All Clear for Nuclear Testing at Novaya Zemlya, Says Russian Head of Test Site
On the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, Russia has the modernized air station Rogachevo and a maintained test site with facilities for test detonation of nuclear bombs, as well as for testing other types of weapons and military equipment. Linked to the military presence is also the modern social infrastructure for families, such as kindergartens, schools, and sports facilities. Military activities on Novaya Zemlya are monitored from the western side with satellites and reconnaissance aircraft. (Photo: Vasilyev Serge, CC BY 2.0)
Russia's nuclear test site at Novaya Zemlya, about 80 miles from Finnmark, Northern Norway, is ready for resumption of full-scale testing activities, according to its head Andrei Sinitsyn. "If the order comes, we can start testing at any moment," he says.
On Tuesday, the Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an interview with Andrei Sinitsyn, head of Russia's central nuclear test site at Novaya Zemlya.
"The test site is ready for the resumption of full-scale testing activities. It is fully ready. Laboratory and testing facilities are ready. The personnel are ready. If the order comes, we can start testing at any moment," says Rear Admiral Sinitsyn.
In the period 1954-1990, 132 tests of nuclear weapons were conducted at this polar archipelago, which is part of Arkhangelsk oblast in northwestern Russia.
Last fall, Russia withdrew from the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1996, which prohibits all types of nuclear testing.
The withdrawal was framed as a measure to bring Russia in line with other nuclear powers, such as the US and China. These two countries have signed, but not ratified the agreement.
The interview with Sinitsyn follows President Vladimir Putin's recent statement that the West will be at direct war with Russia if Ukraine is allowed to attack Russian territory with Western-produced long-range missiles.
If Ukraine were to have such a permit, it cannot be ruled out that Putin would respond by ordering nuclear testing, says analytics to Reuters.
Novaya Zemlya is located in the Arctic Ocean and forms the divide between the Barents Sea in the west and the Kara Sea in the east. In 1961, the largest nuclear test in history was carried out here, then by the 'Tsar Bomba.' (Map: Google Maps)
Adjusting the nuclear doctrine
Russia has the world's largest nuclear weapon arsenal. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has rattled its nuclear weapons several times.
The country is currently revising its nuclear doctrine based on analyses of later conflicts, including the West's actions regarding the Russian "special military operation" in Ukraine, says Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to the Russian state news agency TASS.
The current nuclear doctrine from 2020 says, among other things, that Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to attacks using nuclear weapons and other types of mass destruction weapons against itself or its allies, as well as in the event of aggression against Russia with conventional weapons that could threaten the very existence of the state.
In August 2023, then Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the forces on Novaya Zemlya – and flew over the archipelago's central test site for nuclear test explosions and other weapons testing. Aleksey Likhachev was also part of the flight as the head of Rosatom, a Russian state-owned company responsible for the country's nuclear power activities. (Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense)
Arms control is weathering away
The New START Treaty is the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the US and Russia. It concerns the verifiable reduction and limitation of strategic offensive weapons and was renewed in 2021, with a duration until 2026.
In February 2023, Moscow announced the suspension of the treaty – including inspections from the US side – but added that the country would continue to comply with its restrictions.
More specifically, this agreement regulates the number of deployed intercontinental and submarine-based ballistic missiles, their nuclear warheads and launch platforms, as well as heavy bombers and their nuclear armament.
