Russia ready to test nuclear 'at any time'

Russia's nuclear test site, located on the remote Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, is where the Soviet Union conducted more than 200 nuclear tests, including the test of the world's most powerful nuclear bomb in 1961.

In an interview published on September 17 in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, Rear Admiral Andrei Sinitsyn, head of the facility, stated: "Everything, from the laboratory, the testing facility to the personnel, is ready for the resumption of comprehensive testing activities. If ordered, we can start testing at any time."

"The most important thing for us is not to disrupt the performance of state duties. If tasked with resuming testing, the facility will complete that task within the stipulated timeframe," he said.

A model of a nuclear test at the museum of the Semipalatinsk Test Site, one of the main nuclear test sites of the former Soviet Union. Photo: Reuters.

The interview was published a few days after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the West would directly declare war on Russia if it allowed Ukraine to attack Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles.

Russia has not conducted a nuclear weapons test since 1990, a year before the collapse of the Soviet Union, but some analysts suggest that President Vladimir Putin may order a nuclear test to send a deterrent message to the West if it allows Ukraine to use long-range missiles to attack Russia.

Last November, Putin signed a law withdrawing Russia's ratification of the global treaty banning nuclear weapons testing, aiming to put Russia on par with the United States, which had signed but not ratified the treaty.

Putin said in June that Russia could test a nuclear weapon "if necessary," but currently sees no need to do so.

Hoai Phuong (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nga-tuyen-bo-san-ready-to-take-nuclear-capital-at-any-time-post312859.html