Russia planning nuclear strike to counter 'Chinese invasion'? Report shares details of leaked military files

livemint.com:

Financial Times claimed to have access to these "secret" military files through "Western sources". It reveals the criteria set by Russia for the use of nuclear weapons. These files "date back 10 years and more [between 2008 and 2014]".

The report cited experts as saying this "cache of 29 secret Russian military files" remains relevant to current Russian military doctrine. The leaked Russian military files include training scenarios for an invasion by China, the Financial Times reported. The defensive plans expose deeply held suspicions of China among Moscow’s security elite, it added.

Russia and China have deepened their partnership over the years. According to the report, Russian President Vladimir Putin had begun forging a cordial relationship with China, "which as early as 2001 included a nuclear no-first-strike agreement". Even as the two countries became closer, Russia's training materials revealed that the country's eastern military district was rehearsing multiple scenarios depicting a Chinese invasion.

The exercises offer a rare insight into "how it trains forces to be able to carry out a nuclear first strike in some battlefield conditions". There was one exercise that outlined "a hypothetical attack by China". It noted that Russia could respond with a tactical nuclear strike in order to stop “the South" from advancing with a second wave of invading forces, the Financial Times reported.