https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1684887/most-powerful-nuclear-warheads-russia-vs-nato-spt
The UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was among a number of panicked ministers who descended on the Pentagon this week for a series of mysterious emergency discussions regarding “security concerns” regarding Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. Mr Wallace ditched meetings with MPs in Britain to head to Washington, with speculation rife over a potential nuclear threat. A source told The Sun earlier this week that the threat had “increased recently”, while a second defence minister, James Heappey, told Sky News the conversations Mr Wallace would be having were “beyond belief”
Serious concerns have been raised about the nuclear arsenal Russia has accumulated and what it would mean to the West were it to be unleashed.
The UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was among a number of panicked ministers who descended on the Pentagon this week for a series of mysterious emergency discussions regarding “security concerns” regarding Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. Mr Wallace ditched meetings with MPs in Britain to head to Washington, with speculation rife over a potential nuclear threat. A source told The Sun earlier this week that the threat had “increased recently”, while a second defence minister, James Heappey, told Sky News the conversations Mr Wallace would be having were “beyond belief”.
Putin himself is under growing pressure to unleash Russia's nuclear weaponry, sparking fears from the West over what impact this could have. The Russian leader has also spoken about his preparedness at launching a nuclear attack to defend Moscow's “territorial integrity”.
So how big is Russia's arsenal of weapons that it could call upon compared to Nato? And what weaponry can it call upon?
The Federation of American Scientists reports that Russia, in total, has a nuclear arsenal of 5,977, which is the biggest on the planet. This compares to the 5,428 owned by the US. By contrast, France has 290, while the UK just 225.
The report suggests that around 90 percent of nuclear weapons are owned by Russia and the US, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists claim Moscow's weaponry includes some 4,447 warheads, of which 1,588 are deployed on “ballistic missiles and at heavy bomber bases”.
The report also notes that there is an “approximate additional 977 strategic warheads, along with 1,912 non-strategic warheads” held for emergencies. The overall numbers, though, are contested by some experts, who argue the true number of warheads is unknown, due to secrecy.