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	Topics Russia and weapons of mass destruction Topic Home RussiaRussia Russia , also the Russian Federation , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of Eurasia.... possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destructionWeapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction or is a term used to describe munitions with the capacity to indiscriminately kill large numbe... in the world. Russia declared an arsenal of 40,000 tons of chemical weapons in 1997 and is said to have around 6681 nuclear weaponNuclear weapon A nuclear weapon derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions of fission or fusion.... s stockpiled in 2005, making its stockpileStockpile (military) In military preparation, 'to stockpile' is to move materiel, personnel, and command and control infrastructure to a suitable locat... the largest in the world. The Soviet UnionSoviet Union Overview The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , more commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a Communist state that existed... ratified the Geneva ProtocolGeneva Protocol The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of... on January 22, 1975 with reservations. The reservations were later dropped on January 18, 2001. Nuclear weapons Nuclear arsenal of Russia Russia was estimated to have around 6681 active strategic nuclear warheadsStrategic nuclear weapon A strategic nuclear weapon refers to a nuclear weapon which is designed to be used on targets as part of a strategic plan, s... in its arsenal. Russia also has a large but unknown number of tactical nuclear weapons . Strategic nuclear forces of Russia include : Land based Strategic Rocket Forces: 489 missiles carrying up to 1,788 warheads; they employ immobile (silos), like SS-18 Satan, and mobile delivery systems, like SS-27RT-2UTTH Topol M The RT-2UTTH «Topol-M» is the most recent intercontinental ballistic missile to be deployed by Russia, and the first to be d... Topol M. Sea based Strategic Fleet: 12 submarines carrying up to 609 warheads; they employ delivery systems like SS-N-30 Bulava.Bulava (missile) The *'Bulava' is a Submarine-launched ballistic missile under development in Russia.... Strategic Aviation: 237 bombers(16 Tu-160,63 Tu-95,and 158 Tu-22m) carrying up to 884 Cruise missiles. Doctrine of limited nuclear war According to a Russian military doctrine stated in 2003, tactical nuclear weapons (Strategic Deterrence Forces) could be used to "prevent political pressure against Russia and her allies." Thus, the Russian leadership "is officially contemplating a limited nuclear warNuclear warfare Nuclear war, or atomic war, is war in which nuclear weapons are used.... " . Nuclear proliferation After the Korean WarKorean War The Korean War* began on June 25, 1950 and ended with a truce on July 27, 1953 .... , Soviet UnionFacts About Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , more commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a Communist state that existed... transferred nuclear technology and weapons to the People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of China The People's Republic of China , is a country in East Asia.... as an adversary of the United StatesUnited States The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is... and NATONATO Aznar also proposed a strategic co-operation with India and Colombia. ... According to Ion Mihai PacepaIon Mihai Pacepa Overview Ion Mihai Pacepa is a Romanian former intelligence official, the highest-ranking ever to have defected from his Eastern Bloc... , "Khrushchev’s nuclear-proliferation process started with Communist China in April 1955, when the new ruler in the Kremlin consented to supply Beijing a sample atomic bomb and to help with its mass production. Subsequently, the Soviet Union built all the essentials of China’s new military nuclear industry" . Russia is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" (NWS) under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation TreatyNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is an international tre... , which Russia ratified (as the Soviet UnionSoviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , more commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a Communist state that existed... ) in 1968. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a number of Soviet-era nuclear warheads remained on the territories of Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Under the terms of the Lisbon Protocol to the NPT, and following the 1995 Trilateral Agreement between Russia, Belarus, and the USA, these were transferred to Russia, leaving Russia as the sole inheritor of the Soviet nuclear arsenal. It is estimated that the USSR had approximately 39,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled at the time of its collapse. In 2002, the United States and Russia agreed to reduce their stockpiles to not more than 2200 warheads each in the SORTSort Sort may mean* sorting, see also sorting algorithm... treaty. In 2003, the US rejected Russian proposals to further reduce both nation's nuclear stockpiles to 1500 each. Many say that this refusal was a sign of US aggression and accuse the US of thus leaving the danger of US and Russia's mutual destruction. Russia is actively producing and developing new nuclear weapons. Since 1997 it manufactures Topol-M (SS-27) ICBMs. Russia