Entire swaths of the American midwest
are obliterated. Washington, D.C., London, and Berlin are decimated in fiery
explosions. A quiet rural town in upstate Maine is annihilated. In a matter of
minutes, 50 million people will die. If Russia ever launched nukes, many of its
targets would be within the 3.797 million square miles or 9.834 million square kilometers
that make up the United States. This is because the U.S. has the most powerful military in the
world and is the only country with a nuclear arsenal that rivals Russia’s own. Therefore, as
we examine key locations that Russia would target, we will start in the United States and
then zoom out to the world as a whole. There are very few parts of the United States
that would be safe from destruction if Russia launched a nuclear strike. There would also
be very little the U.S. could do to stop the missiles from striking their targets as they
would descend in overwhelming numbers. New intel identifies some of the first areas
that will be targeted by Russian nukes, and they are not where you might expect.
The question is: will you be safe? We are going to dive right into the key targets
that Russia will strike, but before we do so, let’s look at how we know who will be in danger.
This year, Putin announced that he will suspend Russia’s participation in the New START nuclear
weapons treaty. This treaty was agreed upon in 2011 in hopes of reducing the number of
nuclear weapons around the world. However, now that Putin has declared his country will no
longer abide by the START Treaty, he can increase the stockpile of 5,889 nukes Russia already
has. Only 1,588 of these nuclear weapons are currently deployed, but if Putin is preparing
for nuclear war, this could quickly change. Regardless, having over 1,500 active nuclear
warheads is more than enough to decimate every U.S. and NATO target on the globe. This is why
when Putin said: “To defend Russia and our people, we doubtlessly will use all weapons resources
at our disposal. This is not a bluff,” it was a serious cause for concern for the West. Currently,
Russia has the most nuclear weapons out of any other country, with the United States following
closely behind with around 5,244 nukes. Although, it should be noted that the U.S. is still trying
to decommission and lower the number of nuclear warheads it has while many nuclear countries are
increasing their stockpile,s just like Russia. Some of the locations that will be
targeted are easier to predict than others, but if we listen to what Putin has said
in the past, he has blatantly stated where nukes will be aimed. While talking to
the Russian people on national television, Putin discussed a new hypersonic missile that
could travel 5 times faster than the speed of sound at 3,836 miles per hour or 6,173 kilometers
per hour. He claimed this missile could be fitted with a nuclear warhead. The weapon likely
doesn’t exist in any type of working fashion, but in the announcement, Putin proclaimed
it would be used to strike the Pentagon, Camp David, Jim Creek Naval Radio Station,
Fort Ritchie, and McClellan Air Force Base. These are all military targets, which makes
sense if Russia were to launch nukes. Let’s start by looking at what other military targets
Russia will go after if war breaks out before getting into the major cities, towns, and other
locations that a Russian nuclear attack could target. Like the United States, Russia has
nuclear warheads that vary in yield. We will analyze the destructive power of the RT-2PM Topol
with a yield of 800 kilotons, one of Russia's more common nukes in its arsenal. Later on, we
will examine what would happen if Russia used some of its highest-yield nukes and the massive
amount of death and destruction it would cause. Let’s start with the Pentagon, as we know this
will be one of the main targets for Russia. The Pentagon is the headquarters for the Department
of Defense in the U.S. By destroying it, Russia would deal a significant blow to the
U.S. military’s command structure. This would not fully cripple the U.S. military,
but it would cause a disruption in the leadership of the country. The other
problem with Russia hitting the Pentagon with a nuke is that it would destroy much of
Washington, D.C., the Capital of the nation. There are around 713,000 people living in
D.C., with more than 6,385,000 living in the greater D.C. area. That means if a nuke goes off
over the Pentagon, it will kill around 420,000 people in the initial blast. Estimates put the
total number of injured close to 861,500. The fireball caused by the nuclear explosion would
vaporize the Pentagon and anything within a half-mile radius. The blast damage would extend
4 miles out from the epicenter, which would mean most of Washington’s legislative buildings and
monuments would be destroyed or severely damaged. When looking at the images of the nuclear
explosions that we provide in this video, keep in mind that the innermost circle closest to
the epicenter is the area that will be consumed in the fireball. So, anything inside this circle will
be effectively vaporized. The blueish ring second from the epicenter signifies the area where the
shockwave and air blast from the explosion will cause serious damage that could destroy buildings
and cause flying debris, causing more death and injuries. The third yellowish-colored ring
signifies the area where radiation would be so intense that it could cause third-degree burns.
