Russian nuclear test site ready as President Vladimir Putin presents proposals that will give Moscow right to initiate a first strike using atomic weapons
Russia should update its nuclear doctrine to clearly define circumstances that could prompt Moscow to launch a nuclear strike, President Vladimir Putin told a meeting of the national security council on Wednesday. He also suggested an expanded list of threats that would include “reliable information” of a major airstrike being launched against Russia.
The list of criteria that would justify Russia’s use of its nuclear deterrent should be expanded in the updated version of the doctrine, Putin told the meeting.
An AI generated image of a Russian atomic strike on London Bridge. The UK is the leading proponent of allowing Ukrainian cruise missile strikes deep into Russia
“Aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state… supported by a nuclear power should be treated as their joint attack,” the president said.
Moscow would also “consider” resorting to a nuclear response if it gets “reliable information” about a “massive”missile or air strike launched by another state against Russia, or its closest ally, Belarus, according to Putin. The weapons used in an enemy’s potential strike could include anything from ballistic or cruise missiles to strategic aircraft and drones, he stated.
“We reserve a right to use nuclear weapons in case of aggression against Russia and Belarus,” the Russian president said, adding that the principle had already been coordinated with Minsk. Nuclear weapons can be used if an enemy poses a “critical threat to either state’s sovereignty through the use of conventional weapons,” he explained.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a permanent meeting of the Russian Security Council on nuclear deterrence on September 25, 2024. © Kremlin
Putin did not elaborate on when changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine will take effect. Senior Russian officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov have been discussing potential changes to the doctrine in recent months. In late August, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the document was “being reviewed.”
The Russian leader has long demonstrated a rather reserved position on the issue of nuclear weapons. Back in June, he expressed hope that “it will never come” to a nuclear exchange between Moscow and the West.
Moscow “has no reasons to even think about” using nuclear weapons, he said at the time, speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Later that month, the president also stated that Russia did not need to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike, since “the enemy is guaranteed to be destroyed in a retaliatory strike.” He did not, however, rule out changes to the doctrine at the time.
Testing the Burevestnik nuclear cruise missile. © Sputnik/Russian Defence Ministry
Meanwhile the Novaya Zemlya range in the Arctic is ready to resume nuclear testing at any moment, the commander of the facility, Rear Admiral Andrey Sinitsyn, has said.
The Novaya Zemlya site, which is located on the island of the same name in the Arctic Ocean, was once one of the Soviet Union’s main nuclear testing range. Russia last carried out a detonation there in 1990 but since then has upheld a moratorium on nuclear testing.
Despite the range not being used for its intended purpose for 34 years, its infrastructure has been maintained and it remains “ready to resume full-scale testing activities,” Sinitsyn told Rossiyskaya Gazeta last week.
“It is fully ready. The laboratory and testing base are ready. The personnel are ready. If we get the order, we can begin testing at any time,” he said.
If the contingent at Novaya Zemlya is told to resume nuclear testing, this task “will be fulfilled in accordance with the deadline,” the commander added.
The site might be located far from the front line between Russia and Ukraine and is out of reach of the most advanced missiles supplied to Kiev by its Western backers, but it still has a “comprehensive security system” that will allow it to repel any possible attacks, Sinitsyn stressed.
“We have air surveillance posts and mobile UAV suppression groups on duty every day. Various electronic warfare systems are used to protect the facilities. We are constantly ready to repel all types of threats, including attempted incursions by sabotage and reconnaissance groups onto the island,” he said.
A Russian Tor-M2DT air defense system fires a missile during military drills on the island of Novaya Zemlya. © Sputnik / Russian Defence Ministry
Last week, an MP from the ruling United Russia party, Andrey Kolesnik, suggested that a move by Moscow to lift the moratorium on nuclear testing could serve as a wake-up call for Western politicians, who have forgotten about the danger posed by such weapons and continue to escalate tensions with Russia.
“We need to carry out a nuclear explosion somewhere, at some testing ground. Nuclear tests are currently banned, but maybe people should see what all this actually leads to,” Kolesnik explained.
In March, Putin said that the US is considering the possibility of resuming nuclear tests as some experts believe that computer simulations are insufficient for new types of warheads. If the Americans do so, Russia might reply by performing nuclear tests of its own, he warned.
Source X/Telegram/RT/AP