ministry of defence at chief of the general staff to put the strategic nuclear forces on special alert. russia has the biggest nuclear arsenal in the world and putin wouldn't be the first leader to give the order. in 1945 the us dropped two nuclear weapons onjapan effectively ending the second world war killing over 100,000 people. in 1949 the soviet union tested a bomb at this test site in what is now kazakhstan. then in 1962, the cuban missile crisis almost brought nuclear war between the us and russia, and having come so close in 1968 the world agreed a new arrangement, the nuclear non—proliferation treaty. 191 countries are currently signed up. nuclear powers agreed to reduce their arsenals in exchange for others agreeing not to have them at all. in the 70s, the deals between the us and russia continued, two more focused on long—range missiles, and though the rivalry of the superpowers intensified, in 1991 there was the new start treaty,