Putin is the primary decision-maker on the use of Russia's nuclear arsenal. The doctrine said any attack by a non-nuclear power supported by a nuclear power would be considered a joint attack, and that any attack by one member of a military bloc would be considered an attack by the entire alliance, it said.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Ukraine war was escalating towards a global conflict after the United States and Britain allowed Ukraine to hit Russia with their weapons, and warned the West that Moscow could strike back.

A decree signed by the Russian leader, though long planned, came days after President Biden authorized the use of U.S.-supplied missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia.

The attack with an intermediate-range ballistic missile has spurred fears of a major escalation in the ongoing war and prompted Ukraine to request new air defenses.

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons,