Despite their denial in the past, Russia is believed to have a massive arsenal up its sleeve if it needs to hit back at any threats.
An increasing number of nations across the world have become unsettled in recent times, with Russia being locked in a conflict with Ukraine for over a decade.
Couple this with the ongoing war in the Middle East involving the US, Israel and Iran, you'd be forgiven for worrying ever so slightly about how things may escalate to a global scale.
Despite claims from Donald Trump that the war was winding down, one thing we have been made sure of is that Russia still aren't pleased with the West.
Advert
Numerous Putin mouthpieces have come out and issued threats to wipe nations such as the UK, off the face of the Earth, without even a second thought.
UK targets have been revealed in the past, while Russia have also tested their own WW3 sirens in case anything goes haywire - but what does the Eastern European nation have that we should fear?
Back on 31 July, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, warned Trump to 'remember how dangerous the fabled ‘Dead Hand’ can be', which hinted towards a nuclear war between the nations.
Trump had asked for an earlier deadline to end the Russia-Ukraine war, though this was rebuffed and he soon ordered the US military to deploy nuclear submarines.
When mentioning the 'Dead Hand' though, Medvedev spoke of something that Russia has not publicly mentioned since 1985 - it is the nation's secret nuclear weapon.
Former Soviet Colonel Valery Yarynich told Wired in 2009 that he helped to build Russia's 'doomsday machine', which has been kept as a closely guarded system.
Yarynich said that it was made to guarantee an automatic Soviet response if the US were to launch a nuclear strike, regardless of the fact that the Kremlin could be destroyed.
The Dead Hand was once Russia's command and control system, a fully automated retaliation system which can be traced to the imaginary 'Doomsday Machine', which was dreamt up by Herman Kahn, who founded the Hudson Institute.
Russia still has a system deployed called 'Perimeter', which is semi-automated and has human control elements playing its part.
This retaliatory system involves a small number of agents in deep underground bunkers, who assess when they are attacked and help to guide missiles on the surface to launch.
Deployed in 1985, there are believed to be agents who still work in the underground bunkers, looking for the three conditions to be satisfied before launching:
- Confirm whether the Kremlin leadership has authorised the activation of Perimeter
- Confirm communication with the Kremlin leadership and if communication fails, assume that they have been eliminated by an enemy nuclear attack
- Use sensors scattered across the ground to measure flashes, radiation, seismic activity, and other indicators to confirm that a nuclear explosion has taken place
Topics: Russia, World News
Joshua Nair