In Russia, there is a ritual in the month of August, which is observed almost every year in Russian information space in one form or another, the discussion and condemnation of the "atrocious and criminal" American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

This tradition began and flourished in Soviet time. Its main propaganda task is to convince the Russians once again that the American military (and American imperialism in general) is insidious, cynical, bloody, immoral and criminal.

According to this tradition, in various Russian programs and articles on the anniversary of the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is a “demand” that the United States apologize for this atrocity. In August 2017, various Russian experts, political scientists and propagandists continued this glorious tradition with pleasure.

Against the background of this loud outrage, it is interesting to see how Japanese themselves relate to the need for Americans to apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In a 2016 survey by Britain's Populus, 61 percent of Japanese surveyed thought the US government should formally apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the issue seems to be more of a concern for the Russians than the Japanese.

One of the reasons why 39 percent of Japanese not believe that the US should apologize is that it would open a huge and very unpleasant Pandora's box for the Japanese themselves. They are well aware that imperial Japan was the aggressor, unleashing the Second World War in Asia and against the United States. In the same way, the Germans are well aware that Nazi Germany was the aggressor that unleashed the Second World War in Europe, and few people in Germany today demand an apology from the United States and its allies for the bombing of Dresden.

The Japanese are well aware that if you demand an apology from the United States, then the state of Japan, logically, should officially apologize not only for the attack on the American Pearl Harbor in December 1941, but Japan also needs to apologize to other countries and peoples for the huge number of its crimes committed during World War II, including for:
- 10 million Chinese civilians killed by Japanese soldiers from 1937 to 1945, which is 50 times worse (in terms of the number of victims) of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima;
- 1 million Korean civilians killed, which is 5 times worse (in terms of the number of victims) of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima;
- the murder of 100,000 Filipino civilians in 1945;
- Massacre in Singapore in 1942;
- brutal medical experiments on living people and other types of torture of civilians who were in the territories occupied by Japan;
- use of chemical weapons against civilians;
- forced slave labor of civilians who were in the territories occupied by Japan, and forcing local girls to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers.

And the Russians are also opening their big Pandora's box when they demand an even louder apology from Washington for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The same principle of logic also applies here: if, for example, the United States needs to apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then, in fairness, the state of Russia should officially apologize:
- before the Finns for the baseless invasion of Finland in 1939;
- to Chechens, Ingush and Crimean Tatars for their deportation Soviet authorities during the Second World War, in which about 200,000 civilians from these three nationalities died. This in itself is equivalent (in terms of the number of victims) to the tragedy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki;
- before the citizens of the Baltic States for the Soviet annexation of their countries in 1940 and for the deportation of more than 200,000 citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania;
- in front of all citizens of Eastern Europe for the occupation and the imposition of "communism" on them from 1945 to 1989.

In general, it must be said that the practice of "apologies" is not very used by the leading states of the world, except, of course, when they are defendants in international tribunals.

But at the same time, American exceptions to the rule are:
- President Ronald Reagan's apology to Japanese Americans for keeping them (approximately 100,000 people) in American camps during World War II. (The US also paid $20,000 in compensation to each victim);
- Resolution of the US Congress in 1993 to apologize to the indigenous population of the Hawaiian Islands for the annexation of this territory by Washington in 1898;
- President Bill Clinton's 1997 apology for medical experiments that were carried out in the 1930s on 400 African American men. They were deliberately infected with syphilis without their knowledge in order to study the consequences and new treatments. Allocated $ 10 million to compensate the victims;
- US House of Representatives apology in 2008 for the slavery of African Americans, which was abolished in 1865, and for the system of segregation in southern states countries.

Meanwhile, on last week(on August 15th) it was 72 years since the Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced to the Japanese people over the radio that he had accepted the terms - in fact an ultimatum - from the US and allies, set out in the Potsdam Declaration, to end Japanese participation in World War II war. In other words, 72 years ago, Hirohito officially announced the Japanese unconditional surrender.