This is also true of all the areas before it and would also result in harmful mutations in people’s
DNA, which could lead to cancer. The last ring signifies light blast damage that could also still
lead to fatalities. Anyone in any of these circles that survived the initial blast would get a large
dose of radiation and would likely die soon after. The White House is about 2.17 miles from
the Pentagon, so if the President was there, he would be at risk of being killed by the
high-intensity shockwave, although Russia would likely launch a nuke dedicated to hitting
the White House, so the point would be moot. As a result of a nuke hitting the Pentagon, thousands
of government officials and their workers would be killed. The government would go into crisis mode,
and almost all power would be immediately given to the President. If the President was killed
in the blast, the next person in the line of succession would become the Commander in Chief,
which in order would be: the Vice President, Speaker of the House, President pro tempore
of the Senate, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, and so on
until someone who was still alive could take over. Other than taking out the U.S.
capital, Russia would also need to destroy as many nuclear missile silos
as possible in order to have any hope of surviving a retaliatory nuclear strike by the
U.S. This tactic would not be 100% effective, as the United States has too many nukes of
their own, a number of early warning systems, and nuclear missiles aboard submarines in
unknown locations around the world. However, at the very least, Russia would need to take out
as many U.S. nuclear missile silos as possible in the first round of attacks. This means some
pretty remote parts of the U.S. would be targeted. If Russia was hoping to survive the next
few hours, it would need to target all of the United States Minuteman III ICBM
bases. The first one we’ll look at is Malmstrom Air Force Base in the middle of
Montana. Malmstrom has around 3,400 military personnel and about 1,000 civilians working
on the base. However, it is its 150 Minutemen III nuclear missiles that Russia would be
aiming for. Putin will likely order several nukes to be launched at any high-priority
targets, but just one would be devastating. Everyone on the base would be killed
in the initial blast, along with 15,000 people in the nearby towns of Black Eagle
and Great Falls. The number of injured would be around twice as much. The population in the region
isn’t very dense, so the casualties wouldn’t be nearly as high as in a major city, but that is
not the objective of hitting Malmstrom Air Force Base. Russia would only be trying to cripple
the military installation’s ability to launch its Minuteman missiles back at their homeland.
Unfortunately, upon detonation, the water flowing through the Missouri River near the blast site
would immediately evaporate. The water further upstream would continue to flow and eventually
pass through the irradiated landscape around Malmstrom. This water would then carry
radioactive particles downstream and eventually into the Mississippi River. For weeks
and even months, the contaminated water won’t be safe to drink. Wildlife will die of radiation
poisoning even if they are hundreds of miles away from the blast site. However, Malmstrom
isn’t the only military target on Russia’s list. A second key military base that Russia would
target is Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. This installation also contains approximately 150
Minuteman missile silos. Minot doesn’t have as many staff as Malmstrom, with only 3,200 military
personnel and 420 civilian employees. However, the town of Minot itself is more populated than
the area around Malmstrom. This means that the number of casualties will be higher
when the nuke detonates. The number of immediate casualties will be 23,300, with
another 20,000 people suffering injuries from the air blast of the explosion. This entire
region of the country is sparsely populated, so the fallout won’t contaminate as many
people as in other regions, but again, the goal for these nukes is to render the
United States ICBMs in the area inoperable. The final military base that would be a
must-strike location for Russia would be F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. However,
the Minutemen Silos under its control are actually spread between Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska.
This base also oversees around 150 missiles, with 3,360 military members and around 964 civilians
working at the location. Like with the other ICBM missile silos, more than one Russian nuke would
be dedicated to this area, but even just one would cause around 26,600 deaths and 36,380 casualties.
