Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an urgent meeting of Moscow’s top security council to discuss its nuclear deterrence. The move comes amid rising concerns in Russia over Ukraine being allowed by Western powers to use cruise missiles to target locations deep inside Russia.
Last week the UK reportedly cleared the use of its ‘Storm Shadow’ cruise missile to be used to bomb Russia. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer even flew to Washington DC to meet US President Joe Biden. The two leaders reportedly discussed Ukraine’s use of weapons on Russian soil.
The Russian intelligence had information about such a possibility and had said earlier this month that “It has become necessary for Moscow to revise its nuclear doctrine because of the West’s escalation of the war in Ukraine.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Mr Putin will meet the most powerful officials in his administration to discuss the war strategy going forward. “There will be a speech by the President,” Mr Peskov said, adding that “The rest, for obvious reasons, will be marked ‘top secret’.”
Speaking about the reports that the United States and United Kingdom are about to give clearance to Ukraine for Kyiv to launch cruise missiles on Russian soil, President Putin said this month that, “The West would be directly fighting with Russia if it gave such permission to Ukraine (to bomb Russia)” adding that Moscow would be forced to make “appropriate decisions” in such a scenario.
Russia is the world’s largest nuclear power. Together, Russia and the United States control 88% of the world’s nuclear weapons.
Russia’s current nuclear doctrine was set in place by Vladimir Putin four years ago, before the war with Ukraine broke out. According to the current doctrine, Russia may use nuclear weapons in the scenario where it comes under a nuclear attack or if a conventional attack threatens the existence of the state.
President Putin, who is the primary decision maker on Russia’s massive nuclear arsenal, is now planning how to respond if the United States and its European allies allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied missiles to strike deep inside Russia.
The United States and Russia have a nuclear treaty called the US-Russia New START Treaty, which entered into force on February 5, 2011.
Under the treaty, the United States and the Russian Federation had seven years to meet the treaty’s central limits on strategic offensive arms (by February 5, 2018) and are then obligated to maintain those limits for as long as the treaty remains in force.
According to the US State Department, this treaty enhances US national security by placing verifiable limits on all Russian deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons. The United States and the Russian Federation have agreed to extend the treaty through February 4, 2026.
According to a Reuters report, the Kremlin said that any discussions about a replacement to the US-Russia New START Treaty, which expires in 2026, would need to take into account European nuclear potential – shorthand for the arsenals of Britain and France.
“We have not yet received a response from the Americans to this, but of course an agreement is needed and negotiations should begin as soon as possible,” Peskov said when asked about a possible replacement for the New START Treaty.
Ukraine already has the UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile, but uses it only within its territory to combat Russian forces.
So far, there are restriction on Ukraine on the use of advanced western weaponry on targets within the Russian territory, but this is likely to change with clearances reportedly being issued by the UK, with US backing it.
The Storm Shadow is a low-observable, long-range air-launched cruise missile. It is jointly developed by the United Kingdom and France and has a range of around 500 km. It has already been integrated into Ukrainian fighter aircraft, including the Russia-built Su-24 bombers – a legacy of the past, from when Ukraine was part of the erstwhile Soviet Union.
The Storm Shadow missile has a range of around 500 km and can target territories deep inside Russia. (Photo Credit: Posted on X by @TopLeadEU)
Developed in 1994 and manufactured by Matra and British Aerospace, the Storm Shadow missile is now made by MBDA Systems. ‘Storm Shadow’ is the weapon’s British name, while in France it is called the SCALP-EG.
Should Ukraine use cruise missiles to attack Russian territory, a Russian response to this could be massive. The international worry is that Moscow may seriously consider the use of nuclear weapons in such a scenario.
According to Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation – a nonpartisan non-profit organisation on nuclear weapons disarmament – Russia maintains a stockpile of an estimated 6,372 nuclear warheads – the world’s largest.
Of these, 1,572 of which are deployed on strategic land-based ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers. Approximately 870 more strategic warheads and 1,870 non-strategic warheads are in reserve with an additional estimated 2,060 warheads awaiting dismantlement.
