Russia and weapons of mass destruction

Nuclear weapons

History

Soviet era

Main article: Soviet atomic bomb project

Production sites

Three sites in the Russian SFSR and subsequently Russia produced 145 tons of weapons-grade plutonium (uncertainty ±8 tons) from 1948 to 2010, with a consistent production peak between 1967 and 1989. Following the Moscow test reactor F-1 in 1946, the Mayak site in Chelyabinsk-40 began construction. The first plutonium production reactor A-1 began operation in 1948, fuelling the RDS-1 test. The Mayak site received nine further reactors were constructed. Of these, four were used for plutonium production, the other six reactors primarily produced tritium for thermonuclear weapons. Plutonium was also produced by five reactors at the Siberian Chemical Combine in Tomsk-7, and three reactors at the Mining and Chemical Combine in Krasnoyarsk-26. The last plutonium production reactor in Russia is believed to have shut down in 2010. Mayak continues to operate two reactors for tritium and industrial radioisotope production.

Russian sites also produced 1,250 tons of highly enriched uranium (uncertainty ±120 tons) from 1949 to 2010, excluding HEU produced for naval nuclear reactors. Of this, 500 tons was downblended by the Megatons to Megawatts Program, and a further hundred tons were used in production research reactors, nuclear tests, and other downblending programs. Russia is now believed to possess 656 tons between HEU stockpiles and HEU inside weapons themselves. This began with the SU-20 electromagnetic separation plant, but the Soviet project quickly followed the Manhattan Project's gaseous diffusion scheme, constructing the D-1 plant in Sverdlovsk-44, eventually becoming the Ural Electrochemical Combine. The D-1 plant could produce 0.01 million SWU/year. The development of the gas centrifuge and waves of modernizations brought the Ural Electrochemical Combine to 11.9 million SWU/year by 1993. Further enrichment plants were built at the Siberian Chemical Combine, the Zelenogorsk Electrochemical Plant and the Angarsk Electrochemical Combine.

Post-Soviet era

Main article: Succession, continuity and legacy of the Soviet Union#Nuclear weapons

Post-Soviet countries have signed a series of treaties and agreements to settle the legacy of the former Soviet Union multilaterally and bilaterally.

At the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Soviet nuclear weapons were deployed in four of the new republics: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In May 1992, these four states signed the Lisbon Protocol, agreeing to join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, with Russia the continuator state to the Soviet Union as a nuclear state, and the other three states joining as non-nuclear states.

Ukraine agreed to give up its weapons to Russia, in exchange for guarantees of Ukrainian territory from Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, known as the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. China and France also made statements in support of the memorandum.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin placed Strategic Rocket Forces's nuclear deterrence units on high alert, a move heavily condemned internationally. Putin warned that "whoever tries to hinder us in Ukraine would see consequences, you have never seen in your history". According to the former US Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, Putin could potentially turn to nuclear weapons if he perceived an "existential threat" to the Russian state or regime; there has been speculation that he could regard defeat in Ukraine as an existential threat to his regime.

According to a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature Food in August 2022, a full-scale nuclear war between the United States and Russia, which together hold more than 90% of the world's nuclear weapons, would kill 360 million people directly and more than 5 billion indirectly by starvation during a nuclear winter.

In September 2022, Putin announced the mobilization of Russian forces, and threatened nuclear retaliation against the west if Russia's territorial integrity was threatened.

On February 21, 2023, Putin suspended Russia's participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States, saying that Russia would not allow the US and NATO to inspect its nuclear facilities. On March 25, 2023, Putin announced that Russia would be stationing tactical nuclear operations in Belarus. On June 14, 2023, Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko stated that Belarus had started to take delivery of nuclear weapons in a TV interview with Russian state channel, Russia-1.

On 25 September 2024, Putin warned the West that if attacked with conventional weapons Russia would consider a nuclear retaliation, in an apparent deviation from the no first use doctrine. Putin also warned nuclear powers that if they supported another country's attack on Russia, they would be considered participants in such aggression. Putin has made several implicit nuclear threats since the outbreak of war against Ukraine. Experts say Putin's announcement was aimed at dissuading the United States, the United Kingdom and France from allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied long-range missiles such as the Storm Shadow and ATACMS in strikes against Russia.

Nuclear testing

Soviet nuclear testing

Alleged Russian nuclear testing

The US alleged in 2020 that Russia had carried out "nuclear weapons experiments that have created nuclear yield" between 1996 and 2019, but that it was not aware of such individual experiments in 2019. As Russia is a signatory of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, but the treaty is not in force, the legal status of such an experiment is unclear. The same report accused China's nuclear weapons program of constructing the infrastructure for undetectable low-yield tests, but did not allege any tests had occurred.

