Vladimir Putin believes that a Russian missile, recently used in Ukraine, could remove the need to use nuclear weapons in the future.
The Russian president’s claims come from a Kremlin transcript in which he claimed that the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile would be immune to missile defence systems due to its speed.
He said: “What we need now is not to improve the nuclear doctrine, but the ‘Oreshnik,’ because enough of these modern weapons systems puts us on the verge of virtually eliminating the need to employ nuclear weapons.”
The intermediate-range ballistic missile travels at ten times the speed of sound and was recently used to limited effect in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on November 21.
It is believed to have a range of 3,100 miles and is able to carry six conventional warheads.
Putin is understood to believe that the weapon is so powerful that even missiles fitted with conventional warheads could be as devastating as a nuclear strike and be capable of destroying underground bunkers.
Intermediate-range ballistic missiles are typically meant to be used for long-range nuclear strikes on targets thousands of kilometres away.
The attack on Dnipro is believed to have caused limited damage according to Ukrainian government sources who say that the missile carried multiple warheads but no explosives.
The Kremlin described the attack as a warning to the west following the decision by Britain and the US to allow Ukraine to fire missiles into Russia for the first time.
The attack raises concern not solely because of the threat it demonstrates but because it comes at a time when the Kremlin has lowered the threshold in military doctrine to warrant a nuclear response.
The change in doctrine means that a large attack on Russia with conventional missiles, drones or aircraft could meet the criteria for a nuclear response, as could an attack on Belarus or any critical threat to Russia’s sovereignty.
Putin has often threatened or hinted at the prospect of a nuclear confrontation with Ukraine’s Nato allies and is believed to have moved several dozens of nuclear missiles into Belarus.
In response to a question by Russian state journalist Marina Akhmedova, the Russian leader said: “We are not tightening the nuclear doctrine, we are improving it, therefore, we are behaving quite carefully in all directions, I would even say, with restraint.
Akhmedova subsequently reported on state media that Ukraine would only have the west to blame if it was hit with a nuclear weapon.
She said: “If NATO ballistic missiles fly from Ukraine to Russia, Ukraine will be the first to be wiped out.”
