Russia’s Nuclear Arsenal Continues to Expand and Modernize: US Intel

Russia is continuing to build its nuclear arsenal as a deterrence method against potential adversaries, according to U.S. intelligence.

In its annual threat assessment released to the public on Monday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) stated that Moscow still holds “the largest and most diverse nuclear weapons stockpile” and that Russia views its atomic weapons as “necessary for maintaining deterrence and achieving its goals in a potential conflict against the United States and NATO.”

The report comes as tensions between the West and Russia continue to rise amid the war in Ukraine, and as concerns swirl over Moscow’s potential to use nuclear weapons against Kyiv or its neighboring NATO member states. Russia President Vladimir Putin has warned that Ukraine’s allies risk starting a nuclear conflict if they expand their involvement in the Russian-Ukraine war.

U.S. intelligence acknowledged in its report that Moscow’s “inability to achieve quick and decisive battlefield wins, coupled with Ukrainian strikes within Russia, continues to drive concerns that Putin might use nuclear weapons.” The DNI office also said that Russia is continuing to develop long-range atomic missiles capable of carrying atomic weapons that are “meant to penetrate or bypass U.S. missile defenses.”

“Russia is expanding and modernizing its large and diverse set of nonstrategic systems, which are capable of delivering nuclear or conventional warheads, because Moscow believes such systems offer options to deter adversaries and control the escalation of potential hostilities, and counter U.S. and Allied conventional forces,” read the report.

As Putin’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, Russia’s military has suffered major losses, including in its casualty toll and equipment. UK intelligence previously estimated that Moscow has lost over 335,000 troops since the start of the war in February 2022.

The “extensive” losses, according to the DNI’s report, likely means that Moscow faces a “multi-year recovery” and becoming “more reliant on nuclear and counterspace capabilities for strategic deterrence as it works to rebuild its ground force.”

“Regardless, Russia’s air and naval forces will continue to provide Moscow with some global power projection capabilities,” U.S. officials noted.

Newsweek reached out to Russia’s Foreign Ministry via email for comment on Monday.

The risk assessment report also comes as questions surround Russia’s joint plans with China to establish a nuclear power station based on the moon within the next decade. Reports surfaced in February that Russia had obtained an anti-satellite weapon that would be powered by nuclear energy, but U.S. officials have dismissed fears that the equipment could cause “physical” harm on Earth. Moscow has also denied reports regarding such a weapon.

A U.S. State Department official told Newsweek on Monday that Washington “is aware of PRC [People’s Republic of China] and Russian plans for an International Lunar Research Station,” adding that Moscow and Beijing have shared “decades of space cooperation.”

According to the DNI’s report, China and Russia are hoping to secure “strategic stability” with the U.S. by growing its “weapons capabilities, including nontraditional weapons intended to defeat or evade U.S. missile defenses.”