MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. The updated doctrine gives Russia the right for a nuclear response in the Ukrainian conflict, Institute of CIS Countries Deputy Director Vladimir Zharikhin told TASS.
According to the analyst, Russia previously had a concept based on the principles of traditional warfare.
"When war is declared or the enemy, for example, launches its nuclear weapons toward Russia, Russia responds," he said. "But now the West is waging a hybrid war, when we are under attack, but they ostensibly have nothing to do with it. And the answer to this is given in the concept, where it is clearly written that the countries - nuclear and non-nuclear ones - that supply their weapons to the country that attacks Russia, they are also the target of the Russian response."
"There was no such thing before. So this is a concept for the era of hybrid warfare," the analyst went on to say.
"This document means a lot for the Ukrainian conflict," he continued. "The updated nuclear doctrine contains fundamental changes."
"It now lists absolutely specific threats that could lead to a Russian nuclear response, including such threats that already exist now," Zharikhin said.
"Russia has the right, under this updated concept, to respond," the analyst went on to say. "It says that a mass of missiles and drones sent toward Russia represents a threat to Russia. After all, when, for example, a missile is flying in our direction from Ukraine, can we be sure that it is not nuclear tipped or that it is not flying toward Russian sites where our nuclear infrastructure is based? No. So this concept really creates a completely different background in relations with other countries, including Ukraine."
According to the analyst, the signing of the decree gives Russia the right to use nuclear weapons, "but this does not mean that it will use them."
"Russia has enough non-nuclear capabilities that can create problems for aggressors," Zharikhin said. "They have not yet been fully utilized. For example, the so-called vacuum bombs, which are not far behind nuclear weapons in terms of destructive effect."
Their use, according to Zharikhin, requires a political decision at the right moment.
"So there is something to answer with, but so far, apparently, there was no need for it," he said.
Nuclear doctrine
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree approving the Foundations of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence, the country’s updated nuclear doctrine. The document has been published.
The fundamental principle of the doctrine is that the use of nuclear weapons is a measure of last resort to protect the country’s sovereignty. The emergence of new military threats and risks prompted Russia to clarify the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons. In particular, the amended doctrine expands the range of countries and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence, as well as the list of military threats that such deterrence is designed to counter. In addition, the document states that Russia will now view any attack by a non-nuclear country supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack. Moscow also reserves the right to consider a nuclear response to a conventional weapons attack threatening its sovereignty, a large-scale launch of enemy aircraft, missiles, and drones targeting Russian territory, their crossing of the Russian border, and an attack on its ally Belarus.