Arms reduction

Main article: Megatons to Megawatts Program

The threat of nuclear warfare was a persistent and terrifying threat during the Cold War. At its height, the Soviet Union and United States each mustered tens of thousands of warheads, under the doctrine of mutual assured destruction. By the 1980s, both the United States and Soviet Union sought to reduce the number of weapons the other was fielding. This led to the opening of arms reduction talks in 1982.

This culminated in the signing of the START I treaty in 1991: the first nuclear arms reduction treaty between the two global powers. This first treaty limited the number of deployed warheads in each nation to 6,000, nearly halving the prior 10,000 to 12,000 being fielded in 1991. The considerable success of START I, combined with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, led to the START II treaty. Russia never ratified the treaty, and it did not go into effect. An attempted START III was attempted but could not get past negotiations.

Instead, the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty was passed in 2002, capping warheads at 2,200. The current limitations stem from the New START treaty, ratified in 2010. It limits each side to 1,550 weapons. Nuclear bombers only count as one weapon each, even though they may carry up to 20, so the actual limit on the countries is slightly higher. The treaty is in force through to 2026.

After U.S. President George W. Bush withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Russia responded by building-up their nuclear capabilities, in such a way as to counterbalance U.S. capabilities. Russia decided not to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted on July 7, 2017, by 122 States. Most analysts agree that Russia's nuclear strategy under Putin eventually brought it into violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (although this is not confirmed).

According to Russian officials, the American decision to deploy the missile defense system in Europe was a violation of the treaty. U.S. President Donald Trump announced on October 20, 2018 that the U.S. would no longer consider itself bound by the treaty's provisions, raising nuclear tensions between the two powers.

On November 2, 2023, Putin signed a law that withdraws Russia's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Delivery systems

The RS-28 Sarmat (Russian: РС-28 Сармат; NATO reporting name: SATAN 2), is a Russian liquid-fueled, MIRV-equipped, super-heavy thermonuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile in development by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau since 2009, intended to replace the previous R-36 missile. Its large payload would allow for up to 10 heavy warheads or 15 lighter ones, or a combination of warheads and massive amounts of countermeasures designed to defeat anti-missile systems. It was heralded by the Russian military as a response to the U.S. Prompt Global Strike.

In 2015, information emerged that Russia may be developing a new nuclear torpedo, the Status-6 Ocean Multipurpose System, codenamed "Kanyon" by Pentagon officials. Two potential carrier submarines, the Project 09852 Belgorod, and the Project 09851 Khabarovsk, are new boats laid down in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

Status 6 appears to be a deterrent weapon of last resort. More recent information suggests a top speed of 100 km/h, with a range of 10000 km and a depth maximum of 1000 m. This underwater drone is cloaked by stealth technology to elude acoustic tracking devices.

During an annual state-of-the-nation address given on March 1, 2018, President Vladimir Putin publicly claimed that Russia was now in possession of several new classes of nuclear weapons, including some with capabilities previously speculated to exist. Putin discussed several new or upgraded weapons, including a hypersonic glide vehicle known as the Avangard, capable of performing sharp maneuvers while traveling at 20 times the speed of sound making it "absolutely invulnerable for any missile defense system."

Putin discussed the existence of a nuclear powered underwater torpedo and a nuclear powered cruise missile (9M730 Burevestnik), both with effectively unlimited range. He discussed that Russia had tested a new class of traditional ICBM called the RS-28 Sarmat, which expanded upon the range and carrying capability of the Soviet-era Satan ICBM. Animations of these weapons were shown in front of the live and televised audience. Putin suggested that an online poll be conducted to give them official public names.

Russian nuclear weapons sharing

On 27 February 2022, shortly after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Belarusians voted in a constitutional referendum with political and military reforms, including to repeal the post-Soviet constitutional prohibition on basing of nuclear weapons. The reforms also removed the country's neutral status and allowed permanent basing for the Russian Armed Forces. The referendum was criticized by the EU, UK, US, Canada, and other countries in the context of the censorship and human rights violations against the Belarusian opposition.

At a meeting on 25 June 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko agreed the deployment of Russian short-range nuclear-capable missiles. Lukashenko has described the weapons as "non-strategic". Russia supplied Belarus with nuclear-capable Iskander-M missile systems in 2023, with President Putin announcing the first delivery of warheads occurring as of 16 June 2023 in a speech at the St. Petersburg International Forum. These missile warheads are believed to have a variable yield between 5 and 50 kilotons. Additionally, Russia has completed modifications necessary for Belarusian Su-25 bombers to carry nuclear air-dropped bombs and the pilots have received training. The yield of these bombs is not believed to exceed 20 kilotons. Belarus has reported full operation of the nuclear-capable Iskanders and Su-25s, and exercised their use with training nuclear warheads in May 2024.

