The Russian nuclear weapons arsenal may become unusable due to improper maintenance of nuclear warheads and launch vehicles. This was stated by military expert Oleg Zhdanov, answering questions from viewers on YouTube.

Zhdanov explained that plutonium charges for nuclear weapons need to be periodically updated, since plutonium has a rather short half-life.

"Uranium charges can be stored longer. But today, no one can say for sure how technically sound and suitable they are," Zhdanov said.

He noted that in the case of conventional ammunition, a controlled shooting of a small batch is made to check their suitability. However, with nuclear weapons, this method is not applicable.

A separate question is to what extent Russia complies with the regulatory conditions for storing nuclear devices.

“Considering how money can be stolen in Russia, the storage conditions can be extremely negative,” the expert explains.

• The other day there was information from Norwegian intelligence that Russia, for the first time since the Cold War, put surface ships with nuclear weapons on board into the sea.

• Nevertheless, the White House is confident that Russia will not use nuclear weapons. The Kremlin probably received clear US assurances that such a move would not go unanswered.