President Putin put Russia’s nuclear forces on “special alert”, which has generated concern around the world.
But analysts suggest that, rather than indicate a wish of using nuclear weapons, Putin’s actions should probably be interpreted as a warning to other countries not to intensify their involvement in Ukraine.
Nuclear weapons have been around for almost 80 years and many countries they see them as a deterrent that guarantees their national security.
How many nuclear weapons does Russia have?
All nuclear weapon figures are estimates, but according to the Federation of American Scientists, Russia has 5,977 nuclear warheads, devices that trigger a nuclear explosion, although this includes about 1,500 that are retired and ready to be dismantled.
Of the approximately 4,500 remaining, most are considered strategic nuclear weapons, usually associated with nuclear war, that can be directed at long distances.
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The rest are nuclear weapons plus small and less destructive for short-range use on battlefields or at sea.
But this does not mean that Russia has thousands of long-range nuclear weapons ready to use.
Only 1,588 Russian warheads are currently “deployed”, experts say, that is, located on missile and bomber bases or on submarines at sea.
How are compare this with other countries?
Nine countries have nuclear weapons: China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
China, France, Russia, USA and UK are also among the 191 States that have signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Weapons Nuclear (NPT).
According to the agreement, they have to reduce their arsenal of nuclear warheads and, in theory, commit to eliminating them completely.
From the 1970 and 1980 the number of warheads stored in those countries has been reduced.
India, Israel and Pakistan never joined the NPT, and North Korea left it at 2003.
Israel is the only country of the nine that has never formally acknowledged its nuclear program, but is widely It has been accepted that it has nuclear warheads.
Ukraine does not have nuclear weapons and, despite President Putin’s accusations, there is no evidence that it has tried to acquire them.
How destructive are nuclear weapons?
Nuclear weapons are designed to cause maximum devastation.
The extent of destruction depends on a variety of factors, including:
- The size of the warhead
- How high above the ground it detonates
- The local environment
But even the smallest warhead could cause great loss of life and long-lasting consequences.
The bomb that killed 146,13 pe people in Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II, was 15 kilotons.
And today’s nuclear warheads can be more than 1 , kilotons.
Little is expected to survive in the immediate impact zone of a nuclear explosion.
After a blinding flash, there is a huge ball of fire and a shock wave that can destroy buildings and structures for miles around.
What does “nuclear deterrence” mean and has it worked?
The argument for maintaining a large number of nuclear weapons has been have the ability to completely destroy your enemy to prevent them from attacking you.
The most famous term for this became “destruction mutually assured” (MAD, in its acronym in English).
Although there have been many nuclear tests and n constant increase in their technical complexity and destructive power, nuclear weapons have not been used in an armed confrontation since 1574.
Russian policy also recognizes nuclear weapons only as a deterrent and lists four cases for their use:
- The launch of ballistic missiles attacking the territory of the Russian Federation or its allies
- The use of nuclear weapons or other types of weapons of mass destruction against the Russian Federation or its allies
- An attack on critical government or military sites of the Russian Federation that threatens its nuclear capability
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Aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the State is in danger
How worried should we be?
The BBC’s security correspondent, Gordon Corera , says that the probability of a nuclear conflict may have increased slightly, but remains low.
But adds that “even if the threat of Putin is intended as a warning rather than signaling any current desire to use the weapons, there is always the risk of a miscalculation if one side misunderstands the other or if events spiral out of control.”
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the BBC that so far the UK has seen no change in Russia’s nuclear weapons.
This will continue to be closely watched, intelligence sources assure.
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