For the first time in 30 years, Russian ships have begun to go to sea with tactical nuclear weapons on board, the Norwegian Intelligence Service said in an annual report. This could lead to a lower threshold for nuclear escalation in the event of a clash between Russia and NATO.
Details. As noted in the report, during the Soviet era, warships of the Northern Fleet regularly went to sea with tactical nuclear weapons, but no such cases have been known since the Cold War.
- “The main part of the nuclear potential is located on submarines and surface ships of the Northern Fleet,” the intelligence service said in a report. The agency notes that tactical nuclear weapons can pose a particularly serious threat in scenarios of a potential confrontation between Russia and NATO.
- Thus, nuclear weapons temporarily play a larger role in Russia’s defense in the northwest than usual. This could lower the threshold for nuclear escalation, says intelligence chief Niels Andreas Stensones.
- Despite the activation of nuclear forces in northern Russia, the war in Ukraine has significantly reduced the number of Russian troops near the border with Norway and Finland.
Context. In October 2022, the Norwegian publication Faktisk published satellite images that showed that Russia had deployed nuclear-capable strategic bombers near the border with Norway. 11 Tu-160 and Tu-95 aircraft appeared at the Olenya air base in the Murmansk region.
- “The deployment and exercise of strategic bombers is in itself a form of nuclear deterrence, so in general it can be seen as part of Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons,” said Norwegian military expert Lars Peder Haga.
Source: Agents Media
