WI: August Coup Results in Civil War: Do Chem/Bio or Nuke Weapons get used?

What if the 1991 August Coup descends the USSR into a civil war? What is the probability of either side using WMDs on the other? What is the consequences (internationally and domestically) of this? Also what is the possibility of terrorists obtaining WMDs as a result of the collapse of the Soviet State.
 
That would be a nightmare scenario. I've read scenarios where if Pakistan was losing control there were plans for the US to use Special Forces teams to take control of Pakistan's nukes. However due to the vast size of the USSR and amount of nuclear weapons spread about the country (and around the world in submarines) there would be no way the US or other outside powers could secure all the weapons.

I wouldn't be surprised if chemical or bio weapons would be used during a civil war as well. Saddam Hussein was willing to use chemical weapons on his own citizens to put down uprisings, all it would take is one party in the civil war to get desperate and use them and then the gloves would probably be off for everyone.

I think the outside world would be much more concerned about the security of all the Soviet nuclear weapons than the Soviets using chemical attacks on each other though. MAD doesn't work with terrorists.
 
I think it's nearly ASB. It's not even MAD, it's just Self Assured Destruction, since either side in the Civil War would want the country intact. Plus, even if they win, nobody would be willing to support a regime that nukes its own people, they'd be couped as soon as they say "I win."
 
Since the Red Army was one of the forces behind the counter coup against the Emergency Committee, the change of WMD used is zero (at most, KGB has a handful of "suitcase nukes" and some toxins and even they mostly stayed at the window).

Let's put things into perspective: KGB men foresaw the "business" that could have been done easily in a post communist regime (local mafias were filled afterwards by ex KGB personnel) and Graciov (defence ministry) was one step from legal troubles (hands found in the jam jar...). Any surprise about the final outcome :D?
 
I think the danger is if things descended into a chaotic civil war with multiple factions rather than two clear cut sides.

If the Red Army stayed cohesive and kept all the WMDs secure then things would be safe, but if troops start defecting, the SSRs start trying to violently break away it is possible some weapons sites wouldn't be properly secured.

For example if minorities that had been brutally repressed under the USSR like Chechens saw a chance to grab some WMDs why wouldn't they?
 
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