Oreshnik and Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine Update: Why They Matter

Russia took two critical steps to bolster its defense capability in 2024, which included the update of its nuclear doctrine and the test-firing of the advanced Oreshnik missile. Why do these steps matter?

Russia’s updated nuclear doctrine aims to "put the West on notice", Larry Johnson, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official, told Sputnik.

Western countries "are creating a more dangerous situation and creating a direct threat to Russia, which is prepared to respond. That's the message Moscow is trying to send," Johnson said, praising the Kremlin’s adherence to key agreements.

"It's always the West that's betraying those agreements," he notes, adding "at some point Russia will wake up and realize that this goes beyond a communication gulf."

In November, President Vladimir Putin authorized the updated nuclear doctrine, detailing scenarios where nuclear weapons might be used, such as attacks with conventional weapons against Russia or Belarus that pose "a critical threat" to their sovereignty or territorial integrity.

"They don’t care. They think their continued allowance of Ukraine to launch Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory and kill Russian citizens is just another message," Johnson argued.

Putin confirmed that Russia successfully test-fired the Oreshnik nuclear­-capable ballistic intermediate-range missile on November 21, striking a Ukrainian military facility in Dnepropetrovsk. The strike was a response to Kiev using US- and UK-supplied missiles to hit facilities in Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk regions.