Russia
Country Spotlight
The Soviet Union’s 1991 collapse made Russia the inheritor of the vast majority of the USSR’s weapons of mass destruction. Although Russia has substantially reduced its stockpiles from Cold War peaks, it still controls one of the world’s largest and deadliest nuclear forces, and deteriorating relations with the United States have stalled further arms control diplomacy.
See Russia's performance in
Region Former Soviet Union
5,580 Estimated nuclear warheads
~1,200 Estimated nuclear warheads awaiting dismantlement
~1,822 Deployed strategic nuclear warheads
521 Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs)
Nuclear
- Inherited approximately 35,000 nuclear weapons after the fall of the USSR
- Limited to 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads under New START Treaty
- World's largest stockpile of non-strategic (tactical) nuclear weapons
- In 2023, Russia announced it was suspending its participation in the New START Treaty and the U.S. has claimed Russia is in non-compliance with its treaty obligations
Russia Nuclear Overview
Biological
- Launched full-scale offensive biological warfare program in 1928
- Continued expansion and modernization of offensive BW program after ratification of the BWC
- Current extent of biological weapons and biodefense programs unknown
Russia Biological Overview
Tutorial on Biological Weapons Nonproliferation
Missile
- Modernizing missile delivery systems with the goal of completely eliminating Soviet legacy systems by 2026
- Developing new ICBMs: The RS-26 Rubezh road mobile ICBM, RS-28 Sarmat heavy liquid-fueled ICBM, as well as the Yars-M, Osina-RV, and Kedr ICBMs
- Deploys 12 submarines of two different classes, each carrying a different model of SLBM
- Has used conventionally-armed ballistic and cruise missiles in its war against Ukraine
- Deployed a new mobile missile defense system, the S-500, around Moscow. Deployed in 2021, but not proven to successfully defend against a hypersonic ICBM reentry vehicle until February 2024.
Russian Ballistic Missile Models
The Global Missile Defense Race: Strong Test Records and Poor Operational Performance
Chemical
- Possessed world's largest chemical weapons arsenal during Cold War
- Announced complete destruction of CW stockpile in 2017
- Accused of developing a new class of nerve agents (Novichok) and using them in the 2018 attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the UK
Russia Chemical Overview
Tutorial on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation
Treaties and Regimes Memberships
A.A. Bochvar High-Technology Scientific Research Institute for Inorganic Materials (VNIINM)
- Location Moscow
- Type Nuclear-Waste Management
- Facility Status Operational
AtomRedMetZoloto (ARMZ Uranium Holding)
- Location Moscow
- Type Nuclear-Mining and Milling
- Facility Status Operational
Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP)
- Location Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast
- Type Chemical
- Facility Status Operational
Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK)
- Location Seversk, Tomsk Oblast
- Type Chemical
- Facility Status Operational
Plesetsk Cosmodrome
- Location Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russian Federation
- Type Missile-Base
- Facility Status Operational
Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK)
- Location Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai
- Type Chemical
- Facility Status Operational
Mayak Production Association
- Location Ozersk, Chelyabinsk Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Enrichment
- Facility Status Operational
N.A. Dollezhal Scientific Research and Design Institute of Energy Technologies (NIKIET)
- Location Moscow
- Type Nuclear-Research and Development
- Facility Status Operational
Machine-Building Plant (Elemash)
- Location Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Weaponization
- Facility Status Operational
National Operator for Radioactive Waste Management (NO RAO)
- Location Moscow
- Type Nuclear-Waste Management
- Facility Status Operational
National Research Center Kurchatov Institute
- Location Kurchatov, Kursk Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Research and Development
- Facility Status Operational
Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute (MIFI or MEPhI)
- Location Moscow, Russia
- Type Nuclear-Education and Training
- Facility Status Operational
