Putin puts Russia’s nuclear forces on alert. What does this mean?

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his defence chiefs to put the country's nuclear "deterrence forces" on high alert. Putin’s this decision came after he accused the West of taking "unfriendly" steps against his country. In Russia, like in the United States, the president has sole authority to order a nuclear strike.

During his televised address announcing the move, Putin indicated he was responding to economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western nations in recent days for his invasion of Ukraine. The US, EU and other Western nations have been imposing economic sanctions including blocking Russian airlines from European airspace, banning Russian media and pledging to deliver more money and weapons to Ukraine.

According to Federation of American Scientists, nine countries possessed roughly 12,700 warheads as of early-2022. Approximately 90 percent of all nuclear warheads are owned by Russia and the US. Wherein, Russia has more than 1,500 warheads deployed and almost 3,000 in reserve. Russia has invested in a variety of ways to employ those warheads, including land-based ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S., submarine-based missiles, and bombs and missiles that could be deployed from aircraft.