TheRussian Federation is known to possess or have possessed three types ofweapons of mass destruction:nuclear weapons,biological weapons, andchemical weapons. It is one of the fivenuclear-weapon states recognized under theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and one ofthe four countries wielding anuclear triad.

Russian Federation (originally theSoviet Union)
Nuclear program start date	1942[1]
First nuclear weapon test	August 29, 1949
First thermonuclear weapon test	November 22, 1955
Last nuclear test	October 24, 1990
Largest yield test	50 Mt (210 PJ) (Tsar Bomba)
Total tests	715 detonations
Peak stockpile	46,000 warheads (1975) 45,000 warheads (1990)
Current stockpile	5,459[2] (2025)
Current strategic arsenal	1,718[2] (2025 estimate)
Maximum missile range	18,000 km[3]
NPT party	Yes (1968, one of five recognized powers)

Russia possesses a total of 5,459 nuclear warheads as of 2025,^[2] the largest confirmed stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world. Russia's deployed missiles (those actually ready to be launched) number about 1,718, also the largest confirmedstrategically deployed arsenal in the world as of 2025.^[4][5] The remaining weapons are either in reserve stockpiles, or have been retired and are slated for dismantling. Russia's predecessor state, theSoviet Union, reached a peak stockpile of about 45,000 nuclear warheads in 1986.^[6] The number of weapons Russia may possess is currently controlled by the bilateralNew START treaty with the United States. Russia and theUnited States are the world's biggestnuclear powers, holding about 88% of the world's nuclear weapons.^[7]

The Soviet Union ratified theGeneva Protocol—prohibiting the use of biological and chemical weapons in interstate conflicts—on April 5, 1928, with reservations that were later dropped on January 18, 2001.^[8] Russia is also party to the 1972Biological Weapons Convention and the 1993Chemical Weapons Convention.^[9][10] TheSoviet biological weapons program violated the Biological Weapons Convention and was the world's largest, longest, and most sophisticated program of its kind.^[11] At its peak, the program employed up to 65,000 people.^[11]

Despite being a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, Russia has continued to hold, and occasionally use^{[citation needed]}, chemical weapons. In 1997, Russia declared an arsenal of 39,967 tons ofchemical weapons, which it worked in part to decrease.^[12][13] Its stock of weapons was officially declared destroyed in 2017. Thepoisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in 2018 and thepoisoning of Alexei Navalny in 2020, both carried out by Russia, revealed that the country maintained an illicit chemical weapons program.^{[14][failed verification]} Russian forces also used, and admitted to using, chemical weapons during theinvasion of Ukraine.^[15]

Post-Soviet countries have signed aseries of treaties and agreements to settle the legacy of the former Soviet Union multilaterally and bilaterally.

At thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Soviet nuclear weapons were deployed in four of the new republics: Russia,Ukraine,Belarus andKazakhstan. In May 1992, these four states signed theLisbon Protocol, agreeing to join theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, with Russia thecontinuator state to the Soviet Union as a nuclear state, and the other three states joining as non-nuclear states.

Ukraine agreed to give up its weapons to Russia, in exchange for guarantees of Ukrainian territory from Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, known as theBudapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. China and France also made statements in support of the memorandum.^[16]

The threat ofnuclear warfare was a persistent and terrifying threat during theCold War. At its height, the Soviet Union and United States each mustered tens of thousands of warheads, under the doctrine ofmutual assured destruction. By the 1980s, both the United States and Soviet Union sought to reduce the number of weapons the other was fielding. This led to the opening of arms reduction talks in 1982.^[17]

This culminated in the signing of theSTART I treaty in 1991: the first nuclear arms reduction treaty between the two global powers. This first treaty limited the number of deployed warheads in each nation to 6,000, nearly halving the prior 10,000 to 12,000 being fielded in 1991.^[17] The considerable success of START I, combined with thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, led to theSTART II treaty. Russia never ratified the treaty, and it did not go into effect. An attemptedSTART III was attempted but could not get past negotiations.^[18]

Instead, theStrategic Offensive Reductions Treaty was passed in 2002, capping warheads at 2,200.^[19] The current limitations stem from theNew START treaty, ratified in 2010. It limits each side to 1,550 weapons. Nuclear bombers only count as one weapon each, even though they may carry up to 20, so the actual limit on the countries is slightly higher. The treaty is in force through to 2026.^[20]

After U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush withdrew from the 1972Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Russia responded by building-up theirnuclear capabilities, in such a way as to counterbalance U.S. capabilities.^[21] Russia decided not to sign the UNtreaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted on July 7, 2017, by 122 States.^[22] Most analysts agree that Russia's nuclear strategy under Putin eventually brought it into violation of the 1987Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (although this is not confirmed).^[23]

