Nuclear Strike? Russia Has The Most Nuclear Warheads on Earth

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington DC) Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, a troubling fact compounded by Putin’s consistent threatening rhetoric about the possibility of using such weapons in Ukraine or elsewhere. 

The Details

Details published by the Federation of American Scientists state that Putin controls at least 5,977 nuclear warheads, as compared with the 5,428 controlled by the US.

Alongside the simple question of quantity, there are other pressing concerns related to the Russian nuclear arsenal, such as the amount of tactical nuclear weapons and advanced missiles such as nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles.

Many news reports from Russia’s TASS News Agency have pointed to Russia’s developing Avangard ICBM, which is reportedly capable of reaching hypersonic speeds.  

Does this mean Russia may soon have ICBMs able to cross continents at hypersonic speed? Certainly, the threat of rapid attack is likely to generate concern.

This pertains to the question of “numbers” or the thousands of nuclear weapons possessed by Russia.