Remember when Putin's closest political ally talked up Russia's powerful nuclear arsenal?

Russian officials have been making worrying nuclear threats since Moscow ordered the invasion of Ukraine. But few threats have been as concerning as the veiled message conveyed by one of Vladimir Putin's closest political allies when he talked up the power of Russia's nuclear arsenal in November 2023.

Nikolai Patrushev is a name nearly nobody outside of Moscow would recognize but he is one of the most powerful individuals in Russia, and one of Putin’s “few close advisors” according to the Washington Post’s Catherine Belton. 

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Patrushev and Putin have known each other since long before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The pair once served together in the KGB and Patrushev’s political fortunes rose with Putin’s after Putin was elected in Russia. 

Patrushev currently serves as the Secretary of Russia’s Security Council and Newsweek’s Nick Mordowanec noted that he’s been “steadfast in supporting Russia's war in Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion.”

It will come as no surprise then that a man so close to Putin, as well as the security situation in Russia, would publicly speak out about the superiority of the country’s nuclear weapons while attending a public event in Moscow. 

"For the first time in the history of the existence of nuclear missile weapons, our country is ahead of its competitors in this [nuclear] domain," Patrushev remarked at the Znanie expo according to Russia’s state-owned RT outlet. 

Patrushev added that Russia now has “unique strategic weapons, including hypersonic ones” and went on to say that the country’s nuclear weapons system would “guarantee Russia’s security for many decades.”

It’s impossible to know exactly what nasty surprises Russia has waiting for its enemies in its nuclear arsenal but the Federation of American Scientists has estimated that the Kremlin controls roughly 5,889 warheads. 

How many of these warheads are inside the Kremlin’s newest hypersonic missiles is not known publicly but Putin vowed on the anniversary of his invasion that he would  “pay increased attention to strengthening the nuclear triad.”

Reuters noted Putin’s comment was a reference to Russia’s nuclear missiles based on land, sea, and air—and this was a promise that Putin has seemingly kept with the recent testing of a powerful new nuclear missile. 

On November 5th, Russia successfully test-launched the new Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile from the country’s new strategic submarine—the Imperator Alexander III—according to Rebecca Falconer of Axios.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Mil.ru

The test launch came at a time of severely heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, and during a period when Russian legislators were withdrawing from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. 

“This continues Moscow’s disturbing and misguided effort to heighten nuclear risks and raise tensions as it pursues its illegal war against Ukraine,” the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. 

Blinken also expressed the department’s concern about Russia’s plans to withdraw its ratification of the Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, writing it “represents a significant step in the wrong direction, taking us further from, not closer to, entry into force.”

Russia made other bold moves in 2023. Forbes noted Putin unveiled plans for the deployment of Moscow’s long-range RS-28 Sarmat hypersonic missiles and Russia withdrew from the New START nuclear arms control treaty.

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While nuclear war is unlikely, the world doesn’t seem to be moving in the right direction and Nikolai Patrushev could be right when he says that Russia’s nuclear arsenal is now ahead of the country’s competitors. Then again, it could also be a complete fiction.