https://apnews.com/article/russia-putin-nuclear-weapon-doctrine-missiles-bf50d3155369cc0a5f12ef7805bf2340
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BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated 12:02 AM EDT, October 18, 2024
This year has seen President Vladimir Putin repeatedly brandish the nuclear sword, reminding everyone that Russia has the world’s largest atomic arsenal to try to deter the West from ramping up support for Ukraine.
He ordered his military to hold drills involving battlefield nuclear weapons with ally Belarus.
He announced Russia will start producing ground-based intermediate range missiles that were outlawed by a now-defunct U.S.-Soviet treaty in 1987.
And last month, he lowered the threshold for unleashing his arsenal by revising the country’s nuclear doctrine.
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Since Putin came to power in 2000, the Kremlin has worked to upgrade the Soviet-built components of the triad, deploying hundreds of new land-based missiles, commissioning new nuclear submarines and modernizing nuclear-capable bombers. Russia’s effort to revamp its nuclear forces has helped prompt the U.S. to launch a costly modernization of its arsenal.