The town of Cheyenne would be decimated, and anyone there at the time of detonation
would likely receive a lethal dose of radiation. Russia would also launch nukes at U.S.
command and control targets across the country. Some of these locations are
more well-known than others. In fact, you might be living near one and not even know it. One obvious target would be the North American
Aerospace Defense Command or NORAD at Peterson Air Force Base. Unfortunately, this
is just outside of Colorado Springs, a heavily populated area in the state. This means
that when a nuke strikes the air force base, it will also decimate much of Colorado
Springs. NORAD is a combined organization that includes the United States and Canadian
employees who oversee aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Canada,
the continental United States, and Alaska. Peterson Air Force Base and the surrounding area
employes or is home to a large number of military service members and civilians who work at the
base. In fact, there are over 8,750 active duty members, 1,325 reservists, 10,200 family members
of the military, and 1,900 civilians in the area. This is on top of the over 23,000 veterans. This
key target for Russia will cost the lives of over 60,000 people and injure close to 200,000. The
eastern portion of Colorado Springs would be decimated, although people in the mountains
to the west of the small city could be spared from much of the fallout as the wind would blow
radioactive particles further east towards Kansas. Then there is Offutt Air Force
Base just outside of Omaha, Nebraska. This is the headquarters of
the United States Strategic Command and would be a very important base for
Russia to take out. The U.S. Strategic Command’s mission is to “deter strategic
attack through a safe, secure, effective, and credible, global combat capability and, when
directed, is ready to prevail in conflict.” So, it’s pretty obvious why Russia would want to
destroy the headquarters of this organization. A nuclear warhead that struck Offutt
would cause a serious breach in U.S. defenses. The blast would kill 40,000 people
almost instantly and injure around 145,000 more. This is because over 32,000
military, civilians, contractors, dependents, and retirees call this area home,
and Omaha is a city of around 500,000. Again, the waters of the Missouri River would quickly
evaporate from the heat, and then the incoming water would become irradiated as it flowed
toward the Mississippi. Strategic Command would be transferred to one of the other 10
combatant command sites in the U.S. to continue preparations for a retaliatory strike. Although
at this point, the U.S. would have launched its own nuclear missiles already as it tried to
wipe out as many Russian targets as possible. Another strategic location that Russia
would aim its nukes at would be rural Maine, almost near the border of Canada. It’s here
that the VLF Transmitter Cutler is located. It’s this station that transmits one-way
communication to submarines in the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Fleet. These transmissions
could reach vessels both on the surface and underwater. It transmits at 24 kHz with an input
power of up to 1.8 megawatts. This means Cutler can only transmit text messages at a low data
rate. The base will be an important target for Russia because it’s this transmission base
that will send launch codes and orders to U.S. submarines with nuclear capabilities in
the Atlantic Ocean. By destroying this base, it will be harder for U.S. command
to contact these submarines. The casualties caused by a nuclear explosion
at the VLF Transmitter Cutler would be minimal due to its remote location. However, the
ocean life and coastal ecosystems of the area will be completely destroyed. Cutler and
the surrounding areas will suffer around 800 casualties from the nuclear blast as the town
itself only has a population of about 500. The counterpart to the VLF Transmitter Cutler is
the Jim Creek Naval Radio Station in Washington State. It’s this facility that sends transmissions
to the submarines in the Pacific Fleet. Obviously, this is another base that the Kremlin would want
to take out so that the U.S. couldn’t send orders to its submarines off the east coast of Russia.
