Bofferbrauer2 said:
One may wonder if they have any nukes left considering they're constantly boasting but not following up with anything, including tests... |
Nuclear testing is essentially banned worldwide via treaties and informal agreements. Russia and the USA haven't conducted a test in about 30 uears. And testing nukes is a good way to end up a pariah. Just ask North Korea, the only nation in the 21st century to detonate a nuclear weapon.
Russia is obviously already heavily sanctioned, but conducting nuclear testing would make things much, much worse. Especially with nations like Hungary, Austria, Turkey, and other nations in Europe and abroad who have stayed fairly neutral. And of course there's China, who has made it abundantly clear that nuclear weapons are a major red line with them in this whole situation. Such a thing would royally piss them off, which Russia can't afford.
But perhaps most important of all, nuclear weapons testing has an intensely negative image in Russia and it's CSTO allies, more so than most places, due to the numerous unethical practices surrounding Soviet Russia's testing. Resuming testing would be very unpopular in Russia and would destroy their relationship with Kazakhstan and other CSTO neighbors. Worst of all, the most severe unrest within Russia would be in regions near those pissed off allies as well as Ukraine.
So yeah, don't expect to see resumed testing in Russia (or really any developed nation).
