Russia flaunts its many doomsday weapons to keep the West from ramping up support for Ukraine

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Russia flaunts its many doomsday weapons to keep the West from ramping up support for Ukraine

This year has seen President Vladimir ****** repeatedly brandish the nuclear sword, reminding everyone that Russia has

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to try to deter the West from ramping up support for Ukraine.

He ordered his military to

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involving battlefield nuclear weapons with ally Belarus.

He announced Russia will start producing ground-based intermediate range missiles that were outlawed by a now-defunct U.S.-******* treaty in 1987.

And last month, he lowered the

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by revising the country’s nuclear doctrine.

****** is relying on those thousands of warheads and hundreds of missiles as an enormous doomsday machine to offset NATO’s massive edge in conventional weapons to discourage what he sees as threats to Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

A look at Russia’s atomic arsenal and the issues surrounding it:

Russia’s strategic weapons

The Federation of ********* Scientists estimated this year that Russia has an inventory totaling 5,580 deployed and non-deployed nuclear warheads, while the U.S. has 5,044. Together, that’s about 88% of the world’s nuclear weapons.

Most of these are strategic, or intercontinental-range weapons. Like the U.S., Russia has a nuclear triad of ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, long-range ******** and ICBM-armed submarines.

Since ****** came to power in 2000, the Kremlin has worked to upgrade the *******-built components of the triad, deploying hundreds of new land-based missiles, commissioning new nuclear submarines and modernizing nuclear-capable ********. Russia’s effort to revamp its nuclear forces has helped prompt the U.S. to launch a

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of its arsenal.

Russia has reequipped its land-based strategic missile forces with mobile Yars ICBMs and recently began deploying the heavy, silo-based Sarmat ICBMs — designated “****** II” missiles in the West — to gradually replace about 40 *******-built R-36M missiles. Sarmat has had only one known successful test, and reportedly suffered a massive ********** during an abortive test last month.

The navy commissioned seven new Borei-class atomic-powered submarines, each with 16 Bulava nuclear-tipped missiles, and plans to build five more. They are intended to form the core of the triad’s naval component alongside a few *******-era nuclear subs still operating.

Russia still relies on *******-built Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic ******** carrying nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. Moscow has restarted production of the supersonic Tu-160 that was halted after the 1991 ******* collapse, aiming to build several dozen modernized aircraft with new engines and avionics.

Russia’s non-strategic nuclear weapons

The U.S. estimates that Russia has between 1,000 and 2,000

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intended for use on the battlefield that typically are far less powerful than the strategic warheads capable of destroying entire cities.

Russia has high-precision ground-launched Iskander missiles with a range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles), which can be fitted with either a conventional or a nuclear warhead.

The air force has a fleet of MiG-31 fighter jets that carry a hypersonic Kinzhal missile, which can be equipped with a nuclear or conventional warhead. Russia has widely used conventional versions of both Iskander and Kinzhal against Ukraine.

As part of the Kremlin’s nuclear messaging, Russia and ally Belarus held drills to train their troops with the battlefield nuclear weapons in May, shortly after

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**** and Russia’s nuclear doctrine

Moscow and Washington have relied for decades on nuclear deterrence under the concept of mutually assured destruction — **** for short — based on the assumption that an overwhelming retaliation would discourage either side from launching an *******.

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adopted in 2020 envisaged using such ultimate weapons in response to a nuclear strike or an ******* with conventional weapons that threatens “the very existence of the Russian state.” Moscow hawks criticized that document as too vague, urging ****** to toughen it.

Last month, he warned the U.S. and NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons for

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Russia would put NATO at war with his country.

He reinforced the message by announcing

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of the nuclear doctrine that considers a conventional ******* on Russia by a nonnuclear nation that is supported by a nuclear power to be a ****** ******* on his country —

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to the U.S. and other allies of Kyiv.

****** also declared the revised document envisages possible nuclear weapons use in case of a massive air *******, holding the door open to a potential nuclear response to any aerial ******** — an ambiguity intended to deter the West.

Changes in the doctrine suggest Russia “is doubling down on its strategy of relying on nuclear weapons for coercive purposes” in the war in Ukraine, said Heather Williams, director of the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in a commentary.

The future for arms control

The 2010 New START U.S.-Russian arms reduction treaty, the last remaining arms control pact between Moscow and Washington that expires in 2026, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and ********.

In February 2023,

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Russia’s participation in New START, but vowed that Russia would abide by its limits.

In July, ****** declared Russia will launch production of ground-based intermediate range missiles that were banned under the now-defunct U.S. ******* INF Treaty. The 1987 pact banned missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles). He said Moscow will respond in kind to the planned deployment of U.S. intermediate-range missiles to Germany, taking steps to “mirror” Washington’s move.

Even as U.S.-Russian tensions soared to their highest point since the Cold War amid fighting in Ukraine, Washington has urged Moscow to resume dialogue on nuclear arms control. ****** rejected the offer, saying such negotiations are meaningless while the U.S. is openly seeking to inflict a strategic defeat to Russia in Ukraine.

Resuming nuclear testing

Russian hawks are calling for a resumption of nuclear tests to demonstrate Moscow’s readiness to use its atomic arsenal and force the West to limit aid for Kyiv.

****** said Russia could resume testing if the U.S. does so first, a move that would end a global ban in place after the demise of the USSR.

Last month, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the nuclear test range on the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya is ready to resume tests if the U.S. does so.

Prospective new weapons

In 2018, ****** revealed an array of new weapons, claiming they would render any prospective U.S. missile defenses useless.

They include the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound and making sharp maneuvers to dodge an ******’s missile shield. The first such units have already entered service.

****** also mentioned the nuclear-armed and atomic-powered Poseidon underwater drone, designed to explode near coastlines and cause a radioactive tsunami. Earlier this year, he said Poseidon tests are nearing completion, without giving details.

Also under development is an atomic-powered cruise missile, a concept that dates to the Cold War. But the missile, called the Burevestnik, or Petrel, has raised skepticism among experts, who cite technological obstacles and radiation safety concerns. During tests in 2019, an ********** at a naval range on the White Sea reportedly involving the Burevestnik ******* five engineers and two servicemen, and caused a brief spike in radiation.

****** said this year its development was in the final stages and the military has reportedly built a base for the missiles in the Vologda region of northwestern Russia.

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Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape:

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