Russia’s minimum standards for using nuclear weapons are lower than imagined

[New Sancai Compilation and First Release] According to a report by the Financial Times on February 28, 2024, experts who reviewed and verified these documents said that leaked military documents showed that Russia’s minimum standards for the use of tactical nuclear weapons were lower than those publicly acknowledged by Moscow. .

Criteria range from enemy incursions into Russian territory to more specific triggers, such as destroying 20 percent of the country's strategic ballistic missile submarines.

Other potential conditions for the use of nuclear weapons include destroying three or more large surface combatants, three airfields, 30 percent of the nuclear-powered attack submarines, or simultaneously attacking primary and reserve coastal command centers, the report said.

The documents, which include 29 Russian military files from 2008 to 2014, also show distrust of Beijing despite improving relations between Russia and China. For example, training materials show that exercises conducted by Russia's Eastern Military District were conducted in response to a hypothetical attack by Beijing.

The report stated that the Kremlin continues to conduct military exercises near China, including exercises using nuclear missiles in areas bordering China in June and November 2023.

On the other hand, the threshold for Russia's use of tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine may be higher due to concerns that it may "exacerbate the conflict and lead to direct intervention by the United States or the United Kingdom," said William, director of strategy, technology and strategy at the Arms Control Center of the British think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies. William Alberque told the Times.

(Compiled by: Wang Jimin)

(Editor: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: Compiled and published by New Sancai)