Russia

Country Spotlight

The Soviet Union’s 1991 collapse made Russia the inheritor of the vast majority of the USSR’s weapons of mass destruction. Although Russia has substantially reduced its stockpiles from Cold War peaks, it still controls one of the world’s largest and deadliest nuclear forces, and deteriorating relations with the United States have stalled further arms control diplomacy.

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• Nuclear Security Index
• Global Health Security Index

Treaties and Regimes Memberships

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Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, Eliana Johns, and Mackenzie Knight, “Russian nuclear weapons, 2024,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 80, no. 2 (2024), 118-145, https://thebulletin.org.

Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, and Eliana Reynolds, “Nuclear Notebook: Russian Nuclear Weapons, 2023,”Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 79, no. 3 (2023), 174-199, https://thebulletin.org.

Hans M. Kristensen and Matt Korda, “Russian Nuclear Forces, 2022,”Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 78, no. 2, 98-121, https://thebulletin.org.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia, Press Statement, “Basic Principles of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence,” Article IV and V, 8 June 2020, www.mid.ru.

United States Department of State, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, “2016 Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments,” 11 April 2016, http://state.gov.

“OPCW Director-General Commends Major Milestone as Russia Completes Destruction of Chemical Weapons Stockpile under OPCW Verification,” The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, 27 September 2017, www.opcw.org.

United Nations, Security Council, 8203rd Meeting (S/PV.8203), 17 March 2018, pg 10.

На ракетные комплексы «Ярс» перевооружены за пять лет 12 полков РФ,”Izvestia, 7 November 2017, www.iz.ru.

Franz-Stefan Gady, “First Serial-Produced RS-28 Sarmat ICBMs to Enter Service in Russia in 2021,” The Diplomat, 3 February 2020, http://thediplomat.com.

Pavel Podvig, “Strategic fleet,”Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, 8 April 2016, www.russianforces.org.

Kelsey Davenport, “Nuclear Weapons: Who Has What at a Glance,”Arms Control Association, January 2025, www.armscontrol.org.

Hans Kristensen, Matt Korda, Eliana Johns, Mackenzie Knight, and Kate Kohn, “Status of World Nuclear Forces,”Federation of Nuclear Scientists.

Mina Rozei, “OPCW Finds More Chemical Weapons Use in Ukraine,”Arms Control Association, 1 April 2025, www.armscontrol.org.