However, like Cutler, the Jim Creek Naval Radio Station is in a remote area, so casualties due
to the nuclear blast will be relatively low. An estimated 400 people would die in
the immediate explosion, and another 10,000 or so would be injured. The forests
of the region would be set ablaze and, depending on the weather, could burn
for weeks. People who survived the blast would flee to the coast and seek shelter on
islands just off the west coast of the state. However, the U.S. has another way to send
messages to its Pacific Fleet. Hawaii sits about 2,000 miles or 3,200 km from the mainland of
the United States. On the island of Oahu is the Lualualei VLF transmitter, which also has the
ability to send orders to the Pacific Fleet. So, Russia would also likely target this location as
well. Hawaii may be one of the most remote island chains in the world, but Russian missiles launched
from subs would still be able to reach its shores. Unlike Cutler and Jim Creek, Lualualei is a
relatively populated area. Oahu is the most populous island in the Hawaiian island chain,
with close to a million people on it at any given time. A chunk of these individuals are
tourists, but Oahu has a decent-sized population on its own. This means that if the Lualualei
VLF transmitter was hit with a nuclear bomb, it would decimate the population
on the western part of the island. Anyone else on Oahu would likely get a huge dose
of radiation as there would be nowhere to hide, and the ocean breeze would sweep radioactive
particles and debris across the island. The immediate death toll would be around 18,500,
with 76,000 more people injured. However, the fact that Oahu is also home to
Pearl Harbor and a number of Naval installations would mean that this island
would likely be hit with several nukes. All of the locations we have discussed thus far
have been key military targets. The cumulative casualties as a result of nukes just hitting these
locals would be in the hundreds of thousands. But if Russia were to launch a nuclear strike, they
wouldn’t just target military installations; they would hit major cities as well. There would
be too much at stake for them to leave major urban centers with large populations unharmed. For each
American that wasn’t killed in the initial nuclear strike, there would be another possible soldier
that Russia would have to deal with down the road. This means there are definitely some key cities
that would be targeted in the initial Russian nuclear strike. The scary part about these targets
is that the casualty numbers would be much, much higher than anything we’ve seen
thus far in the history of humanity. New York City is the financial capital of the
United States and perhaps the world. However, this will not stop Russia
from targeting the island of Manhattan. A nuke detonating
over New York would be disastrous. If Russia was trying to cripple the United
States, it would probably fire a nuke at the Financial District in Lower Manhattan. To be fair,
it doesn’t really matter where a nuke hits in New York City, as the island of Manhattan is only
around 13.4 miles long yet, with a population of 1.63 million. Very few people would be able
to escape the blast of an 800-kiloton nuke. When the warhead detonated, it would immediately
kill around 1.5 million people. Another 3 million would be seriously injured from radiation burns
or collapsed buildings. There are close to 8.5 million people in all five boroughs of New York
City, and between the shockwave, the blinding flash of light, and the flying debris, everyone
in the city would be affected. The medical infrastructure wouldn’t be able to handle all
of the casualties since a lot of major hospitals would have either been destroyed in the blast
or severely damaged. Fires would rage through the city while bridges, tunnels, and evacuation
routes would become gridlocked or impassable. Another aspect of all nuclear explosions is that
an electromagnetic pulse is released that would fry communication and electronic systems.
High-tech medical equipment, computers, and cell phones would no longer work, and
the city’s power grid would go down. It would be like New York City was sent back
to the 1700s. But this would not be the only city decimated by nuclear blasts if
Russia decided to launch a nuclear attack. On the west coast, Los Angeles would
also be a target. LA isn’t as densely populated as New York City, but with
a population of just under 4 million, the City of Angels would see a lot of death
and destruction. When if a nuke went off, it would annihilate pretty much all of Downtown
LA. It would kill over 500,000 people and injure 1.5 million more. According to the city, there
are 5,484,606 automobiles, 123,669 motorcycles, and 1,068,213 commercial vehicles in Las Angeles.