According to Russian officials, the American decision to deploythe missile defense system in Europe was a violation of the treaty.^[24] U.S. PresidentDonald Trump announced on October 20, 2018, that the U.S. would no longer consider itself bound by the treaty's provisions, raising nuclear tensions between the two powers.^[25]

On November 2, 2023, Putin signed a law that withdraws Russia's ratification of theComprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.^[26]

The exact number of nuclear warheads is astate secret and is therefore a matter of guesswork. As of 2025^[update], theFederation of American Scientists estimates that Russia possesses 5,459 nuclear weapons, while the United States has 5,177; Russia and the U.S. each have about 1,700 active deployed strategic nuclear warheads. Russia's stockpile is growing in size, while the United States' is shrinking.^[4] Russia has six nuclear missile fields inKozelsk,Tatishchevo,Uzhur,Dombarovsky,Kartalay, andAleysk; nuclear missile submarines patrolling from three naval bases atNerpich'ya,Yagel'Naya, andRybachiy; and nuclear bombers atUkrainka andEngels air bases.^[27] As of 2024, Russia operates 12 nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines, comprising fiveDelta-class and sevenBorei-class vessels.^[28]

TheRS-28 Sarmat^[29] (Russian: РС-28 Сармат;NATO reporting name: SATAN 2), is a Russianliquid-fueled,MIRV-equipped,super-heavythermonuclear armedintercontinental ballistic missile in development by theMakeyev Rocket Design Bureau^[29] since 2009,^[30] intended to replace the previousR-36 missile. Its large payload would allow for up to 10 heavywarheads or 15 lighter ones,^[31] or a combination of warheads and massive amounts ofcountermeasures designed to defeatanti-missile systems.^[32][33] It was heralded by the Russian military as a response to the U.S.Prompt Global Strike.^[34]

In 2015, information emerged that Russia may be developing a newnuclear torpedo, theStatus-6 Ocean Multipurpose System,^[35][36][37] codenamed "Kanyon" by Pentagon officials.^[38][39] This weapon is designed to create atsunami wave up to 500m tall that will radioactively contaminate a wide area on an enemy coasts withcobalt-60, and to be immune to anti-missile defense systems such aslaser weapons andrailguns that might disable anICBM.^{[36][37][39][40][41]} Two potential carrier submarines, the Project 09852Belgorod, and the Project 09851Khabarovsk, are new boats laid down in 2012 and 2014 respectively.^[38][39][42]

Status 6 appears to be a deterrent weapon of last resort.^[41][42] It appears to be a torpedo-shaped robotic mini-submarine, that can travel at speeds of 185 km/h (100 kn).^[41][42][43] More recent information suggests a top speed of 100 km/h (54 kn), with a range of 10,000 km (6,200 mi) and a depth maximum of 1,000 m (3,300 ft).^[44] This underwater drone is cloaked by stealth technology to elude acoustic tracking devices.^[36][42]

During an annualstate-of-the-nation address given on March 1, 2018, PresidentVladimir Putin publicly claimed that Russia was now in possession of several new classes of nuclear weapons, including some with capabilities previously speculated to exist. Putin discussed several new or upgraded weapons, including ahypersonic glide vehicle known as theAvangard, capable of performing sharp maneuvers while traveling at 20 times the speed of sound making it "absolutely invulnerable for any missile defense system."^[45]

Putin discussed the existence of a nuclear powered underwater torpedo and a nuclear poweredcruise missile (9M730 Burevestnik), both with effectively unlimited range. He discussed that Russia had tested a new class of traditionalICBM called theRS-28 Sarmat, which expanded upon the range and carrying capability of the Soviet-era Satan ICBM. Animations of these weapons were shown in front of the live and televised audience. Putin suggested that an online poll be conducted to give them official public names.^[46]

According to aRussian military doctrine stated in 2010, nuclear weapons could be used by Russia "in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies, and also in case of aggression against Russia with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened".^[47][48][49] Most military analysts believe that, in this case, Russia would pursue an 'escalate to de-escalate' strategy, initiating limited nuclear exchange to bring adversaries to thenegotiating table. Russia will also threaten nuclear conflict to discourage initial escalation of any majorconventional conflict.^[50]

