President Vladimir Putin has warned the West that Russia could use nuclear weapons if attacked with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any aggression against it backed by a nuclear power an attack.
Here are some crucial facts about the Russian nuclear arsenal:
How many nuclear weapons does Russia have?
Russia, heir to the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons, has the largest arsenal of nuclear warheads in the world.
Putin controls some 5,580 nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
Of them, about 1,200 are retired but practically intact and about 4,380 are stored for operational forces, according to the FAS.
Of the warheads in storage, 1,710 strategic warheads are deployed: about 870 on land-based ballistic missiles, about 640 on submarine-launched ballistic missiles and possibly 200 on heavy bomber bases, according to the FAS.
These figures mean that Russia could destroy the world several times over. So could the United States, given its own arsenals.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union peaked at about 40,000 nuclear warheads, while the American peak was about 30,000.
Under what circumstances will they be used?
The 2020 nuclear doctrine published by Russia sets out the conditions under which a Russian president would consider using a nuclear weapon: generally, in response to an attack with nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, or to the use of conventional weapons against Russia “when the very existence of the State is threatened.”
Putin gave details of the changes to nuclear doctrine on September 26.
The developments outlined by Putin include an expansion of the threats under which Russia would consider a nuclear attack, the inclusion of ally Belarus under the nuclear umbrella and the idea that a rival nuclear power supporting a conventional attack against Russia would also be considered is attacking.
The new doctrine has not yet been published and it is not clear if it will be published.
Will Russia have more nuclear weapons?
The United States stated in its 2022 Nuclear Posture Review that Russia and China were expanding and modernizing their nuclear forces, and that Washington would pursue an arms control-based approach to avoid costly arms races.
“While Russia’s nuclear statements and threatening rhetoric are very concerning, Russia’s nuclear arsenal and operations have changed little since our 2023 estimates, beyond ongoing modernization,” the FAS said in its 2024 analysis. of the Russian army.
“In the future, however, the number of warheads allocated to Russian strategic forces may increase as single-warhead missiles are replaced by missiles equipped with multiple warheads,” the FAS said.
It is still unclear what impact Western sanctions have had on Russia’s nuclear development.
Will Russia carry out a nuclear test?
Putin has said Russia would consider testing a nuclear weapon if the United States did so, a stance confirmed in September by his arms control confidant.
9М723 missiles, part of the Iskander-M missile complex, during a display at the international military-technical forum ARMY-2019 at the Alabino firing range in the Moscow region. — Maxim Shemetov / REUTERS
Last year, Putin signed a law that Russia withdrew its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Post-Soviet Russia has not conducted any nuclear tests.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, only a few countries have conducted nuclear tests, according to the Arms Control Association: the United States last did so in 1992, China and France in 1996, India and Pakistan in 1998, and North Korea in 2017. The Soviet Union last did so in 1990.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by Russia in 1996 and ratified in 2000. The United States signed the treaty in 1996 but has not yet ratified it.
