Putin signed the new nuclear doctrine of the Russian Federation, expanding the grounds for the use of nuclear weapons

Putin approved Russia's updated nuclear doctrine. Photo: Getty Images

The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, signed a decree approving the new version of the «Basics of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence».

The document was published on November 19 on the official legal information portal and has already entered into force.

The 2024 doctrine significantly details the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons, expands the definition of the enemy and takes into account modern types of military threats, including aerospace ones.

The updated nuclear doctrine includes five key reasons for the use of nuclear weapons:

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1. Ballistic missile launch:
   The receipt of reliable information about the launch of ballistic missiles that attack the territory of the Russian Federation or its allies.

2. Use of weapons of mass destruction:
   The enemy's use of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction against the territories of the Russian Federation, its allies, or military facilities of the Russian Federation outside the territory of the state.

3. Attack on critical objects:
   Disablement of critically important state or military facilities of the Russian Federation, which leads to disruption of the actions of its nuclear forces.

4. Aggression against the Russian Federation or Belarus:
   Aggression with the use of conventional weapons that poses a critical threat to the sovereignty or territorial integrity of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus as a member of the Union State.

5. Mass launch of air and space attack means:
   The receipt of reliable information about the massive launch of strategic aviation, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft with subsequent crossing of the state border of the Russian Federation.

The document specifies that states that provide their territory, air or sea space, or resources for the preparation or execution of aggression against the Russian Federation are subject to the effect of «nuclear deterrence» for such a state.

The press secretary of the president Dmytro Peskov commented on the approval of Russia's new nuclear doctrine and stated that its publication is «timely».

«You can familiarize yourself with the relevant paragraphs of the Fundamentals, but in general it says, in particular, that the Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression with the use of conventional weapons against it and/or Belarus as a member of the Union State, which creates a critical a threat to their sovereignty or territorial integrity,» he said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that on the night of November 19, the Ukrainian military struck a military facility in the Bryansk region with six ATACMS missiles.