The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin ratified this Tuesday a decree with changes to Moscow’s nuclear doctrine, which expands the type and origin of the threats to which it could respond with this type of weapons, in the midst of the invasion of Ukraine and the possibility that kyiv will initiate attacks with long-range weapons against its territory.
The decree, published through the legal documents portal of the Russian authorities, aims to “improve state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence” and contemplates its entry into force from the same signature by Putin.
“State policy in the field of nuclear deterrence is defensive in nature and is aimed at maintaining the potential of nuclear forces at a sufficient level,” he states, before emphasizing that they include “States and military alliances” against which this “nuclear containment” could be applied.
The new Russian nuclear doctrine also contemplates that this type of weaponry can be used not only in the event of a nuclear threat against Moscow, but against non-nuclear hypersonic weapons, drones and ballistic and cruise missiles that pose a threat to Russian territory, thus expanding the criteria contemplated to date.
“The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies.”as well as in the case of aggression against the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus, as participants of the State of the Union, with conventional weapons and that poses a critical threat to their sovereignty or territorial integrity,” he emphasizes.
Furthermore, it indicates that “the decision to use nuclear weapons is made by the president of the Russian Federation” and specifies that the president “may, if necessary, inform the political-military leadership of other States or international organizations about the Russian Federation’s willingness to use nuclear weapons or the decision taken on the use of nuclear weapons.”
On the other hand, it specifies that “the Security Council of the Russian Federation formulates the main lines of military policy in the field of nuclear deterrence and coordinates the activities of federal executive bodies and organizations participating in the implementation of decisions taken by the President of the Russian Federation on nuclear deterrence.”
Russia recognized months ago that it had already begun the renewal of its military and nuclear doctrine due to changes in the international situation, especially the war in Ukraine. Putin himself assured at the end of September that Moscow had decided to introduce changes to “correct the approaches.” before noting that the use of these weapons is “an extreme measure” intended to protect “the sovereignty of the country.”
The ratification of the decree also comes after the United States authorized Ukraine to use long-range American weapons to attack Russian territory. which led Moscow to emphasize that the measure implies an increase in tensions and represents, if confirmed, one more step in Washington’s “direct involvement” in the conflict.
Until now, Washington had been reluctant to allow kyiv forces to fire the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) over Russian territory, but this weekend several American media outlets, including The New York Times y The Washington Postreported a change in said doctrine.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, did not confirm the information on Sunday, but he did refer to the news. “Today the media talks a lot about giving us permission for these actions, but the attacks are not carried out with words. These things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves. “I’m sure they will,” he said.