I.I. Leypunsky Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE)
- Location Obninsk, Kaluga Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Power Reactor
- Facility Status Operational
State Atomic Energy Cooperation Rosatom
- Location Moscow
- Type Nuclear-Power Reactors
- Facility Status Operational
Urals Electrochemical Combine (Uekhk)
- Location Novouralsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Enrichment
- Facility Status Operational
Urals Elektromechanical Plant (UEMZ)
- Location Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast
- Type Missile-Production
- Facility Status Operational
Start Production Association (PO Start)
- Location Zarechny, Penza Oblast
- Type Missile-Production
- Facility Status Operational
Sever Production Association (PO Sever)
- Location Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast
- Type Missile-Production
- Facility Status Operational
Troitskii Institute of Innovative and Thermonuclear Research (TRINITI)
- Location Troitsk, federal city of Moscow
- Type Nuclear-Research and Development
- Facility Status Operational
Scientific Research Institute for Instruments (NIIP) (Lytkarino)
- Location Moscow Lytkarino, Moscow Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Research and Development
- Facility Status Operational
Zababakhin All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Technical Physics (VNIITF)
- Location Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast
- Type Missile-Production
- Facility Status Operational
All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) (Nuclear)
- Location Sarov, Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Education and Training
- Facility Status Operational
All-Russian Scientific Institute of Measuring Systems (NIIIS)
- Location Sarov, Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Research and Development
- Facility Status Operational
All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) (Missile)
- Location Sarov, Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast
- Type Missile-Research and Development
- Facility Status Operational
Akademik Lomonosov
- Location Pevek, Chukotka
- Type Nuclear-Power Reactor
- Facility Status Construction completed in 2019
Instrumentation Factory (PSZ)
- Location Tryokhgorny, Chelyabinsk Oblast
- Type Missile-Production
- Facility Status Operational
Elektrokhimpribor Combine
- Location Lesnoy, Sverdlovsk Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Enrichment
- Facility Status Operational
All-Russia Research Institute of Automatics (VNIIA)
- Location Moscow
- Type Nuclear-Research and Development
- Facility Status Operational
Central Test Site of Russia on Novaya Zemlya
- Location Novaya Zemlya District, Arkhangelsk Oblast
- Type Missile-Testing
- Facility Status Operational
B.P. Konstantinov St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (IPPN or PNPI)
- Location Gatchina, Leningrad Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Research and Development
- Facility Status Operational
A.P. Aleksandrov Scientific Research Technological Institute (NITI)
- Location Sosnovyy Bor, Leningrad Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Power Reactors
- Facility Status Operational
A.I. Alikhanov Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP)
- Location Moscow
- Type Nuclear-Heavy Water Production
- Facility Status Operational
Fuel Company of Rosatom (TVEL)
- Location Moscow
- Type Nuclear-Fuel Fabrication
- Facility Status Operational
Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Oversight (Rostekhnadzor)
- Location Moscow
- Type Nuclear-Regulatory
- Facility Status Operational
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR)
- Location Dubna, Moscow Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Research and Development
- Facility Status Operational
Afrikantov Experimental Design Bureau for Mechanical Engineering (OKBM)
- Location Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
- Type Nuclear-Power Reactors
- Facility Status Operational
Chepetsky Mechanical Plant (ChMZ)
- Location Glazov, Udmurt Republic
- Type Nuclear-Mining and Milling
- Facility Status Operational
Electrochemical Plant (EKhZ) Production Association
- Location Zelenogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai
- Type Nuclear-Enrichment
- Facility Status Operational
- NTI
- CNS
RussiaA.A. Bochvar High-Technology Scientific Research Institute for Inorganic Materials (VNIINM)
