Russia's growing reliance on nuclear forces
From the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists:
July 12, 1999
On July 10, the Chicago Tribune reported that Russia carried out mock nuclear strikes during a military exercise in June. The exercise, described by the Tribune as the "largest since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union," involved 50,000 troops, bombers, tanks, and warships from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea.
Russia's Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev told the Tribune that the "exercise tested one of the provisions of Russia's military doctrine concerning a possible use of nuclear weapons when all other measures are exhausted."
In the exercise's scenario, a non-specified Western country attacks Russia with conventional forces. Russia, unable to thwart the attack by conventional means, is forced to turn to nuclear weapons. Said Sergeyev, "Our defenses proved to be ineffective. An enemy continued to push into Russia. And that's when the decision to use nuclear weapons was made."
More: bullatomsci.org
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