As a justification for his decision to surrender, the Japanese emperor delivered two key phrases in his radio address, six days after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

“Our enemy has begun to use a new and terrible bomb that can cause incalculable damage to innocent people. If we continue to fight, it will not only lead to the collapse and complete annihilation of the Japanese nation, but also to the end of human civilization.”

These phrases underscored the dominant role played by the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Hirohito's final decision to accept the unconditional surrender terms of the US and allies. It is noteworthy that in this appeal there was not a single word about the invasion Soviet troops to Manchuria, which began on August 9, 1945, or, after it, about a new upcoming large-scale war with the USSR as an additional factor in his decision to capitulate.

For the 72nd anniversary of the announcement of Japan's surrender, the following two issues are discussed again:
1) Were the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary and justified 72 years ago?
2) Was it possible to achieve the surrender of Japan in other, less terrible ways?

I must say that in America itself, these two issues remain controversial to this day. According to a survey conducted in 2015 by the American agency Pew Research, 56% of those surveyed considered the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified, 34% - unjustified and 10% found it difficult to answer.

For me, this is also a difficult, complex and controversial issue, but if I had to choose, I would still join the 56% of Americans who consider the use of atomic bombs justified. And my main thesis is this:

1. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were certainly a terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of approximately 200,000 civilians, and evil;

2. But US President Truman chose the lesser of two evils.

Incidentally, four days before the reset atomic bomb to Hiroshima, the USA, the USSR and Britain together, during Potsdam conference, announced an ultimatum to Japan about its surrender. If Japan had accepted this ultimatum, she could have avoided the tragedy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But, as you know, at that moment she refused to surrender. Japan accepted that joint American, British and Soviet ultimatum only six days later after American atomic bombings.

It is impossible to discuss - let alone condemn - Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a vacuum. It is necessary to analyze this tragedy in the context of everything that happened in Japan and in the territories it occupied from 1937 to 1945. As a militaristic, extremist, and essentially fascist regime, Imperial Japan was the clear aggressor in World War II not only in Asia but also in the United States, and committed a myriad of war crimes, genocides, and atrocities during that war.

The surrender of Nazi Germany was achieved on May 8, 1945, ending World War II in the European theater of operations. Three months later, the main question before the United States and allies, exhausted after four years of the most difficult world war in Europe and Asia, was the following - how and how hurry up put an end to World War II and in the Pacific theater with minimal losses?

By August 1945, between 60 and 80 million people in total had already died in this deadliest war in the history of mankind. To second World War in Asia did not last a few more years, and in order not to kill several million more people, President Truman made the difficult decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

If the Americans - together with the USSR - tried to achieve the surrender of Japan in another way - that is, a long ground war on the main Japanese islands - this would most likely lead to the death of several million people from the Japanese, American and even Soviet sides (both military and and civil).

It is likely that the hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers who began fighting on August 9, 1945 against the Japanese army in Manchuria would also have died. It is noteworthy that only during the 11 days of this operation (from August 9 to 20) about 90,000 people from the Japanese and Soviet sides died. And imagine how much yet soldiers and civilians on both sides would have died if this war had continued for a few more years.

Where does the thesis come from that "several million people from three sides" would die if the US and the USSR had to conduct a full-scale ground operation on the main Japanese islands?

Take, for example, the bloody battle on the island of Okinawa alone, which lasted three months (April to June 1945) and killed approximately 21,000 American and 77,000 Japanese soldiers. Given the short duration of this campaign, these are huge losses - and even more so since the ground military campaign on Okinawa, the southernmost of the Japanese islands, was conducted "in the backyard" of Japan.

That is, on one rather small remote island of Okinawa, almost 100,000 people died in this battle in just three months. And American military advisers multiplied by 10 the number of people who would probably have died in a ground operation on the main Japanese islands, where the lion's share of the Japanese military machine was concentrated. We must not forget that by the beginning of August 1945, the Japanese war machine was still quite powerful with 2 million soldiers and 10,000 warplanes.