Those that were not incinerated by the fireball would be crashed by blinded drivers or hurtled
across the landscape by the resulting air blast. The city already has water shortages,
and the nuclear explosion would only make things worse. Miles of pipes would be
rendered useless. What little water storage there was would be destroyed. People
would flee the city but would find an inhospitable landscape all around them that
was parched of liquid. The coastal winds would blow the radioactive smoke and soot inland,
covering everything with irradiated fallout. In the middle of the country, Chicago and its 2.7
million residents would be a target as well. When the nuke detonated over the city, it would kill
close to 600,000 people. Although, if downtown Chicago ended up being the epicenter of the blast,
half of the explosion and shockwave would extend into Lake Michigan, which could save the lives of
many to the west of the city. However, even with part of the devastation being over water, over
a million people would be injured in the blast. Between New York, Las Angeles, and Chicago,
the three most populated cities in the country, would be obliterated. Washington, D.C., would
definitely be hit, and many military installations would become nothing but craters with mushroom
clouds rising up above them. Russia would need to go all in if it had any hope of destroying
the United States in a nuclear war. In fact, Russia has enough nuclear warheads to hit major
cities, urban areas, and every military base in the U.S. many times over. A map of targets in
the United States would look something like this. So, it’s clear that no matter
where you are in the United States, chances are there would be a Russian nuke coming
your way if Putin launched his entire arsenal. But it gets worse. Even if you were far away
from all major cities or military targets, the radiation would likely still reach you in the
form of fallout. As debris, smoke, and dust are kicked up into the atmosphere by a nuclear
explosion, irradiated particles are carried long distances by the wind and then fall to the
ground contaminating water, food, and the air. So, really the danger zones extend much further
than just major cities and military bases if Russia decides to launch nukes at the U.S. As
you can see, people who live pretty much anywhere in the Eastern United States will receive an
unhealthy dose of radiation, which is really bad news since around 80% of Americans live East
of the Mississippi. The reason for that has a lot to do with climate and weather patterns,
but that is a discussion for another video. What is important to know is that around 265.6
million people will either be killed, injured, or exposed to radioactive fallout in the
United States if Russia attacks with nukes. But what about the rest of the world? We’ve
focused a lot on the United States because Russia could not hope to win a nuclear war
without targeting the U.S. and the thousands of nukes in its arsenal. Regardless of what the
initial targets of a Russian nuclear attack were, mutually assured destruction is inevitable
at that point. So, Putin may decide to not just target the United States but major
military bases across Europe as well. One main target would be the Allied Air
Command in Ramstein, Germany. The purpose of this military installation is to lead NATO
air and missile defense activities, including 24/7 air policing and monitoring of Alliance
airspace. Therefore, if Russia was planning on launching nukes, this would be one of the
targets outside of the United States on its list. One main aspect of the Allied Air Command’s
job is to monitor the skies for incoming missiles. This means they would be one of
the first to know that Russia launched nukes, but it’s unlikely there would be enough time
to evacuate people before the warheads started falling. When the nuke detonates over the
Allied Air Command base, it would kill around 30,000 people in the blast. But firing nukes at
Eureope is a dangerous proposition because there is a chance at least some of the fallout would
be carried into Russia. But if Putin launches his entire nuclear arsenal, the fallout
would be the least of anyone’s worries. Like with the United States, it’s probable
that Russia would launch nukes at some of the most populated cities in Europe as well.
One target would undoubtedly be London, as the United Kingdom has over 200
nukes of its own. This means that the 8.8 million people living in the
English capital would be at great risk. A nuclear warhead that detonated over London
would vaporize the entirety of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, and many other government
buildings which are concentrated in the center of the city. In the initial blast, 1 million
people would die. In the following moments, another 2.3 million casualties would
be caused by the shockwave. The only structures that would survive the nuke
would be on the outskirts of the city. Like with New York City and other
major urban areas discussed so far, London would be set on fire, and any hospitals
would be completely overwhelmed, that is, if anyone could reach them and there were still
staff alive to tend to the injured. Military and emergency personnel who were not caught in
the multiple attacks across the U.K. would be deployed to urban areas where survivors would
need the most help. Unfortunately for England and the surrounding regions, most of the islands
would be subjected to nuclear fallout. Although, the coastal winds coming off of the
Atlantic could carry a lot of the radioactive particles that had been kicked
up into the sky out into the North Sea. No matter which part of the world or which
way you look at it, Russian nukes being fired at any target is terrifying. But let’s examine a
couple of extreme circumstances. As you’ve seen, there would be more casualties in
some places than in others. But where would the most casualties occur from a single
nuclear strike? For this terrifying scenario, we will have to go to one of the most
densely populated cities in the world. The Philippines is an ally and defense
partner of the United States. In fact, it’s one of the most important alliances
the U.S. has in Asia. Therefore, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that
Russia would fire nukes at the Philippine capital of Manila. Manila is one of the most
densely populated cities on the planet. In 2020 it had 111,532 people per square mile or
43,062 people per square kilometer. However, this is just within the city; it is the metro
area where things start to get really packed. The city of Manila has a population
of around 1.8 million people. However, the Manila Metro Area has a population of
close to 13.5 million people. The Manila Metro Area is about 239 square miles or 620
square kilometers. What this means is that the population density of Metro Manila is 56,485
people per square mile or 21,774 people per square kilometer. Remember that just the fireball of
an 800-kiloton nuke is about one square mile. When you consider just how densely
packed the city and surrounding area are, things start to get out of hand very quickly.
