Russia is preparing for nuclear war

Russian
President Vladimir Putin during naval exercises in Russia’s
Arctic North.
REUTERS/ITAR-TASS/PRESIDENTIAL PRESS
SERVICE

Across Russia, 40 million civilians and military personnel just
finished up emergency drills aimed at preparing the general
population for nuclear or chemical-weapons attacks, The Wall
Street Journal’s
Thomas Grove reports.

Video
shows Russian civilians practicing along with officials and
workers in hazardous-material protective suits.

But as troubling as the largest civil defense drills since the
height of the Cold War have been, the steps Russia has taken to
improve its offensive nuclear capabilities likely overshadow
them.

Since the
breakdown of US-Russia talks on the fate of Syria, Russia has

pulled out of a nuclear-nonproliferation agreement with the
US, citing "unfriendly acts" by America. It has
moved nuclear-capable missiles to its European enclave of
Kaliningrad, and threatened
"asymmetrical" and "painful" actions against the US should it
decide to impose sanctions on Russia over Syria.

Russian
Yars RS-24 intercontinental ballistic-missile system during a
parade to mark the end of World War II at Red Square in
Moscow.
Thomson
Reuters

Additionally, Russia’s state-run media has been ratcheting up
anti-American rhetoric.

Lev Gudkov, head of the Russian polling group Levada-Center, told
The Journal that in Russia "most people believe that the Third
World War has begun, but right now we are still in the cold phase
of the war, which may or may not turn into a hot war."

In Syria and the Ukraine, Russia has turned away from diplomacy
and toward
military solutions to standoffs with the West. Russia’s
recent installation of
another missile defense battery in Syria gives the US very
few options to intervene
without risking serious casualties.

Further, Russia designed its nuclear weapons arsenal as
absolute doomsday devices that rain up to 10 high-yield
nuclear warheads down on targets at Mach 23 in a salvo that the
US can’t possibly hope to intercept.

Russia
Emergency Situations Ministry workers wearing biohazard
suits.
Ministry of Emergency
Situations press service via AP

The US has long relied on the doctrine of "mutually assured
destruction" — that is, having a spread-out, autonomous, and
effective nuclear arsenal that would return fire should another
nuclear power attack — with the intent of deterring any nuclear
attacks. But sources told The Journal that Moscow is now taking
steps to ensure that 100% of its population would be sheltered
from such an attack.

Far from matching Russia’s aggressive nuclear posturing, the US
has had its attentions elsewhere. The US’s long-range bomber
aircraft, the most visible deterrent of a nuclear arsenal, have

mainly been stationed in the Pacific in response to
North Korea’s nuclear aggression.