Boris Yeltsin can't stop

I was recently watch an old modern marvels episode and this question popped into my head: Back in 1995 a Nowegian science rocket was launched off the coast of Russia, and the Military had thought they were under attack. Boris Yeltsin was almost forced to push the button but fate intervined and stopped him. What would have happened if fate hadn't stopped him? What was the state of the world's nuclear arsenal at that time? Who would most likely get nuked? Finally what would survive?
 

archaeogeek

Banned
Russian nuclear doctrine was extremely complicated and I suspect that had it been to this point, nothing short of a confirmed nuke hit would have convinced the military. But that might be overstating their no first-strike policy. I know they still believed in the possibility of a limited nuclear exchange (soviet strategic planning seemed to expect it to be along the Vistula and the Rhine, more or less).
 
There is no way you'd get full scale escalation over a single missile at this point in time maybe during the Cuban Missile Crisis but not in '95.
 
Alright, what if they had a radar failure and they thought what they saw was the first signs of an attack?
 
Top