, there is no conclusive open-source evidence that Russian nuclear warheads and gravity bombs themselves are being stored in Belarus, although the most likely location if so is a Cold War-era depot near Asipovichy. On 10 December 2024, Lukashenko stated Belarus was hosting "dozens" of Russian warheads. Putin has also stated that its Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile could be deployed to Belarus in the second half of 2025, and that Belarus would play a role in nuclear targeting.

Despite Lukashenko's statement on weapon usage "without hesitation in case of aggression against Belarus", which could indicate the transfer of operational control to Belarus, Putin emphasized Russian control was maintained, and General Secretary of the CIS Sergey Lebedev described a "double nuclear button" for weapon usage.

Military doctrine

Main article: Military doctrine of Russia

According to a Russian military doctrine stated in 2010, nuclear weapons could be used by Russia "in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies, and also in case of aggression against Russia with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened". Most military analysts believe that, in this case, Russia would pursue an 'escalate to de-escalate' strategy, initiating limited nuclear exchange to bring adversaries to the negotiating table. Russia will also threaten nuclear conflict to discourage initial escalation of any major conventional conflict.

Leaked documents seen by the Financial Times in 2024 described a threshold for the country's use of tactical nuclear weapons that is lower than Russia had previously disclosed. The document included training scenarios for a possible invasion by China. Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre in Berlin told the FT: "This is the first time that we have seen documents like this reported in the public domain […] They show that the operational threshold for using nuclear weapons is pretty low if the desired result can't be achieved through conventional means." In 2024, Russian officials said that Russia's formal doctrine would be modified to lower the threshold for nuclear use.

2020 deterrence state policy

On June 2, 2020, President Putin signed an Executive Order formally titled "Fundamentals of Russia's Nuclear Deterrence State Policy", in an unprecedented public release of an official document on Russia's nuclear policy. The six-page document identified the range of threats that Russia seeks to deter with its nuclear forces, clarified Russia's general approach to nuclear deterrence, and articulated conditions under which Russia might use nuclear weapons. The policy endorses the use of nuclear weapons in response to a non-nuclear strike due to the improved capabilities of U.S. conventional weapons.

Nuclear proliferation

Main article: Russia-China relations, Russia-India relations, Russia-North Korea relations, Russia-Iran relations

After the Korean War, the Soviet Union transferred nuclear technology and weapons to the People's Republic of China as an adversary of the United States and NATO. According to Ion Mihai Pacepa, "Khrushchev's nuclear-proliferation process started with Communist China in April 1955, when the new ruler in the Kremlin consented to supply Beijing a sample atomic bomb and to help with its mass production. Subsequently, the Soviet Union built all the essentials of China's new military nuclear industry."

Russia is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" (NWS) under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which Russia ratified (as the Soviet Union) in 1968.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a number of Soviet-era nuclear warheads remained on the territories of Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Under the terms of the Lisbon Protocol to the NPT, and following the 1995 Trilateral Agreement between Russia, Belarus, and the US, these were transferred to Russia, leaving Russia as the sole inheritor of the Soviet nuclear arsenal. It is estimated that the Soviet Union had approximately 45,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled at the time of its collapse, according to Viktor Mikhaylov, head of the Federal Agency on Atomic Energy (Russia).{{multiref2 The collapse of the Soviet Union allowed for a warming of relations with NATO. Fears of a nuclear holocaust lessened. In September 1997, the former secretary of the Russian Security Council Alexander Lebed claimed 100 "suitcase sized" nuclear weapons were unaccounted for. He said he was attempting to inventory the weapons when he was fired by President Boris Yeltsin in October 1996. Indeed, several US politicians have expressed worries and promised legislation addressing the threat.

There were allegations that Russia contributed to the North Korean nuclear program, selling it the equipment for the safe storage and transportation of nuclear materials. Nevertheless, Russia has condemned North Korean nuclear tests since then. The Russian Federation has also wider commercial interests in selling the nuclear technology to India and Iran, reaching understanding memorandums in training their technicians in their respected nuclear programs. Russia is allegedly making efforts to build its influential hold in Africa for earning several billions of pounds by selling nuclear technology to developing African countries.

Russia has reportedly trained its navy to target European sites with nuclear-capable missiles in a potential conflict with NATO, according to leaked documents. The plans reveal a strategy for strikes across Western Europe, emphasizing Russia's reliance on nuclear weapons due to its conventional military limitations.

