Its been reported that across Russia, civilians and military personnel just finished up emergency drills aimed at preparing the general population for nuclear or chemical-weapons attacks. 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 are more so.
Russia has now designed its nuclear weapons arsenal as absolute doomsday devices that rain down up to 10 high-yield nuclear warheads on targets at Mach 23 in a salvo that the US can’t possibly hope to intercept; and Moscow is now taking steps to help ensure that its population could be sheltered from an attack.
Also, 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 also 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.
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.
Additionally, Russia’s state-run media has been ratcheting up the war and 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.”