- Nuclear
A.I. Alikhanov Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP)
- Nuclear
A.P. Aleksandrov Scientific Research Technological Institute (NITI)
- Nuclear
Afrikantov Experimental Design Bureau for Mechanical Engineering (OKBM)
- Nuclear
Akademik Lomonosov
- Nuclear
All-Russia Research Institute of Automatics (VNIIA)
- Nuclear
All-Russian Scientific Institute of Measuring Systems (NIIIS)
- Nuclear
All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) (Missile)
- Missile
All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) (Nuclear)
- Nuclear
AtomRedMetZoloto (ARMZ Uranium Holding)
- Nuclear
B.P. Konstantinov St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (IPPN or PNPI)
- Nuclear
Bazalt
- Missile
Central Test Site of Russia on Novaya Zemlya
- Missile
Chepetsky Mechanical Plant (ChMZ)
- Nuclear
Electrochemical Plant (EKhZ) Production Association
- Nuclear
Elektrokhimpribor Combine
- Nuclear
Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Oversight (Rostekhnadzor)
- Nuclear
Fuel Company of Rosatom (TVEL)
- Nuclear
I.I. Leypunsky Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE)
- Nuclear
IGR Nuclear Reactor Complex
- Nuclear
Instrumentation Factory (PSZ)
- Missile
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR)
- Nuclear
Machine-Building Plant (Elemash)
- Nuclear
Mayak Production Association
- Nuclear
Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK)
- Chemical
Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute (MIFI or MEPhI)
- Nuclear
N.A. Dollezhal Scientific Research and Design Institute of Energy Technologies (NIKIET)
- Nuclear
National Operator for Radioactive Waste Management (NO RAO)
- Nuclear
National Research Center Kurchatov Institute
- Nuclear
Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP)
- Chemical
Plesetsk Cosmodrome
- Missile
Red Star
- Missile
Rosenergoatom
- Nuclear
RosRAO
- Nuclear
Scientific Research Institute for Instruments (NIIP) (Lytkarino)
- Nuclear
Sever Production Association (PO Sever)
- Missile
Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK)
- Chemical
Start Production Association (PO Start)
- Missile
State Atomic Energy Cooperation Rosatom
- Nuclear
Troitskii Institute of Innovative and Thermonuclear Research (TRINITI)
- Nuclear
Urals Electrochemical Combine (Uekhk)
- Nuclear
Urals Elektromechanical Plant (UEMZ)
- Missile
Zababakhin All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Technical Physics (VNIITF)
- Missile
Analysis
Russia
Russia Submarine Capabilities
Overview of Russia's submarine capabilities and import-export behavior.
Russian Submarine Models
Nuclear Disarmament Russia
Education Center
Extensive resources on nuclear policy, biological threats, radiological security, cyber threats and more.
Sources
Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, Eliana Johns, and Mackenzie Knight, “Russian nuclear weapons, 2024,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 80, no. 2 (2024), 118-145, https://thebulletin.org.
Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, and Eliana Reynolds, “Nuclear Notebook: Russian Nuclear Weapons, 2023,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 79, no. 3 (2023), 174-199, https://thebulletin.org.
Hans M. Kristensen and Matt Korda, “Russian Nuclear Forces, 2022,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 78, no. 2, 98-121, https://thebulletin.org.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia, Press Statement, “Basic Principles of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence,” Article IV and V, 8 June 2020, www.mid.ru.
United States Department of State, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, “2016 Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments,” 11 April 2016, state.gov.
“OPCW Director-General Commends Major Milestone as Russia Completes Destruction of Chemical Weapons Stockpile under OPCW Verification,” The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, 27 September 2017, www.opcw.org.
United Nations, Security Council, 8203rd Meeting (S/PV.8203), 17 March 2018, pg 10.
На ракетные комплексы «Ярс» перевооружены за пять лет 12 полков РФ,” Izvestia, 7 November 2017, www.iz.ru.
Franz-Stefan Gady, “First Serial-Produced RS-28 Sarmat ICBMs to Enter Service in Russia in 2021,” The Diplomat, 3 February 2020, thediplomat.com.
Pavel Podvig, “Strategic fleet,” Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, 8 April 2016, www.russianforces.org.