Russian Nuclear Weapons: Past, Present, and Future

Since the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR), it has been the Caucasus that registered
the highest level of instability with a great variety
of violent conflicts overlapping and resulting in
nonsustainable deadlocks. Russia performed a number
of interventions of different scale, but in 2007-08
the end of the second Chechen war left it with significant
and usable free military capacity, which was put
to use against Georgia in August 2008. 18 Despite the
spectacular victory, that war has left a highly controversial
legacy, as Russia is tempted on the one hand
to replay the easy walkover and bring the conflict to
a final solution, but on the other hand, has much diminished
military capabilities. What might make this
conflict prone to nuclear escalation is a possibility of
U.S. involvement, which Moscow would be desperate
to pre-empt.
Another potential seat of conflict that attracts priority
attention of Russian policymakers is Ukraine,
which is seen as deeply divided and even artificial
state. With the election of Viktor Yanukovich as the
president in February 2010 and his remarkably swift
consolidation of control over the unruly Ukrainian
political process, Moscow has become more confident
in building brotherly relations with the most important
of its neighbors. 19 Nevertheless, the prospect of
a new political spasm, similar to the orange revolution
of November-December 2004 (which remains a
looming specter for Putin’s coterie), is perceived as
fairly high, particularly as the devastating economic
crisis generates massive discontent. Such a replay of
the West-sponsored coup against pro-Russian elites
could result in a split, or indeed multiple splits, of the
failed Ukraine, which would open a door for NATO
intervention. The weakness of Russia’s conventional
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