Just a week after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered unconditionally. Of course, the significance of the opening of the Soviet "northern front" in Manchuria on August 9, 1945 cannot be underestimated. This fact also contributed to Japan's decision to capitulate, but it was not the main factor.

At the same time, of course, Washington also wanted to send Moscow a signal of "indirect deterrence" with these atomic bombings. But this was not the main motive of the United States, but most likely it was done "at the same time."

It is necessary to analyze the tragic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the broad context of the Japanese imperial spirit of militarism, extremism, ultra-nationalism, fanaticism and their theory of racial superiority, accompanied by genocide.

For many centuries before the Second World War, Japan developed its own specific military code "Bushido", according to which the Japanese military was obliged to fight to the very end. And to surrender under any circumstances was to completely cover oneself with shame. According to this code, it was better to commit suicide than to surrender.

At that time, to die in battle for the sake of the Japanese emperor and the Japanese empire was the highest honor. For the vast majority of the Japanese, such a death meant instant entry into the "Japanese imperial paradise." This fanatical spirit was observed in all battles - including in Manchuria, where mass suicides among the Japanese civilian population were recorded in order to get rid of the shame - often with the help of the Japanese soldiers themselves - when Soviet soldiers began to advance into territory that until that moment controlled by the Japanese army.

The atomic bombings were, perhaps, the only method of intimidation that nevertheless made it possible to break this deep-rooted and seemingly unshakable imperial and militaristic fanaticism and achieve the capitulation of the Japanese regime. Only when the Japanese authorities clearly understood in practice that after Hiroshima and Nagasaki there could have been several more atomic strikes on other cities, including Tokyo, if Japan had not immediately capitulated. It was this fear of complete, instant annihilation of the entire nation that the emperor expressed in his radio address to the Japanese people about surrender.

In other words, the American atomic bombing was most likely the only way to force the Japanese authorities to peace so quickly.

It is often claimed that Hirohito was ready to capitulate even without the American atomic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nothing like this. Prior to the dropping of the atomic bombs, Hirohito and his generals fanatically adhered to the principle of "ketsu go" - that is, to fight at any cost to the bitter end - and even more so since the Japanese military was mostly dismissive of the military spirit of the Americans. The Japanese generals believed that the Americans would certainly get tired of this war much sooner than the Japanese soldiers. The Japanese military believed that they were much tougher and braver than American soldiers and could win any war of attrition.

But the atomic strikes also broke this Japanese faith.

After the surrender of Japan, imperial Japan ended its bloody, militaristic and fanatical past, after which it - with the help of the United States - began to create a democratic, free and prosperous society. Now Japan, with a population of 128 million, ranks third in the world in terms of GDP. What's more, Japan's per capita gross domestic product is $37,000 (about twice the Russian figure). From a damned, criminal outcast of the whole world, Japan in a short time has turned into a leading member of the Western economic and political community.

Here a direct analogy with Germany arises. After the capitulation of Germany, the United States helped to restore Germany as well (though only half of Germany, since East Germany was occupied by the USSR). Now Germany, like Japan, is a democratic, free and prosperous country, and also a leading member of the Western community. Germany ranks 4th in the world in terms of GDP (right behind Japan, which ranks 3rd), and Germany's GDP per capita is $46,000.

It is interesting to compare the difference between how the US treated the losing Japan and (West) Germany in the years following World War II, and how the Soviet Union treated the Eastern European countries, with all the consequences that entailed.

Although Germany and Japan were bitter enemies of the US during World War II and were subjected to brutal US air strikes - and not only in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Tokyo and Dresden - they are now the United States' biggest political allies and business partners. In the meantime, most countries in Eastern Europe still have a negative and very wary attitude towards Russia.

If we simulate a similar situation and assume, for example, that it was not the Americans who created the first two atomic bombs in 1945, but Soviet scientists in the spring of 1942. Imagine that the top of the Soviet leadership would have turned to Stalin with the following advice in the spring of 1942:

“For 9 months we have been fighting against the Nazi invaders on the territory of our Motherland. We already have colossal losses: human, military and civil-infrastructural. According to all leading military experts, in order to achieve the surrender of the Nazis, we will have to fight against Germany for another 3 years (even if the United States ever opens western front). And these three years of war will entail much more losses (from 15 to 20 million dead) and the complete destruction of our infrastructure in the European part of the USSR.

