Putin authorizes the use of nuclear weapons to respond to a conventional attack against Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this on Tuesday a nuclear doctrine which makes it possible to respond with nuclear weapons to conventional attacks which 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 Union of States.

The document also considered “joint attack” 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 applies 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 considered by analysts as a clear warning to the United States and NATOin case they decide to get directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine.

“Extreme and forced measure”

Russia may also resort to nuclear weapons in the event of “massive attack with warplanes, cruise missiles, hypersonics, drones and other unmanned craft 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 views 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 authorized after the start of the war the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, warned that such a move would mean the United States and NATO “would be at war with Russia.”