Kremlin leadership support use of nuclear weapons
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, many Russian officials, politicians, civil servants and TV presenters have begun to talk about the possibility, and in some cases the necessity or even the inevitability of a nuclear strike against Ukraine or its allies.
Putin at one time thought out how to manipulate the public masses and cover up their holes in the political arena by creating one document.
Such a document is the military doctrine of the Russian Federation, approved in 2010 by presidential decree (D. Medvedev), but under the influence of Putin.
It reads : “Preventing a nuclear military conflict, like any other military conflict, is the most important task of the Russian Federation.”
But in fact, Russia did not even try to adhere to this part of the doctrine.
Therefore, the next paragraph immediately stated that: “The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it and (or) its allies, as well as in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation using conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened.
Also, Putin wanted to personally do whatever he wants by introducing a decree that: “The decision to use nuclear weapons is made by the President of the Russian Federation.”
In fact, one person can decide the fate of millions even without their participation, and Russians believe in such democracy.
Quantity but not quality
The number of Russian nuclear weapons can only be estimated very roughly, but the Federation of American Scientists estimates that Russia has 5,977 warheads, that are, real nuclear explosive devices.
But there are a number of problems on which this number is only an illusion of what the Russian Federation actually has.
Most of the missiles were developed in the 1970s-1980s by the designers of the Dnepropetrovsk Yuzhmash, whose specialists, before the invasion of Ukraine (2014), played an important role in the program for extending the service life of these missiles.
The thing is that in 2021-2022, the guaranteed 20-year period of safe operation of Topol, UR-100N UTTKh and R-36M2 Voevoda-type systems ends. Thus, more than two thirds of the nuclear potential of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces turned into trash.
Sold themselves
It is also worth noting that Yeltsin sold all weapons-grade uranium – plutonium remained, but with plutonium everything is not so simple, it is like a fizz, and because the reaction is constant, plutonium loses its explosive qualities. This is kept secret, not disclosed, but produced in the Soviet Union, especially in the 50-60s, plutonium resembles a bottle of champagne, which was opened and left for a couple of years so that it ran out of steam a little. The uranium was sold, the money was spent on drinks, but the plutonium remained and outlived itself.
The agreement between the Kremlin and the White House regarding the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium was signed on August 29, 2000, when Putin was already a president.
The subject of the deal was extremely important: Russia was selling to the United States 500 tons of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, which were removed from the warheads of missiles that were to be destroyed in accordance with the agreements signed on the elimination of medium-range and shorter-range missiles (from 500 to 5000 km).
For this amount of fissile materials, Russia should have received $ 12 billion, which Putin and his cronies appropriated for themselves. The sale of uranium and plutonium meant an almost irreparable loss of strategic material, for the restoration of which there were neither deposits nor industrial potential.
Should we be afraid of a nuclear strike?
The nuclear weapons that Putin has brought into a special regime consist of:
- intercontinental ballistic missiles;
- submarine ballistic missiles;
- strategic aviation.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles
They have a minimum and maximum damage range. The range of Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles has a range of approximately 10,000 km. while the length of the Russian Federation is about 8 thousand km. that is, they can only launch such missiles in Ukraine from Kamchatka and along a non-optimal trajectory.
Submarine ballistic missiles
They have a shorter range, while the qualifications of the personnel are very low (during the exercises, launches are carried out by representatives of the manufacturer). Moreover, the movement of all submarines is monitored.
The only component of Putin’s nuclear weapons that can actually be used against Ukraine is long-range aviation. They are rather large and clearly visible on the radar aircraft with cruise missiles, which are much older than the “calibers” that Ukraine already knows how to intercept. In addition, Ukraine is armed with the S-200 long-range anti-aircraft missile system, which can shoot down such aircraft over Moscow.
Pressing the button by Putin does not mean that the missiles will immediately fly. Pressing the button gives the order for the use of nuclear weapons by the commanders of the relevant troops (RVSN, submarine fleet, long-range aviation). Those, in turn, pass this order further along the chain of command, and at each of its links, the execution of the order can be canceled.
The latest massive missile attacks on Ukraine show that Ukrainians can shoot down almost half of Russian missiles or Iranian-made Shahid-136 kamikaze drones. This suggests that if Ukraine has enough air defense, then it will be able to protect not only its territory, but also Europe. Therefore, Ukraine further needs help from Europe, Britain and the United States in the supply of weapons to repel Russian missile attacks.
The recent massive Russian missile attacks on Ukraine have shown that the Ukrainian army can shoot down almost half of the Russian missiles or Iranian-made kamikaze drones Shahid-136. This proves that if Ukraine has enough air defense systems, it can protect not only its own territory but also Europe. Therefore, Ukraine needs more help from Europe, Britain and the U.S. in weapons supply to repel Russian missile attacks.