The number of operational nuclear warheads increased in 2022 under the impetus of Russia and China

The number of operational nuclear warheads in the world increased in 2022, driven by Russia and China, according to a report published on Wednesday.

As of early 2023, all nine official and unofficial nuclear powers possessed 9,576 ready-to-use warheads136 more than the previous year, according to the report Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitorpublicado por la oenegé noruega Norwegian People’s Aid.

Its destructive capacity is equivalent to “more than 135,000 Hiroshima bombs,” according to the report.

The increase observed in 2022 is due to Russia, which has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world with 5,889 operational warheads, as well as China, India, North Korea and Pakistan.

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This increase is worrying and continues a trend that began in 2017,” said Grethe Lauglo Østern, one of the people responsible for the report.

The report was published against a background of nuclear threats by Moscow, related to its invasion of Ukraine.

On Saturday, the Russian president, Vladimir Putinannounced the upcoming deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, a country located at the gates of the European Union and NATO and a close ally of the Kremlin.

The total stock of atomic weapons, which includes those decommissioned, was however reduced.

Their total number went from 12,705 to 12,512 in one year, due to the destruction of old warheads in Russia and the United States.

The eight official nuclear powers are the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Israel is an unofficial nuclear power.