In the Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence, Russia has outlined “red lines” for violation of which a potential enemy will receive a crushing retaliation, said Major General Andrei Sterlin, head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
On June 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence. The document regulates under what conditions Moscow reserves the right to a nuclear strike, and also describes the main threats to Russia in the field of nuclear deterrence.
“In the Fundamentals, Russia has designated “red lines “, which we do not advise anyone to cross. If a potential adversary decides to do this, then the answer will undoubtedly be overwhelming”, — quotes the words of Sterlin the newspaper “Krasnaya Zvezda”.
As the publication explains, two groups of countries are identified as subjects of nuclear deterrence. The first is “individual states possessing nuclear and (or) other types of weapons of mass destruction or significant combat potential of general-purpose forces, which regard the Russian Federation as a potential adversary, as well as military coalitions (blocs, alliances) with the participation of these states.”
The second – “states that provide their national territory for the deployment of strategic offensive weapons (cruise and ballistic missiles, hypersonic aircraft, attack unmanned aerial vehicles), strategic anti-missile defense systems, radar stations for the warning system of nuclear missile strike, nuclear weapons and (or) other types of weapons of mass destruction of other states that can be used against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies.”
The new Russian doctrine implies that Moscow can use nuclear weapons in response to an attack on it or its allies using nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, or in the event of aggression with conventional weapons, if the very existence of the state is threatened.
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