Nuclear sabotage allegations

The highest-ranking GRU defector Stanislav Lunev described alleged Soviet plans for using tactical nuclear weapons for sabotage against the United States in the event of war. He described Soviet-made suitcase nukes identified as RA-115s (or RA-115-01s for submersible weapons) which weigh 50 -. These portable bombs can last for many years if wired to an electric source. "In case there is a loss of power, there is a battery backup. If the battery runs low, the weapon has a transmitter that sends a coded message – either by satellite or directly to a GRU post at a Russian embassy or consulate."

Lunev was personally looking for hiding places for weapons caches in the Shenandoah Valley area. He said that "it is surprisingly easy to smuggle nuclear weapons into the US" either across the Mexican border or using a small transport missile that can slip though undetected when launched from a Russian airplane. Searches of the areas identified by Lunev – who admits he never planted any weapons in the US – have been conducted, "but law-enforcement officials have never found such weapons caches, with or without portable nuclear weapons" in the US.

In a 2004 interview, colonel general of RVSN Viktor Yesin said that Soviet small-scale nuclear bombs have only been operated by the Army. All such devices have been stored in a weapons depot within Russia, and only left it for checks at the plant which produced them.

Radiological weapons

The assassination of Alexander Litvinenko by Russian state agents with radioactive polonium was described as the beginning of an era of nuclear terrorism using radiological weapons.

Biological weapons

Main article: Soviet biological weapons program

The Soviet Union covertly operated the world's largest, longest, and most sophisticated biological weapons programs. The program began in the 1920s and lasted until at least September 1992 but has possibly been continued by Russia after that. Thereby, the Soviet Union violated its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention, which it had signed on April 10, 1972, and ratified on March 26, 1975.

In the early 1970s, the Soviet Union significantly enlarged its offensive biological weapons programs. After 1975, the program of biological weapons was run primarily by the "civilian" Biopreparat agency, although it also included numerous facilities run by the Soviet Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemical Industry, Ministry of Health, and Soviet Academy of Sciences.

According to Ken Alibek, who was deputy-director of Biopreparat, the Soviet biological weapons agency, and who defected to the United States in 1992, weapons were developed in labs in isolated areas of the Soviet Union including mobilization facilities at Omutninsk, Penza and Pokrov and research facilities at Moscow, Stirzhi and Vladimir. These weapons were tested at several facilities most often at "Rebirth Island" (Vozrozhdeniya) in the Aral Sea by firing the weapons into the air above monkeys tied to posts, the monkeys would then be monitored to determine the effects. According to Alibek, although Soviet offensive program was officially ended in 1992, Russia may be still involved in the activities prohibited by BWC.

In 1993, the story about the Sverdlovsk anthrax leak was published in Russia. The incident occurred when spores of anthrax were accidentally released from a military facility in the city of Sverdlovsk (formerly, and now again, Yekaterinburg) 1500 km east of Moscow on April 2, 1979. The ensuing outbreak of the disease resulted in 94 people becoming infected, 64 of whom died over a period of six weeks.

In 2022 Russian Ministry of Defense started construction of a new massive facility at Sergiev Posad-6 site that hosted bioweapons research in Soviet times. The site belonging to 48th Central Scientific Research Institute (48 ЦНИИ) of the Russian Ministry of Defense, featuring biological security labs was even featured on Russian TV when a delegation from the ministry, then led by Sergei Shoigu visited it. Also in 2022 the 48th Institute has registered a patent for "protective medium for freeze-drying of Yersinia pestis", a common biological weapon pathogen.

As of 2024, the United States Department of State "assesses that the Russian Federation (Russia) maintains an offensive [biological weapons] program and is in violation of its obligation under Articles I and II of the BWC. The issue of compliance by Russia with the BWC has been of concern for many years."

Chemical weapons

Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention on January 13, 1993, and ratified it on November 5, 1997. Russia declared an arsenal of 39,967 tons of chemical weapons in 1997 consisting of:

• blister agents: Lewisite, mustard, Lewisite-mustard-mix (HL)
• nerve agents: Sarin, Soman, VX

Ratification was followed by three years of inaction on chemical weapons destruction because of the August 1998 Russian financial crisis.

Russia met its treaty obligations by destroying 1% of its chemical agents by the Chemical Weapons Convention's 2002 deadline, but requested technical and financial assistance and extensions on the deadlines of 2004 and 2007 due to the environmental challenges of chemical disposal. This extension procedure spelled out in the treaty has been utilized by other countries, including the United States. The extended deadline for complete destruction (April 2012) was not met. As of October 2011, Russia had destroyed 57% of its stockpile. Russia also destroyed all of its declared Category 2 (10,616 MTs) and Category 3 chemicals.

