Fact-check: What do we know about Russia’s nuclear arsenal?

euronews (in English)

Moscow has lowered the bar for using nuclear weapons and fired a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead into Ukraine, heightening tensions with the West.

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00:00What do we know about Russia's nuclear arsenal?

00:08President Putin has changed Russia's nuclear doctrine, lowering the bar for using nuclear

00:14weapons in response to an aggression.

00:16But what do we know about Moscow's nuclear arsenal?

00:20Russia has an estimated 5,580 nuclear warheads.

00:25That's around 47 percent of all global stockpiles.

00:29But only around 1,710 of those are deployed.

00:34Most are land-based, while others are on ballistic missile submarines and some on strategic bombers.

00:41This is a fraction more than the 1,670 deployed by the US.

00:47It means both nations have the capacity to destroy each other several times over.

00:53Since Putin approved changes to the country's nuclear doctrine on November 19th, the circumstances

00:59under which Russia can launch a nuclear attack have been changed.

01:05Moscow will now consider using nuclear weapons if an enemy strikes its territory using conventional

01:11weapons such as cruise missiles, drones and tactical aircraft.

01:15This includes a strike by a non-nuclear state acting with the support of nuclear states

01:21such as Ukraine.

01:22A strike on Belarus will also warrant a response.

01:26These changes were tabled back in September but approved by Putin immediately after Ukraine

01:32was given the green light to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian

01:38territory.

01:39Although there are treaties to restrict the development of nuclear arms, these have recently

01:44been eroded.

01:46Experts agree Putin's maneuvers set a dangerous precedent and increase the likelihood of nuclear

01:53weapons use.

01:56For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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