Moscow, Nov 19 (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a revised nuclear doctrine that allows atomic warfare responses to conventional attacks that endanger the sovereignty or territorial integrity of Russia and Belarus.
The new doctrine signals a stark warning to NATO and the United States amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
Published on the Russian state’s legal information portal, the doctrine significantly broadens the scope of scenarios where nuclear deterrence could be employed.
It also extends to “joint attacks,” defining them as aggression by a non-nuclear country supported by a nuclear power.
“The aggression of any state belonging to a military coalition (bloc, alliance) against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies is seen as aggression by the coalition as a whole,” the document states.
Analysts interpret this as a direct warning to the United States and NATO against deeper involvement in the Ukraine war.
The doctrine further stipulates that nuclear weapons could be deployed in response to “massive attacks” involving warplanes, cruise missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, and other unmanned devices breaching Russian airspace.
Notably, it is the first official document to include drones among potential threats.
While emphasizing that nuclear weapons remain a “defensive tool of deterrence” to be used only as an “extreme and forced measure,” the document underscores Russia’s willingness to defend its interests robustly.
Putin announced the framework’s changes in September but formalized them as the Ukraine war marked 1,000 days. The timing follows reports that the United States has authorized Ukraine to deploy long-range missiles against Russian territory.
This latest update also reflects Putin’s decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus earlier in the conflict, a move he warned would escalate tensions with NATO and the US, framing them as being “at war with Russia.” The Kremlin said it found it “timely” to publish the updated nuclear doctrine on the 1,000th day of the war in Ukraine.
“The updated foundations of nuclear deterrence policy were published in a timely manner,” Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, said during his daily briefing.
Peskov emphasized that nuclear deterrence aims to ensure potential adversaries understand that “retaliation is inevitable” in the event of aggression against Russia or its allies.
At the same time, he insisted that Moscow has made “the necessary efforts to reduce the nuclear threat.” EFE
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