Russia has stored its chemical weapons (or the required chemicals) which it declared within the CWC at eight locations. In Gorny (Saratov Oblast) (2.9% of the declared stockpile by mass) and Kambarka (Udmurt Republic) (15.9%) stockpiles have already been destroyed. In Shchuchye (Kurgan Oblast) (13.6%), Maradykovsky (Kirov Oblast) (17.4%) and (Penza Oblast) (17.2%) destruction takes place, while installations are under construction in Pochep (Bryansk Oblast) (18.8%) and Kizner (Udmurt Republic) (14.2%).

In 1947 the 76th warehouse at Leonidovka, Penza District (:ru:Леонидовка_(железнодорожная_станция,_Пензенская_область)) was reorganized into the 608th Central Aviation Ammunition Base. In 1983, the base was renamed the 50th Arsenal of the Air Force. In February 1998, the unit was reassigned to the Chief of the NBC Protection Troops and received the name 50th Arsenal for Storage of Chemical Weapons of the 1st Category. In 2001, Military Unit 21222 became part of the Federal Directorate for the Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons and was named the Leonidovka Chemical Weapons Storage Facility. The depot was storing aviation chemical munitions filled with nerve agents such as sarin, Soman, and VX. The toxic agents stored there amounted to 17.2% of the total stockpiles in the Russian Federation. The last Russian chemical disposal facility in Kizner, Udmurtia, was opened in December 2013.

On September 27, 2017, OPCW announced that Russia had destroyed its entire declared chemical weapons stockpile, even though they continued using Novichok agents. Ukraine claims Russia used chemical weapons in Mariupol.

Novichok agents

Main article: Novichok agent

A range of Novichok agents were developed and tested in the 1970s and 1980s, but the intended Novichok weapons production site at the Pavlodar Chemical Plant in Soviet Kazakhstan was still under construction when it was decided to demolish the chemical weapons building in 1987 in view of the forthcoming Chemical Weapons Convention.

In March 2018, former GRU agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury, United Kingdom by a chemical agent later confirmed to be Novichok. The incident raised new controversy over Russia's potential production and use of chemical weapons, with the United Kingdom accusing the Russian government or rogue Russian agents of orchestrating the attack, a claim Russia repeatedly denied.

In August 2020, Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned in Tomsk, Russia by a chemical agent later confirmed to be Novichok. A joint investigation by Bellingcat, CNN, Der Spiegel, and The Insider with contributions from El País implicates Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in the near-fatal nerve-agent poisoning, a fact denied by Russia. Navalny later called what appears to be one of the FSB agents responsible for the cleanup operation who indicates they were tasked to clean Navalny's underpants of Novichok.

Another Russia chemical weapon is Kolokol-1, an aerosolized opioid incapacitating agent thought to be carfentanil.

Use during the invasion of Ukraine

In the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces reportedly used chemical weapons 465 times between February 24, 2022, and December 2023, usually as tear gas grenades. In May 2023, a television report on Russia's Channel One showed a Russian battalion commander talking about the effectiveness of chemicals used as weapons. The report also showed a drone dropping a tear gas grenade on a dugout. In December 2023, the Russian 810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade wrote about its use of drones to drop K-51 grenades containing CS tear gas on Ukrainian positions. The use of tear gas is banned by international Chemical Weapons Convention and considered a chemical weapon if applied by military forces during warfare. The United States accused Russia of also using Chloropicrin as a chemical weapon in Ukraine. On 17 June 2025 Ukrainian Battalion K-2 destroyed a Russian BM-21 "Grad" launcher and then intercepted Russian radio traffic in which the soldiers warned units in their vicinity to protect themselves as the rockets were "loaded with chemistry".

