Russian President Vladimir Putin has put Russia's nuclear forces in a "special regime of combat duty".  The order means Putin wants Russia's nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch.

 

Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, says the Kremlin and Washington, usually have land and submarine-based capabilities on a hair trigger, but nuclear-capable bombers and other aircraft are not.

 

So what’s behind this latest escalation, and how likely is it to lead us to a massive nuclear showdown? 

 

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