What is a nuclear deterrence as Putin puts Russia’s nuclear force on high alert – World News

Vladimir Putin has caused alarm in the West by stating he will move to put his nuclear deterrent forces on high alert. The US called Putin’s decision an “unacceptable escalation” in his war on Ukraine

Those who have been following the war in Ukraine will have cast a wary eye at Russian leader Vladimir Putin as he announces his country’s deterrent forces are on high alert.

His deterrent forces include nuclear weapons – and when Putin invaded Ukraine, he gave a warning to the West that they would see severe consequences if they chose to interfere in his plans for Ukraine.

He said: “People should know Russia ‘s response will be immediate and lead you to consequences you have never encountered in your history.”

This statement has been interpreted by some as a reference to the use of nuclear weapons.

While the use of these weapons remains highly unlikely – Russia themselves signed up to a document in January that said nuclear war should never be fought – concern at why Putin would issue such a warning remains.

Scrutiny of the devastating consequences of such an act has increased since war broke out due to the heightened fears of people around the world, but what did Putin actually mean when he said that his forces are now on high alert?

Keep up-to-date with the latest news from Ukraine in the Mirror’s live blog

What is a nuclear deterrent?

A nuclear deterrent is when a sovereign state possesses nuclear weapons as a way of stopping its enemies from using them in the event of war.

The use of nuclear weapons would see unprecedented global chaos and potentially the deaths of millions of people.

The atomic bombs dropped by the US on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the final days of the Second World War caused the deaths of an estimated 150,000 to 315,000 people.

Modern nuclear weapons are far more powerful than those dropped from the Enola Gay and Bocksar aircraft in 1945.

Since the emergence of nuclear weapons, many of the world’s powers have been quick to arm themselves with devastating weapons.

States that have the deterrent view it as essential to their own safety and spend huge sums of money arming themselves. The UK’s nuclear programme was estimated to have cost around £4.4 billion from 2019 to 2020.

It is reported that Russia has four criteria for the use of nuclear weapons:

An attack that threatens the Russian state Use of nuclear weapons by an enemy An attack on a Russian nuclear weapons site When ballistic missiles are fired at Russia or an ally Why has Putin put his nuclear forces on high alert?

Putin believes that “aggressive statements” justified his orders to put deterrence forces “into a special mode of combat service”.

It should be stressed that this does not mean Russia is lining up, or is intending to, use nuclear weapons against the West.

The West has questioned this, considering it has not resorted to sending its troops into Ukraine for the very reason of avoiding a huge war.

Some experts believe the order by Putin to be born out of frustration of the lack of progress by his troops in Ukraine. They have so far failed to take the capital of Kyiv and have faced fierce resistance from Ukrainian troops and civilians.

Reports continue to indicate Russia has also not established air superiority as expected, all while the EU, UK, US and the rest of NATO continue to ramp up economic sanctions.

David Khalfa of the Paris-based Jean Jaures Foundation told Al-Jazeera: “Russia is frustrated faced with Ukrainian resistance.”

Others believe there is an attempt by Putin to divide his enemies while they rally around support of Ukraine. The Western world has been united in condemnation and so far seem to have co-operated with each other well.

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