MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday approved changes in the country’s nuclear doctrine which allows Russia to consider any attack on its territory by a non-nuclear country supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack.
Changes in the Foundations of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence, the country’s updated nuclear doctrine, expands the range of countries and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence, as well as the list of military threats that such deterrence is designed to counter, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported.
The move comes after the United States reportedly allowed Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike military targets inside Russia, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, Moscow said Ukraine fired six US-supplied longer-range missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region. A Telegram channel affiliated with the Ukrainian military posted a video Tuesday that it says shows US-supplied ATACMS missiles being fired from an undisclosed location in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry in a statement said the military shot down five ATACMS missiles and damaged one more. The fragments fell on the territory of an unspecified military facility, the ministry said.
Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.
The revised doctrine allows Moscow to consider a nuclear response to a conventional weapons attack threatening its sovereignty, a large-scale launch of enemy aircraft, missiles, and drones targeting Russian territory, their crossing of the Russian border, and an attack on its ally Belarus, TASS reported.
The previous version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine was approved in June 2020, replacing a similar document that had been in force for ten years. The updated nuclear doctrine of Russia has been published, TASS reported.
Kyiv said on Tuesday it struck a Russian arsenal near the town of Karachev in the Bryansk region, over 110 km (70 miles) from Ukraine, in what two Ukrainian media outlets reported was a first strike with US-supplied ATACMS missiles, Reuters reported.
There was no official confirmation from Ukraine about the use of long-range missiles. The military’s general staff and military intelligence agency did not immediately reply to requests for comment, Reuters reported.
“Aggression by a non-nuclear state with the participation of a nuclear state is considered as a joint attack,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday as quoted by AFP.
“It was necessary to bring our principles in line with the current situation,” Peskov added, calling the update a “very important” document that should be “studied” abroad.
Russia “has always viewed nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence,” he said, adding that they would only be deployed if Russia felt “forced” to respond.
The fundamental principle of the doctrine is that the use of nuclear weapons is a measure of last resort to protect Russia’s sovereignty. According to TASS’s report, the emergence of new military threats and risks prompted Russia to clarify the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons.
The amended doctrine expands the range of countries and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence, as well as the list of military threats that such deterrence is designed to counter. In addition, the document states that Russia will now view any attack by a non-nuclear country supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack, TASS reported.
According to the amended nuclear doctrine, Moscow also reserves the right to consider a nuclear response to a conventional weapons attack threatening its sovereignty, a large-scale launch of enemy aircraft, missiles, and drones targeting Russian territory, their crossing of the Russian border, and an attack on its ally Belarus, TASS reported.
The previous version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine was approved in June 2020, replacing a similar document that had been in force for ten years.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that 2025 will be decisive in determining who wins the war, in an address to parliament, RTE news reported.
“In the decisive moments – and they are coming next year – we must not allow anyone in the world to doubt the resilience of our entire state. And at this stage, it is being decided who will prevail,” Mr Zelensky told Ukrainian MPs.
“This battle is about the whole of Ukraine, the battle is about the whole of Europe, about order or chaos for the whole world,” he said.
On the diplomatic front, talk of a possible peace deal to end the fighting is growing following Donald Trump’s election in the US.
ALSO READ: Russia Warns US of Dangerous Escalation as Biden Allows Ukraine to Use Long-Range Missiles
Amid uncertainty over American aid, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine should not let anybody else decide the country’s future.
“This is a war that decides the fate of the entire nation. And no one should or can decide it for us,” he said.
Key Points of Russian Policy on Nuclear Deterrence as Posted on Kremlin’s Telegram Channel
🔹State policy on Nuclear Deterrence is defensive by nature, it is aimed at maintaining the nuclear forces potential at the level sufficient for nuclear deterrence, and guarantees protection of national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the State, and deterrence of a potential adversary from aggression against the Russian Federation and/or its allies. In the event of a military conflict, this Policy provides for the prevention of an escalation of military actions and their termination on conditions that are acceptable for the Russian Federation and/or its allies.
🔹The Russian Federation considers nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence, their use being an extreme and compelled measure, and takes all necessary efforts to reduce nuclear threat and prevent aggravation of interstate relations, that could trigger military conflicts, including nuclear ones.
🔹The Russian Federation ensures nuclear deterrence toward a potential adversary, which is understood to mean any individual states or military coalitions (blocs, alliances) which see the Russian Federation as a potential adversary and possess nuclear arms and/or other weapons of mass destruction or conventional forces with a significant combat capability. Nuclear deterrence is also ensured toward any states which provide the territory, airspace, and/or maritime space under their control as well as resources for preparing and conducting an aggression against the Russian Federation.
🔹An aggression of any single state from a military coalition (bloc, alliance) against the Russian Federation and/or its allies will be regarded as an aggression of the coalition (bloc, alliance) as a whole.
🔹An aggression against the Russian Federation and/or its allies of any non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state will be regarded as their joint attack.
🔹The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear arms and/or other weapons of mass destruction against itself and/or its allies, as well as in the event of an aggression against the Russian Federation and/or the Republic of Belarus as constituents of the Union State using conventional arms, if such an aggression creates a critical threat for their sovereignty and/or territorial integrity.
🔹The decision to use nuclear weapons is taken by the President of the Russian Federation.