refused to discuss reduction of tactical nuclear weapons and allegedly transferred nuclear technology to North KoreaNorth Korea Overview North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is an East Asian country occupying the northern hal... Biological weapons Soviet program of biological weapons has been initially developed by the Soviet Ministry of Defense (between 1945 and 1973) Soviet Union signed the Biological Weapons ConventionBiological Weapons Convention Summary The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons and on th... on April 10, 1972 and ratified the treaty on March 26, 1975. Since then, the program of Biological weapons was run primarily by the "civilian" BiopreparatBiopreparat Before the collapse of the USSR, all biological weapons programs were grouped under the single organization of Biopreparat f... agency, although it also included numerous facilities run by the Soviet Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemical Industry, Ministry of Health, and Soviet Academy of Sciences According to Ken AlibekKen Alibek Colonel Kanatjan Alibekov, , M.D., Ph.D., Sc.D. ? known as Ken Alibek since 1992 ? is a former Soviet physicia... , who was deputy-director of BiopreparatBiopreparat Before the collapse of the USSR, all biological weapons programs were grouped under the single organization of Biopreparat f... , the Soviet biological weapons agency, and who defected to the USA in 1992, weapons were developed in labs in isolated areas of the Soviet Union including mobilization facilities at Omutininsk, PenzaPenza Penza is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Penza Oblast in the Volga Federal District.... and Pokrov and research facilities at MoscowMoscow Moscow is the capital of Russia and the country's principal political, economic, financial, educational, and transportation... , Stirzhi and VladimirVladimir Vladimir is an old city in Russia.... . These weapons were tested at several facilities most often at "Rebirth Island" in the Aral SeaAral Sea The Aral Sea is a landlocked endorheic sea in Central Asia; it lies between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an a... by firing the weapons into the air above monkeys tied to posts, the monkeys would then be monitored to determine the effects. In 1993, the story about the Sverdlovsk anthrax leakSverdlovsk anthrax leak Spores of anthrax were accidentally released from a military facility in the city of Sverdlovsk on April 2, 1979.... was published in Russia. The incident occurred when spores of anthraxAnthrax Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis and is highly lethal in some forms.... were accidentally released from a military facility in the city of Sverdlovsk (formerly, and now again, YekaterinburgYekaterinburg Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of the Russian Federation, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast... ) 900 miles east of Moscow on April 2, 1979. The ensuing outbreak of the disease resulted in 94 people becoming infected, 64 of whom died over a period of six weeks. Chemical weapons Russia signed the Chemical Weapons ConventionChemical Weapons Convention The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control... on January 13, 1993 and ratified it on November 5, 1997. Russia declared an arsenal of 40,000 tons of chemical weaponsChemical warfare The Battle of Barnet, which took place on April 14, 1471, was a decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, near the town of B... in 1997. Russia met its treaty obligations by destroying 1% of its chemical agents by the Chemical Weapons Convention's 2002 deadline but requested technical and financial assistance and extensions on the deadlines of 2004 and 2007 due to the environmental challenges of chemical disposal. This extension procedure spelled out in the treaty has been utilized by other countries, including the United StatesUnited States and weapons of mass destruction The federal government of the United States is known to possess three types of weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons, chemi... . Russia has built three chemical weapons destruction plants: at GornyGorny Gorny may refer to:Gorny Ulus, Sakha Republic, an ulus in the Sakha Republic, Russia... , at KambarkaFacts About Kambarka Kambarka* is a town in Udmurtia, Russia. It is located at around . ... , and at the Maradykovsky complex. Four more facilities are still under construction at other locations. Lieutenant General Valery Kapashin reaffirmed in 2007 that Russia would fulfill its obligations under the CWC to destroy all of its chemical weapon stockpiles by 2012; however, U.S. analyses have claimed that neither Russia nor the U.S. will finish operations by that date. Russia's program is financed by Russian funding as well as money from the U.S. and other countries. See also Father of all bombsFather of all bombs "Father of All Bombs" is the nickname of a Russian-made air-delivered/land activated thermobaric weapon that is claimed to b... External links - analysis by Dmitri Trenin, IFRI Proliferation Papers n°13, 2005 by National JournalNational Journal *National Journal* is a weekly magazine about American politics and government, published by National Journal Group, Inc.... , Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/April 2006. Current information on nuclear stockpiles in Russia by Lev Fedorov, Moscow, Center of Ecological Policy of Russia, 27 July 1994