Russia is revising its nuclear use doctrine

December 2024
By Daryl G. Kimball

The Kremlin announced on November 19 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree updating the government’s formal policy on the possible use of nuclear weapons. The document describes a broader range of contingencies that could trigger the use of nuclear weapons, particularly with regard to threats to Russia and its allies from non-nuclear weapons, and appears to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.

The update to Russia’s nuclear doctrine was announced by Putin in comments on September 25. (See ACTNovember 2024.) It was issued just days after news that US President Joe Biden had decided to authorize Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets deeper into Russia, in order to address ongoing Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory to thwart. Russia had warned that such a US move would change the nature of the conflict.

The revised nuclear doctrine states, among other things, that Russia “reserves the right” to use nuclear weapons not only in response to a nuclear attack, but also in response to an attack with conventional weapons that pose a “critical threat” to its “sovereignty and territorial integrity” or to that of the Russian ally Belarus. The previous 2020 version of Russia’s nuclear weapons doctrine reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if an attack on Russia threatens “the existence of the state itself.”

The new document entitled “Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence” states that Russia “considers nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence, the use of which constitutes an extreme and necessary measure, and does all necessary Efforts to reduce the nuclear threat and prevent an aggravation of interstate relations that could provoke military conflicts, including nuclear conflicts.”

The revised policy also states that Russia may use nuclear weapons if there is “reliable information about the launch of ballistic missiles into the territory of the Russian Federation and/or its allies” or “the use of nuclear or other types by the enemy.” Weapons of mass destruction on the territory of the Russian Federation and/or its allies, on military formations and/or facilities of the Russian Federation located outside their territory.”

It states that in the event of “aggression against the Russian Federation and/or the Republic of Belarus… using conventional weapons, Russia could use nuclear weapons, posing a critical threat to their sovereignty and/or territorial integrity.” Another scenario involves a response to “receiving reliable information about the massive launch (launch) of aerospace attack weapons (strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, unmanned, hypersonic and other aircraft) and their crossing the state border of the Russian Federation .”

In contrast, the Biden administration asserts in its 2022 Nuclear Posture Review that the “fundamental purpose” of U.S. nuclear weapons is to deter nuclear attack and that the use of nuclear weapons “is appropriate in extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States or its allies “Reserved and partner.”