References

References

1. (12 December 1997). "The Soviet Nuclear Weapons Program". nuclearweaponarchives.
2. "Russian nuclear weapons, 2025".
3. (2 July 2019). "Army 2019: Russian army discloses RS-28 Sarmat ICBM characteristics".
4. (2025-05-04). "Russian nuclear weapons, 2025". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
5. (1996). "USSR Nuclear Weapons Tests and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions: 1949 through 1990". The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy, and Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
6. "Status of World Nuclear Forces".
7. "Nuclear Weapons: Who Has What at a Glance".
8. (2006). "Global nuclear stockpiles, 1945–2006". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
9. (26 September 2024). "Putin outlines new rules for Russian use of vast nuclear arsenal". Al Jazeera.
10. Leitenberg, M., Zilinskas, R., & Kuhn, J. (2012). "Conclusion". In ''The Soviet Biological Weapons Program'' (pp. 698–712). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Harvard University Press. Retrieved February 7, 2021, from {{JSTOR. j.ctt2jbscf.30
11. (28 November 2011). "Opening Statement by the Director-General to the Conference of the States Parties at its Sixteenth Session".
12. Diakov, Anatoli. (2011-04-25). "The History of Plutonium Production in Russia". Science & Global Security.
13. Podvig, Pavel. (2011-04-25). "History of Highly Enriched Uranium Production in Russia". Science & Global Security.
14. (March 2, 2014). "The Budapest Memorandum and Crimea". VOA News.
15. (February 28, 2022). "West slams Putin 'dangerous rhetoric' after Russian leader puts nuclear forces on alert". 9News.
16. (25 February 2022). "Putin implies nuclear attack if West interferes in Ukraine. Why it's not just an empty threat". CBC News.
17. (10 May 2022). "Putin prepping 'prolonged conflict' beyond Donbas, could escalate nuclear threats: Top US intel official". ABC News.
18. Borger, Julian. (10 May 2022). "Putin could use nuclear weapon if he felt war being lost – US intelligence chief". The Guardian.
19. (15 August 2022). "Global food insecurity and famine from reduced crop, marine fishery and livestock production due to climate disruption from nuclear war soot injection". [[Nature Food]].
20. (20 October 2022). "Nowhere to hide: How a nuclear war would kill you — and almost everyone else". [[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]].
21. (16 August 2022). "World Nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia would kill more than 5 billion people – just from starvation, study finds". CBS News.
22. Sauer, Pjotr. (21 September 2022). "Putin announces partial mobilisation and threatens nuclear retaliation in escalation of Ukraine war". [[The Guardian]].
23. (21 February 2023). "Putin pulls back from last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the US". CNN.
24. (21 February 2023). "Putin defends Ukraine invasion, warns West in address". [[NHK World]].
25. (25 March 2023). "Putin Says Russia to Place Tactical Nuclear Arms in Belarus". [[Bloomberg News]].
26. (14 June 2023). "Belarus starts taking delivery of Russian nuclear weapons". [[Reuters]].
27. (27 September 2024). "The Unthinkable: What Nuclear War In Europe Would Look Like". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
28. Sauer, Pjotr. (2024-09-25). "Vladimir Putin warns west he will consider using nuclear weapons". The Guardian.
29. (27 September 2024). "Putin's nuclear red line: Does he actually mean it?". [[Euractiv]].
30. (27 September 2024). "Putin's nuclear threats: empty rhetoric or a shift in battlefield strategy?". [[France 24]].
31. (5 January 2024). "The US tests Putin's nuclear threats in Ukraine". Vox.
32. (26 September 2024). "Putin lowers bar for nuclear strike amid Ukraine attacks: Why it matters". Al Jazeera.
33. "Executive Summary on Findings On Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments, April 2020".
34. "START I".
35. "START II".
36. "SORT".
37. "New START at a Glance".
38. Majumdar, Dave. (1 March 2018). "Russia's Nuclear Weapons Buildup Is Aimed at Beating U.S. Missile Defenses". The National Interest.
39. (7 July 2017). "122 countries adopt 'historic' UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons". CBC News.
40. (2019-02-07). "Russia may have violated the INF Treaty. Here's how the United States appears to have done the same". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
41. (May 12, 2016). "Russia Calls New U.S. Missile Defense System a 'Direct Threat'". The New York Times.
42. Hurlbert, Heather. (26 October 2018). "Russia Violated an Arms Treaty. Trump Ditched It, Making the Nuclear Threat Even Worse.". New York Magazine.
43. Andrew Osborn. (November 2, 2023). "Putin withdraws Russia's ratification of global nuclear test ban treaty".
44. (October 22, 2013). "Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the World Before It Is Too Late". Columbia University Press.
