President Vladimir Putin authorized changes to Russias nuclear teaching Tuesday, expanding conditions under which nuclear weapons could be utilized, including in cases of attacks by non-nuclear states supported by nuclear powers.The updates follow reports that United States President Joe Biden has licensed Kyiv to utilize long-range rockets to strike targets inside Russia, a move the Kremlin alerted could lead to a substantial new round of escalation.The revised doctrine states that nuclear strikes might be validated by hostility versus the Russian Federation by any non-nuclear state with the participation or assistance of a nuclear state.It also determines threats such as the release by a prospective enemy of rocket defense systems, medium- and short-range ballistic missiles, precision non-nuclear and hypersonic weapons, strike drones and directed energy weapons as grounds for prospective nuclear retaliation.The file stresses that Russia reserves the right to utilize nuclear weapons in response to any weapons of mass damage utilized versus it or its allies, or in case of hostility using conventional weapons that threaten the sovereignty or territorial integrity of Russia or Belarus.According to nuclear arms control professional Pavel Podvig, a senior scientist at the UNs Institute for Disarmament Research, a crucial modification in Russias updated doctrine is the language shift from mentioning that aggressiveness puts the very existence of the state in jeopardy to stating that it poses a crucial danger to the sovereignty and/or territorial stability of the state.Putin first proposed the revisions in late September as Ukrainian officials looked for permission from Kyivs Western allies to use long-range rockets against targets inside Russia.At the time, the Kremlin leader cautioned a policy modification in that direction would in a significant method change the really nature of the conflict and suggest that NATO nations, the United States and European nations are at war with Russia.Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov later on informed reporters that the proposed modifications to Russias nuclear teaching should be considered as a warning to any nations involved in attacks on Russia by various methods, not necessarily nuclear.On Tuesday, when asked whether the timing of the nuclear doctrine changes was linked to reports that the Biden Administration had actually licensed Kyiv to perform long-range strikes inside Russia, Peskov stated the updates were released in a prompt manner.The president himself said these modifications were in the final stages of preparation, he told reporters.Under Russias nuclear doctrine, choices to use nuclear weapons stay at the discretion of the president.
The updates to the teaching work immediately.