Site of Russian Nuclear Research

Category: Weapons of Mass Destruction

Stefan Djordjevic and Sean Maher

Russia first started working on its nuclear program in 1939 during the
days of good ol' Stalinist Russia. The first nuclear weapon the
Russians detonated their first nuclear missile in 1949. In 1955 they
detonated their "superbomb," the first true H-bomb test. Their nuclear
experiments and research were carried out in the town of Sarov, which
gained the nickname of the Soviet Los Alamos. The Tsar Bomba" ("King
of Bombs") made by the Soviets in 1961 was the largest nuclear weapon
ever detonated.
3300-3400 strategic nuclear weapons
3000-8000 non-strategic, tactical nukes
About 8000 non-operational warheads
In the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, the Russian government
managed to misplace hundreds of their nuclear warheads, leading to the
problem of nuclear proliferation in post-Soviet Eastern Europe. At the
time of the fall of the USSR, the Soviets possessed 27,000 but most of
these nuclear stockpiles were destroyed.
In 1968, Russia was signatory to the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. The
treaty was also originally ratified by the Soviet Union.
Russia has nuclear weapon parity with the United States, meaning that
the two countries are capable of mutually assured destruction. It has
a larger arsenal than the US in number of warheads but a lesser
missile weapon range (11,000 kilometers as compared to the US' 13,000
km).
In 2002, Russia (along with U.S.) was signatory to the Treaty on
Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT)- also known as the Moscow
Treaty- by which the US and Russia both agreed to lower their
operational missile arsenal to 1700-2200 warheads.