45. "Russian Nuclear Weapons, 2024". The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
46. [http://www.rg.ru/2015/02/02/raketa-site-anons.html Новую тяжелую ракету "Сармат" будут делать в Красноярске] ''[[Rossiyskaya Gazeta]]'', 2 Feb 2015.
47. "MilitaryRussia.Ru — отечественная военная техника (после 1945г.) | Статьи".
48. (January 12, 2016). "Russia to Test-Launch 16 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles in 2016". [[The Diplomat (magazine).
49. "SS-30 ?? / R-X-? Sarmat New Heavy ICBM".
50. (17 Dec 2013). "Russia plans new ICBM to replace Cold War 'Satan' missile". Reuters World.
51. link. (May 31, 2014). NewsRu
52. John Pike. "Status-6 Ocean Multipurpose System".
53. Why A Russian Super-Radioactive Atomic Torpedo Isn't The News You Think It Is [http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/why-a-russian-super-radioactive-atomic-torpedo-isn-t-th-1742131846]
54. (November 12, 2015). "Russia reveals nuclear torpedo plan". BBC News.
55. Gady, Franz-Stefan. (November 2015). "Revealed: Russia's Top Secret Nuclear Torpedo".
56. Shukla, Vikas. (December 8, 2015). "What Is The Purpose Of Russia's Deadly Status-6 Torpedo". Value Work.
57. Pifer, Steven. (November 18, 2015). "Russia's perhaps-not-real super torpedo".
58. [https://news.usni.org/2015/12/04/russian-mystery-submarine-likely-deployment-vehicle-for-new-nuclear-torpedo "Russian Mystery Submarine Likely Deployment Vehicle for New Nuclear Torpedo"]. ''USNI News'' December 4, 2015.
59. (13 November 2015). "Secret Russian radioactive doomsday torpedo leaked on television". The Telegraph.
60. Lockie, Alex. (December 24, 2016). "Trump questions the US's nuclear arsenal: Here's how the US's nukes compare to Russia's".
61. (December 8, 2016). "Pentagon Confirms Russia's Thermonuclear Submarine Bomb Is Real".
62. "Putin boasts of new Russian nuclear weapons". ABC News (US).
63. (March 1, 2018). "Russia has 'invincible' nuclear weapons". BBC News.
64. (28 February 2022). "Belarus approves hosting nuclear weapons, Russian forces permanently". France 24.
65. Samuel Benson. (2022-03-15). "U.S. sanctions Belarus president, more Russian officials". Politico.
66. (2022-02-28). "Canada condemns fraudulent constitutional referendum in Belarus". Government of Canada.
67. Ahmet Gurhan Kartal. (2022-02-28). "Belarus constitutional referendum fails to meet standards, UK says". AA.
68. (2022-02-28). "Belarus: Statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell on the constitutional referendum". EU External Action.
69. (2022-01-27). "Statement on Belarus Referendum". OSCE US Mission.
70. Nikolai N. Sokov. (1 July 2022). "Russia-Belarus nuclear sharing would mirror NATO's—and worsen Europe's security". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
71. Karach, Olga. (2018-08-01). "Nuclear weapons in Belarus: What we Know".
72. "Belarus MOD announces control of Iskander Missiles".
73. (16 June 2023). "Transcript: Plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, 16 June 2023".
74. (26 June 2022). "Russia promises Belarus Iskander-M nuclear-capable missiles". BBC.
75. (7 May 2024). "Belarus conducts tactical nuclear inspection together with Russia".
76. (2025-05-04). "Russian nuclear weapons, 2025". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
77. [http://www.kremlin.ru/ref_notes/461 Russian military doctrine] (in Russian)
78. (19 October 2018). "Putin Lied About His Nuclear Doctrine and Promised Russians That They Would Go to Heaven".
79. (10 March 2022). "Read the fine print: Russia's nuclear weapon use policy". [[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]].
80. Blank, Stephen. (25 February 2018). "Getting Russia's nuclear strategy mostly right". The Hill.
81. (28 February 2024). "FT: Leaked files reveal Russian military's criteria for nuclear strike". The Kyiv Independent.
82. (28 February 2024). "Russia prepared for nuclear attack on China, leaked papers reveal". The Times.
83. (27 February 2024). "Leaked Russian military files reveal criteria for nuclear strike". Financial Times.
84. (14 November 2024). "A new nuclear arms race is beginning. It will be far more dangerous than the last one". The Guardian.
85. (19 November 2024). "Putin Lowers Threshold for Using Nuclear Weapons in Updated Doctrine, Sparking Escalation Concerns". The Moscow Times.
86. "What's in Russia's New Nuclear Deterrence 'Basic Principles'?".
87. (June 19, 2020). "Revelations about Russia's Nuclear Deterrence Policy".
88. (April 21, 2021). "Putin signs Russia's nuclear deterrent policy".
89. link. (June 6, 2009 – by [[Ion Mihai Pacepa]], ''[[National Review]]'', October 17, 2006)
90. "Russian Officials Deny Claims Of Missing Nuclear Weapons".
91. (October 19, 1997). "Nuclear Dangers: Fear Increases of Terrorists Getting Hands on 'Loose' Warheads as Security Slips".
92. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/1523468/Russia-secretly-offered-North-Korea-nuclear-technology.html Russia secretly offered North Korea nuclear technology] – by a Special Correspondent in Pyongyang and Michael Hirst, ''Telegraph'', September 7, 2006.
