Following earlier revelations that Russia has adopted a preemptive nuclear strategy, today more analysis by the Russian media suggests the plan calls for a huge adjustment in military and weapons placement. The goal is to have a Russian military that can launch tactical nuclear weapons from any location in the country. This will involve mobile troop placements across Russia with the ability to launch tactical nukes from land, sea, and air.

Russian officials claim a preemptive strike would be used to defend Russia’s territorial integrity, and those of its allies (such as Iran):

“We are not going to attack anyone,” he reassured his audience, “but we want all our partners to realize that Russia will use armed force to defend its own and its allies’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. It may resort to a pre-emptive nuclear strike in cases specified by its doctrine.”

The ramifications of this new policy will require creating vastly mobile units armed to the teeth with nukes:

First, these forces will become strictly offensive because of the very nature of a pre-emptive strike. This will require totally different mobilization plans and a new approach to recruiting for the Army and Navy. Considering the number and geography of military-political conflicts in which Russia is in some way involved, this will require the deployment of mobilized troops on a territory stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific.

It is not difficult to predict the economic consequences Russia would face in this case. But let’s come back to the Armed Forces. Permanent readiness to resolve tasks militarily - by offensive operations in an indefinitely vast number of directions - implies the permanent enhanced combat readiness of all units, without exception. Otherwise the very idea of a pre-emptive strike will not work. For such a policy to be effective, Russia should be ready to deal this strike from a broad diversity of geographical locations on its own territory, neutral air space, and the world’s oceans.

If Baluyevsky’s words are heeded, Russia will have to equip all services of the Armed Forces with permanently combat-ready nuclear weapons.

The world is a powder keg, and all it takes is a crazy move by Iran or China, to trigger reactions by Israel and the US, to trigger the new Russian policy, and ignite World War III.

Read more here: Russian army prepares for nuclear onslaught.