been sending out so many quotes,’ he told the Sun. The Texas-based company has received inquiries from all the world, including Italy, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Japan, and Canada, as well as across the US. ‘The interest isn’t just isolated to the US, it’s everywhere,’ he said.

In recent years, Silicon Valley billionaires bought real estate in New Zealand just in case they have to flee California to avoid the nuclear apocalypse. Their homes, which were built from scratch, include secret 150-tonne nuclear bunkers 13 feet below the ground.

The bunkers were built by Texas-based bunker manufacturer Rising S Company. Why New Zealand? Gary Lynch, the company’s general manager said that “New Zealand is an enemy of no one. It’s not a nuclear target and it’s not a target for war. It’s a place where people seek refuge.”

The company sells its top-of-the-range bunker, “The Aristocrat” for  $12 million excluding the installation fee. However, Rising S Company is not the only company building bunkers for the mega-rich. A few years ago, a group of investors in Kansas also embarked on a project to convert an Atlas ICBM missile silo into a 15-story underground bunker.

Called Survival Condo, the luxury survival condo project was started by the owner Laurence “Larry” A. Hall Jr. He purchased the Raven Ridge Atlas missile silo at Raven Ridge near Concordia, Kansas in 2008 for $300,000.  Though the exact location is top-secret, Hall said it’s situated north of Wichita, Kansas, surrounded by rolling hills and farmland.

The condo is  197 feet (60 m) in depth, which he built into a 15-floor bunker complete with tilapia aquaponics facility, vegetable gardens, mini grocery store, swimming pool, theater, library, gym, sauna, and steam room, jail cell, climbing wall, bar, three years of stockpiled food, and 12 condo units for up to 75 people. The development was completed by 2012 at a cost of $20 million.

As for recreation, Survival Condo also comes with a swimming pool that stretches 75 feet and includes a water slide.

CNET‘s Claire Reilly recently got an exclusive look at just how lavish this kind of apocalyptic lifestyle could be — if you can afford it, that is. Enjoy the video.