93. "Russia expresses serious concern over DPRK nuke issue".
94. (28 August 2019). "Guardian: Russia pushing 'unsuitable' nuclear power in Africa". Kyiv Post.
95. (2024-08-12). "Russian navy trained to target sites inside Europe with nuclear-capable missiles". Financial Times.
96. [[Stanislav Lunev]]. ''Through the Eyes of the Enemy: The Autobiography of Stanislav Lunev'', Regnery, 1998. {{ISBN. 0-89526-390-4.
97. Steve Goldstein and Chris Mondics, "Some Weldon-backed allegations unconfirmed; Among them: A plot to crash planes into a reactor, and missing suitcase-size Soviet atomic weapons". ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' (15 March 2006) A7.
98. (March 29, 2004). "Куда исчезли 'ядерные чемоданчики'?". [[Pravda]].
99. "Ushering in the era of nuclear terrorism", by Patterson, Andrew J. MD, PhD, ''Critical Care Medicine'', v. 35, p. 953-954, 2007.
100. "Beyond the Dirty Bomb: Re-thinking Radiological Terror", by James M. Acton; M. Brooke Rogers; Peter D. Zimmerman, {{doi. 10.1080/00396330701564760, ''Survival'', Volume 49, Issue 3 September 2007, pp. 151 – 168
101. [https://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/radioactive-waste-and-spent-nuclear-fuel/2006-12-radiological-terrorism-soft-killers Radiological Terrorism: 'Soft Killers'] by Morten Bremer Mærli, [[Bellona Foundation]]
102. "Status of the Biological Weapons Convention".
103. Leitenberg, M., Zilinskas, R., & Kuhn, J. (2012). Beginnings of the “Modern” Soviet BW program, 1970–1977. In ''The Soviet Biological Weapons Program'' (pp. 51–78). Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Harvard University Press. Retrieved February 7, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jbscf.7
104. Alibek, K. and S. Handelman. Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World– Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran it. Delta (2000) {{ISBN. 0-385-33496-6
105. "Satellite images show major expansion at Russian site with secret bioweapons past".
106. Krutov, Mark. (2024-12-17). "Inside A Secret, Expanding Russian Lab Site With A Bioweapons Legacy". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
107. "RU2800372C1 – ПРОТЕКТИВНАЯ СРЕДА ДЛЯ СУБЛИМАЦИОННОГО ВЫСУШИВАНИЯ КЛЕТОК Y. PESTIS ШТАММА EV – Яндекс.Патенты".
108. (April 2024). "2024 Arms Control Treaty Compliance Report". U.S. Department of State.
109. "Recent Updates".
110. [http://www.opcw.org/nc/news/article/global-campaign-to-destroy-chemical-weapons-passes-60-percent-mark/ "Global Campaign to Destroy Chemical Weapons Passes 60 Percent Mark"] {{Webarchive. link. (July 11, 2010 . ''[[OPCW]]''. July 8, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2010.)
111. (2009). "Russia profile".
112. "Воинской части в Леонидовке исполнилось 80 лет".
113. "New Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility Opens at Kizner in the Russian Federation".
114. (September 27, 2017). "Путин поучаствовал в уничтожении последнего в России килограмма химоружия".
115. "OPCW Director-General Commends Major Milestone as Russia Completes Destruction of Chemical Weapons Stockpile under OPCW Verification".
116. "UK Delegation to the OPCW".
117. Sabbagh, Dan. (April 12, 2022). "Did Russia really use chemical weapons in Ukraine? Experts are sceptical". [[The Guardian]].
118. (April 2015). "Kazakhstan – Chemical".
119. Bozheyeva, Gulbarshyn. (Summer 2000). "The Pavlodar Chemical Weapons Plant in Kazakhstan: History and Legacy". The Nonproliferation Review.
120. (April 12, 2018). "Inspectors back UK in spy poisoning row". BBC News.
121. (April 6, 2018). "The curious case of Yulia Skripal's recorded phone call".
122. (October 6, 2020). "Chemical weapons body confirms nerve agent Novichok in Navalny's blood".
123. (December 14, 2020). "FSB Team of Chemical Weapon Experts Implicated in Alexey Navalny Novichok Poisoning". Bellingcat Investigations.
124. (21 December 2020). "Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny dupes spy into revealing how he was poisoned". [[CNN.com]].
125. (September 2018). "Chemical warfare agents. Classes and targets". Toxicol Lett.
126. Hambling, David. (29 December 2023). "What We Know About Russian Chemical Weapon Attacks".
127. Kondrat, Anastasiia. (2023-12-27). "Russia has launched 465 chemical attacks since the start of the full-scale invasion".
128. (2023-05-02). "Выпуск программы «Время» в 21:00, 2 мая 2023 года".
129. Shoaib, Alia. (2023-12-24). "A Russian brigade admits dropping tear gas on Ukrainian troops, which would violate the UN Chemical Weapons Convention".
130. Field, Matt. (15 March 2024). "Russia appears to be using chemical weapons in Ukraine. And admitting it". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
131. Murphy, Matt. (2 May 2024). "Russia using chemical choking agents in Ukraine, US says". BBC News.
132. (2025-06-17). "Russian Troops Caught Off Guard as Ukraine Blows Up Chemical Loaded Grad Rocket System, Video".