Leaked documents seen by the Financial Times in 2024 described a threshold for the country's use oftactical nuclear weapons that is lower than Russia had previously disclosed.^[51] The document included training scenarios for a possibleinvasion by China.^[52] Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre in Berlin told the FT: "This is the first time that we have seen documents like this reported in the public domain […] They show that the operational threshold for using nuclear weapons is pretty low if the desired result can’t be achieved through conventional means."^[53] In 2024, Russian officials said that Russia's formal doctrine would be modified to lower the threshold for nuclear use.^[54][55]

After theKorean War, theSoviet Union transferred nuclear technology and weapons to thePeople's Republic of China as an adversary of the United States andNATO. According toIon Mihai Pacepa, "Khrushchev's nuclear-proliferation process started with Communist China in April 1955, when the new ruler in the Kremlin consented to supply Beijing a sample atomic bomb and to help with its mass production. Subsequently, the Soviet Union built all the essentials of China's newmilitary nuclear industry."^[56]

Russia is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" (NWS) under theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which Russia ratified (as theSoviet Union) in 1968.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a number of Soviet-era nuclear warheads remained on the territories of Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Under the terms of theLisbon Protocol to the NPT, and following the 1995 Trilateral Agreement between Russia, Belarus, and the US, these were transferred to Russia, leaving Russia as the sole inheritor of the Soviet nuclear arsenal. It is estimated that the Soviet Union had approximately 45,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled at the time of its collapse, according toViktor Mikhaylov, head of theFederal Agency on Atomic Energy (Russia).^[57]The collapse of the Soviet Union allowed for a warming of relations with NATO. Fears of anuclear holocaust lessened. In September 1997, the former secretary of the Russian Security CouncilAlexander Lebed claimed 100 "suitcase sized" nuclear weapons were unaccounted for. He said he was attempting to inventory the weapons when he was fired by President Boris Yeltsin in October 1996.^[58] Indeed, several US politicians have expressed worries and promised legislation addressing the threat.^[59]

There were allegations that Russia contributed to theNorth Korean nuclear program, selling it the equipment for the safe storage and transportation ofnuclear materials.^[60] Nevertheless, Russia has condemned North Korean nuclear tests since then.^[61] The Russian Federation has also wider commercial interests in selling the nuclear technology to India andIran, reaching understanding memorandums in training their technicians in their respected nuclear programs. Russia is allegedly making efforts to build its influential hold in Africa for earning several billions of pounds by selling nuclear technology to developing African countries.^[62]

Russia has reportedly trained its navy to target European sites with nuclear-capable missiles in a potential conflict with NATO, according to leaked documents. The plans reveal a strategy for strikes across Western Europe, emphasizing Russia's reliance on nuclear weapons due to its conventional military limitations.^[63]

The highest-rankingGRU defectorStanislav Lunev described alleged Soviet plans for usingtactical nuclear weapons forsabotage against the United States in the event of war. He described Soviet-madesuitcase nukes identified as RA-115s (or RA-115-01s for submersible weapons) which weigh 50–60 pounds (23–27 kg). These portable bombs can last for many years if wired to an electric source. "In case there is a loss of power, there is a battery backup. If the battery runs low, the weapon has a transmitter that sends a coded message – either by satellite or directly to aGRU post at aRussian embassy or consulate."^[64]

Lunev was personally looking for hiding places for weapons caches in theShenandoah Valley area.^[64] He said that "it is surprisingly easy to smuggle nuclear weapons into the US" either across theMexican border or using a small transport missile that can slip though undetected when launched from a Russian airplane.^[64] Searches of the areas identified by Lunev – who admits he never planted any weapons in the US – have been conducted, "but law-enforcement officials have never found such weapons caches, with or without portable nuclear weapons" in the US.^[65]

In a 2004 interview, colonel general ofRVSNViktor Yesin said that Soviet small-scale nuclear bombs have only been operated by the Army. All such devices have been stored in a weapons depot within Russia, and only left it for checks at the plant which produced them.^[66]

On June 2, 2020, President Putin signed anExecutive Order formally titled "Fundamentals of Russia’s Nuclear Deterrence State Policy", in an unprecedented public release of an official document on Russia's nuclear policy.^[67] The six-page document identified the range of threats that Russia seeks to deter with its nuclear forces, clarified Russia's general approach to nuclear deterrence, and articulated conditions under which Russia might use nuclear weapons.^[68] The policy endorses the use of nuclear weapons in response to a non-nuclear strike due to the improved capabilities of U.S. conventional weapons.^[69]

Theassassination of Alexander Litvinenko by Russian state agents with radioactive polonium was described as the beginning of an era ofnuclear terrorism usingradiological weapons.^[70][71][72]

