Russia's Atomic Nightmare: 100 Missing 'Suitcase' Mini Nuclear Weapons
Story by Peter Suciu
What You Need to Know: The end of the Cold War brought relief, but it also raised concerns about missing Soviet nuclear weapons. Although Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine returned Soviet-era weapons to Russia, fears persist about unaccounted nuclear materials.
-Former Russian security advisor Alexander Lebed once claimed that up to 100 "suitcase bombs" were lost, though Russia denied this.
-More tangibly, two nuclear-armed torpedoes were lost aboard the Soviet submarine Komsomolets in 1989. The sub sank in the Barents Sea, and despite efforts to secure the site, the weapons remain underwater, posing potential environmental risks.
Cold War Legacy: The Search for Missing Soviet Nuclear Weapons
The end of the Cold War likely made many people feel a little safer as it seemed unlikely the world would face nuclear Armageddon, but there was an unforeseen problem: missing nuclear weapons.
Before its collapse in 1991, the Soviet Union produced more than 27,000 nuclear weapons, along with enough weapons-grade uranium and plutonium to build three times more weapons. Because of severe economic distress, widespread corruption, lax security, and dependency on the bureaucratic system, it has been feared that some nuclear weapons and or material may have been lost or stolen.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-s-atomic-nightmare-100-missing-suitcase-mini-nuclear-weapons/ar-AA1rEZ0e?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=2e5186e0a10042369d8cd49ac9e8563a&ei=88
