I noticed something in the recent weeks that attracted my attention. I’ll cite sources first:

“US believes Russia had failed intercontinental ballistic missile test around when Biden was in Ukraine” (CNN)

ACHTUNG: Former KGB Officer Tells German Newspaper That Russia No Longer Has Functional Nuclear Weapons (taken from Bild)

It’s not just those two, because I’ve seen this come up occasionally, but the frequency and focus seem to have increased recently.

You can probable derive correct conclusions – first, it’s complete nonsense because if there’s anything the Russians are prioritising, it’s their strategic nuclear arsenal. Everything else comes second, if even that. Also, it’s little known that the Russians are actually the greatest remaining source/producer of nuclear materials; the Americans became completely dependent on them for many radioactive isotopes. If anyone is in complete control of nuclear technology in all possible aspects at this time, it’s the Russians. The only nuclear warheads that aren’t maintained are those that are not deemed to show perspective within the scope of the nuclear weapons programme. Also, the launch vehicles have been tested, retested and tested again. The Russians have the rocket technology handled; they are about 20 years ahead of everybody else, and don’t even make me laugh with Space X. There’s that nonsense I hear almost every day when I search the web – the assumption that the Russians only have the old Soviet rusted-out crap they can neither understand nor repair anymore. If anything, this is the description of modern America, not Russia. The Russians renewed everything, it’s all brand new technology, and some of it is resurrection of advanced, never realized projects from the Soviet Union – they are in fact far more technologically advanced than the Soviet Union ever was. America, on the other hand, lost many of its capabilities over time and would have to re-invent it all from scratch. The issues they are having with their lunar space programme show that very clearly.

But why am I concerned over some Western idiots showing skepticism over the viability of the Russian nuclear weapons? It should be at the order of magnitude of the Moon landing denial, right? Yes, but with greater consequences. You see, if someone doubts we’ve been on the Moon, the consequences are limited. He’s an idiot, big deal. Same for thinking the Earth is flat. If someone doubts the viability of Russian nuclear weapons, he’s not scared of them, and can’t be persuaded of his error unless the weapons are used at such a massive and obvious scale that neither his opinion nor his life have any meaning at that point.

Let’s elaborate on this further. Let’s say the Russians want to demonstrate their weapons. They launch a rocket from Europe and put it through a basketball hoop in Kamchatka, like they usually do. The skeptic’s answer is that it’s all fake and propaganda, he doesn’t believe it, or it’s one success after a hundred failed attempts. In both cases, he remains inclined to kick the bear in the balls thinking he has no teeth or claws. Also, the skeptic doubts the viability of Russian warheads. The Russians make an underground test. The skeptic claims it’s fake propaganda, probably just an earthquake or one success after hundreds of failures. The Russians then make an atmospheric test. The skeptic says he doesn’t believe it, it’s all CGI, easy to do these days. End result, they keep fucking with the Russians until the Russians destroy their military and the cities, and the Americans have to retaliate; end of civilization as we know it.

I always knew skepticism was a form of mental illness, and I knew it was very dangerous to the spiritual state of the individual who succumbs to it, but it just might get everybody killed. There’s an even more pessimistic (and, unfortunately, also more likely) interpretation of this; the authors aren’t actually skeptical of Russian nukes, they just want to pacify the audience, so that they don’t worry or protest the glaringly obvious danger until it’s too late and the bastards paying them actually push the things over the red line of nuclear war.