If a Russian nuke detonated over Manila, it would instantly kill around 2.1 million
people. The casualties beyond that would be close to 5 million. The more dense a city is,
the more death and destruction a nuke will cause. But there is another factor at play. Not all of
Russia’s nukes are 800 kilotons. Russia actually detonated the Tsar Bomba, the largest nuke
in the history of the world, on October 30, 1961. This nuclear bomb had a yield of 50
megatons which makes it over 5 times more powerful than the traditional nuclear warheads
we have been discussing in our examples thus far. Supposedly, the USSR only built one
operational Tsar Bomba and 2 prototypes, but this cannot be confirmed as the Kremlin may
have had more constructed that are being stored somewhere in Russia. It’s worth noting that
Russia has several nuclear devices with yields between 1 and 50 megatons that it could fire
at its enemies. But what if it were to drop a bomb similar in scale to the Tsar Bomba? What
would that look like, and what would happen? For this scenario, let’s go back the
New York City. Russia has modified a Tupolev Tu-160 supersonic heavy strategic
bomber to drop a nuclear bomb the size of the Tsar Bomba. The bomb falls towards
the middle of Manhattan and detonates. Most of the island of Manhattan is vaporized by the
fireball created by the massive explosion. The fireball extends 2.87 miles or 4.62 kilometers
from the epicenter. The waters of the Hudson and East Rivers immediately evaporate. The
Island of Manhattan and the surrounding area are nothing more than a smoldering crater
turning the metropolis into hell on earth. Heavy blast damage caused by the air burst from
the detonation knocks over and damages buildings as far as 5.5 miles or 8.9 kilometers away.
The concrete jungle of New York City that once had high rises extending over a thousand feet
into the air is now leveled like a windswept desert. The mushroom cloud from the explosion
reaches 40 miles or 64 kilometers high. It can be seen from hundreds of miles away. Houses
and older buildings as far as 12.8 miles or 20.7 kilometers from the detonation are
knocked down. And thermal radiation with the intensity to cause third-degree burns is
felt as far away as 37 miles or 60 kilometers. Moments after the 50-megaton nuke goes
off, the death toll reaches 7.6 million people. In the coming days, more will
succumb to the radiation and trauma to their bodies. Somewhere around 12 million
people will suffer some type of injury from the nuclear blast. The ground around the
initial blast site will remain irradiated for up to 5 years. A 50-megaton nuke that
is detonated over a city would cause more death and destruction in a few seconds than
conventional weapons could cause in hours. Nuclear war is a terrifying thought that,
hopefully, the world will never need to contend with. If Russia did attack any of the
targets mentioned in this video with nukes, you can be sure that the United States and its
allies would retaliate. All of the catastrophic mayhem we discussed would also be happening
to Russian cities as well. In an all-out nuclear exchange between Russia and NATO, it’s
estimated that when the nukes stop falling, the death toll would reach close to 100 million.
However, this is just a small fraction of how many people would die as a result of the nuclear
winter caused by this series of events. Now watch “How NATO Would Respond
to a Nuclear Strike.” Or check out “This Is How You Actually
Survive a Nuclear Attack.”