During theRussian invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022, Russian PresidentVladimir Putin placedStrategic Rocket Forces'snuclear deterrence units on high alert, a move heavily condemned internationally.^[73] Putin warned that "whoever tries to hinder us inUkraine would see consequences, you have never seen in your history".^[74] According to the US Director of National Intelligence,Avril Haines, Putin could potentially turn to nuclear weapons if he perceived an "existential threat" to the Russian state or regime;^[75] there has been speculation that he could regard defeat in Ukraine as an existential threat to his regime.^[76]

According to a peer-reviewed study published in the journalNature Food in August 2022,^[77] a full-scale nuclear war between theUnited States andRussia, which together hold more than 90% of the world's nuclear weapons, would kill 360 million people directly and more than 5 billion indirectly by starvation during anuclear winter.^[78][79]

In September 2022, Putin announced themobilization of Russian forces, and threatened nuclear retaliation against the west if Russia's territorial integrity was threatened.^[80]

On February 21, 2023, Putin suspended Russia's participation in theNew STARTnuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States,^[81] saying that Russia would not allow the US and NATO to inspect its nuclear facilities.^[82] On March 25, 2023, Putin announced that Russia would be stationing tactical nuclear operations in Belarus.^[83] On June 14, 2023, Belarusian PresidentAleksander Lukashenko stated that Belarus had started to take delivery of nuclear weapons in a TV interview withRussian state channel,Russia-1.^[84]

On 25 September 2024, Putin warned the West that if attacked with conventional weapons Russia would consider anuclear retaliation,^[85] in an apparent deviation from theno first use doctrine.^[86] Putin also warned nuclear powers that if they supported another country's attack on Russia, they would be considered participants in such aggression.^[87][88] Putin has made several implicitnuclear threats since the outbreak of war against Ukraine.^[89] Experts say Putin's announcement was aimed at dissuading the United States, the United Kingdom and France from allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied long-range missiles such as theStorm Shadow andATACMS instrikes against Russia.^[90]

The Soviet Union covertly operated the world's largest, longest, and most sophisticated biological weapons programs.^[11] The program began in the 1920s and lasted until at least September 1992 but has possibly been continued by Russia after that.^[11] Thereby, the Soviet Union violated its obligations under theBiological Weapons Convention, which it had signed on April 10, 1972, and ratified on March 26, 1975.^[91]

In the early 1970s, the Soviet Union significantly enlarged its offensive biological weapons programs.^[92] After 1975, the program of biological weapons was run primarily by the "civilian"Biopreparat agency, although it also included numerous facilities run by theSoviet Ministry of Defense,Ministry of Agriculture,Ministry of Chemical Industry,Ministry of Health, andSoviet Academy of Sciences.^[93]

According toKen Alibek, who was deputy-director ofBiopreparat, the Soviet biological weapons agency, and who defected to the United States in 1992, weapons were developed in labs in isolated areas of the Soviet Union including mobilization facilities atOmutninsk,Penza andPokrov and research facilities atMoscow,Stirzhi andVladimir. These weapons were tested at several facilities most often at "Rebirth Island" (Vozrozhdeniya) in theAral Sea by firing the weapons into the air above monkeys tied to posts, the monkeys would then be monitored to determine the effects. According to Alibek, although Soviet offensive program was officially ended in 1992, Russia may be still involved in the activities prohibited by BWC.^[93]

In 1993, the story about theSverdlovsk anthrax leak was published in Russia. The incident occurred whenspores ofanthrax were accidentally released from a military facility in the city of Sverdlovsk (formerly, and now again,Yekaterinburg) 1,500 km (930 mi) east of Moscow on April 2, 1979. The ensuing outbreak of the disease resulted in 94 people becoming infected, 64 of whom died over a period of six weeks.^[93]

In 2022 Russian Ministry of Defense started construction of a new massive facility at Sergiev Posad-6 site that hosted bioweapons research in Soviet times.^[94] The site belonging to48th Central Scientific Research Institute (48 ЦНИИ) of the Russian Ministry of Defense, featuring biological security labs was even featured on Russian TV when a delegation from the ministry, then led by Sergei Shoigu visited it.^[95] Also in 2022 the 48th Institute has registered a patent for "protective medium for freeze-drying ofYersinia pestis", a common biological weapon pathogen.^[96]

As of 2024, theUnited States Department of State "assesses that the Russian Federation (Russia) maintains an offensive [biological weapons] program and is in violation of its obligation under Articles I and II of the BWC. The issue of compliance by Russia with the BWC has been of concern for many years."^[97]

Russia signed theChemical Weapons Convention on January 13, 1993, and ratified it on November 5, 1997. Russia declared an arsenal of 39,967 tons ofchemical weapons in 1997 consisting of:

• blister agents:Lewisite,mustard, Lewisite-mustard-mix (HL)
• nerve agents:Sarin,Soman,VX

Ratification was followed by three years of inaction on chemical weapons destruction because of theAugust 1998 Russian financial crisis.

