Leaked Russian army recordsdata reveal standards for nuclear strike

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Good morning. Vladimir Putin’s forces have rehearsed utilizing tactical nuclear weapons at an early stage of battle with a serious world energy, in response to leaked Russian army recordsdata that embrace coaching situations for an invasion by China.

The labeled papers, seen by the Monetary Instances, describe a threshold for utilizing tactical nuclear weapons that’s decrease than Russia has ever publicly admitted, in response to specialists who reviewed and verified the paperwork.

The cache consists of 29 secret Russian army recordsdata drawn up between 2008 and 2014, together with situations for war-gaming and shows for naval officers, which debate working rules for the usage of nuclear weapons.

Standards for a possible nuclear response vary from an enemy incursion on Russian territory to extra particular triggers, such because the destruction of 20 per cent of Russia’s strategic ballistic missile submarines. Learn the complete story.

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Extra contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm