Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday approved a nuclear doctrine that makes it possible to respond with nuclear weapons to conventional attacks that threaten the sovereignty of Russia and Belarus.
The doctrine authorizes a nuclear attack in the event that the enemy’s conventional attack poses “a critical threat to the sovereignty and (or) territorial integrity” of the two countries that make up the Russian-Belarusian State Union.
The document will also consider that a “joint attack” is the aggression of a country without atomic weapons, but benefiting from the support of a nuclear power.
The doctrine, published on the Russian state legal information portal, expands the category of military alliances against which Russia will apply the nuclear deterrence strategy.
“Aggression of any state belonging to a military coalition (bloc, alliance) against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies is considered aggression of the coalition as a whole,” it notes.
These last two clauses are seen by analysts as a clear warning to the United States and NATO, in case they decide to become directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine.
Russia may also resort to nuclear weapons in the event of a “massive attack” with warplanes, cruise missiles, hypersonics, drones and other unmanned vehicles violating the country’s airspace.
For the first time, the document refers not only to enemy aviation and hypersonic devices, but also to drones, an instrument of war that has gained great popularity in recent years.
At the same time, the doctrine emphasizes that Russia considers nuclear weapons as “an instrument of deterrence” of a defensive nature, the use of which constitutes an “extreme and forced measure”.
Putin announced changes to nuclear doctrine in late September, but he enacted them after 1,000 days of fighting in Ukraine had passed.
In addition, this announcement comes after the United States, according to Western press, authorized Ukraine to use long-range missiles against Russian territory.
Putin, who approved the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus after the start of the war, had warned that such a move would mean the United States and NATO “would be at war with Russia.”