Russia met its treaty obligations by destroying 1% of its chemical agents by the Chemical Weapons Convention's 2002 deadline,^[98] but requested technical and financial assistance and extensions on the deadlines of 2004 and 2007 due to the environmental challenges of chemical disposal. This extension procedure spelled out in the treaty has been utilized by other countries, including theUnited States. The extended deadline for complete destruction (April 2012) was not met.^[99] As of October 2011, Russia had destroyed 57% of its stockpile. Russia also destroyed all of its declared Category 2 (10,616 MTs) and Category 3 chemicals.^[13]

Russia has stored its chemical weapons (or the required chemicals) which it declared within the CWC at eight locations. InGorny (Saratov Oblast) (2.9% of the declared stockpile by mass) andKambarka (Udmurt Republic) (15.9%) stockpiles have already been destroyed. InShchuchye (Kurgan Oblast) (13.6%),Maradykovsky (Kirov Oblast) (17.4%) andLeonidovka, Bessonovsky District [ru] (Penza Oblast) (17.2%) destruction takes place, while installations are under construction inPochep (Bryansk Oblast) (18.8%) andKizner (Udmurt Republic) (14.2%).^[12]

The last Russian chemical disposal facility inKizner,Udmurtia, was opened in December 2013.^[100]

On September 27, 2017, OPCW announced that Russia had destroyed its entire declared chemical weapons stockpile,^{[101][102][103]} even though they continued usingNovichok agents. Ukraine claims Russia used chemical weapons in Mariupol.^[104]

A range of Novichok agents were developed and tested in the 1970s and 1980s, but the intended Novichok weapons production site at the Pavlodar Chemical Plant inSoviet Kazakhstan was still under construction when it was decided to demolish the chemical weapons building in 1987 in view of the forthcomingChemical Weapons Convention.^[105][106]

In March 2018, formerGRU agentSergei Skripal and his daughterwere poisoned inSalisbury, United Kingdom by a chemical agent later confirmed to be Novichok.^[107] The incident raised new controversy over Russia's potential production and use of chemical weapons, with theUnited Kingdom accusing the Russian government or rogue Russian agents of orchestrating the attack, a claim Russia repeatedly denied.^[108]

In August 2020, Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activistAlexei Navalnywas poisoned inTomsk, Russia by a chemical agent later confirmed to be Novichok.^[109] A joint investigation byBellingcat,CNN,Der Spiegel, andThe Insider with contributions fromEl País implicates Russia'sFederal Security Service (FSB) in the near-fatal nerve-agent poisoning,^[110] a fact denied by Russia. Navalny later called what appears to be one of the FSB agents responsible for the cleanup operation who indicates they were tasked to clean Navalny's underpants of Novichok.^[111]

Another Russia chemical weapon isKolokol-1, anaerosolizedopioid incapacitating agent though to becarfentanil.^[112]

In theRussian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces reportedly used chemical weapons 465 times between February 24, 2022, and December 2023, usually astear gas grenades.^[113][114] In May 2023, a television report on Russia'sChannel One showed a Russian battalion commander talking about the effectiveness of chemicals used as weapons. The report also showed a drone dropping a tear gas grenade on a dugout.^[15][115] In December 2023, the Russian810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade wrote about its use of drones to drop K-51 grenades containingCS tear gas on Ukrainian positions.^[116] The use of tear gas is banned by internationalChemical Weapons Convention and considered a chemical weapon if applied by military forces during warfare.^[15] The United States accused Russia of also usingChloropicrin as a chemical weapon in Ukraine.^[117] On 17 June 2025 Ukrainian Batallion K-2 destroyed a RussianBM-21 "Grad" launcher and then intercepted Russian radio traffic in which the soldiers warned units in their vicinity to protect themselves as the rockets were "loaded with chemistry".^[118]

• 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
• Defense industry of Russia
• Father of All Bombs
• List of Russian weaponry makers
• Military doctrine of Russia
• New physical principles weapons
• Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction
• Soviet atomic bomb project
• Soviet biological weapons program

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• Kristensen, Hans; Korda, Matt (2024)."Russian nuclear weapons, 2024".Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.80 (2):118–145. Archived fromthe original on June 19, 2025.

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• Nuclear stockpile estimate fas.org
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• History of the Russian Nuclear Weapons Program fas.org
• Nuclear pursuits, 2012