“But, Iosif Vissarionovich, we can find a more rational way to win and quickly put an end to this terrible war if we launch nuclear strikes on two German cities. Thus, we will immediately get the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany.

“Although approximately 200,000 German civilians will die, according to our estimates, this will save the USSR from colossal losses, due to which it will take decades to restore the country. With nuclear bombardments on two German cities, in a few days we will achieve what would take several years of a bloody and terrible war.

Would Stalin have made the same decision in 1942 that President Truman had made in 1945? The answer is obvious.

And if Stalin had the opportunity in 1942 to drop atomic bombs on Germany, about 20 million Soviet citizens would have survived. I think that their descendants - if they were alive today - would likewise join those 56% of Americans who today consider the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified.

And this hypothetical illustration highlights how politically rigged, false and hypocritical was the proposal of Sergei Naryshkin, the former chairman of the State Duma, when he made a loud proposal two years ago to create a tribunal against the United States for their "war crimes" committed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 72 years ago back.

But another question arises. If we are to hold a tribunal over the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - no matter what the verdict is - then, in fairness, it is also necessary to hold tribunals over Moscow on a huge number of criminal cases during World War II and after it - including under a secret protocol in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939 and the division (together with Hitler) of this country, on the Katyn execution, on the mass rape of women by Soviet soldiers during the capture of Berlin in the spring of 1945, and so on.

And how many civilians died because of the military actions of the Red Army during World War II? And what would Mr. Naryshkin say if it nevertheless turned out at the tribunal over Moscow (after the tribunal over the USA was held) that Soviet troops killed more civilians than American troops - including all the US airstrikes on Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Dresden, Tokyo and all other cities combined?

And if we are talking about a tribunal over the United States for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then it is necessary, logically, to hold a tribunal also against the CPSU, including for:
- for the Gulag and for all the Stalinist repressions;
- for the Holodomor, which killed at least 4 million civilians, which is 20 times worse (in terms of the number of victims) of the tragedy in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. (By the way, 15 countries of the world, including the Vatican, officially classify the Holodomor as genocide);
- for the fact that in 1954 in the Orenburg region 45,000 Soviet soldiers were driven through the epicenter of a nuclear explosion just carried out in order to determine how long after an atomic explosion one could send their troops on the offensive;
- for the massacre in Novocherkassk;
- for the downing of a South Korean passenger plane in 1983 ... and so on.

As the saying goes, "what they fought for, they ran into." Does the Kremlin really want to open this enormous Pandora's box? If this box is opened, Russia, as the successor to the USSR, will definitely be in a losing position.

It is obvious that the deliberate hype around the need for a US tribunal in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki case was a cheap political stunt aimed at once again inflaming anti-Americanism among Russians.

It is noteworthy that it is Russia that is shouting loudest and most pathetically about this tribunal over the United States - although this idea does not find support in Japan itself. On the contrary, Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma, for example, stated two years ago that the dropping of atomic bombs helped end the war.

It's true: two atomic bombs really helped end this terrible war. You can't argue here. The only controversial point is whether atomic bombs were decisive a factor in Japan's surrender? But according to many military experts and historians around the world, the answer to that question is a resounding yes.

And not only the world's leading experts think so. A rather large percentage the Japanese themselves also think so. According to Pew Research polls in 1991, 29% of Japanese respondents believed that American atomic attack Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified because it ended World War II. (Although in 2015, this percentage dropped to 14% in a similar survey).

These 29% of the Japanese answered this way because they realized that they survived because the Second World War in Japan ended in August 1945, and not a few years later. After all, their grandparents might well have become victims of this war if the United States had abandoned dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and instead decided to send its troops (along with Soviet troops) to the main islands of Japan for a long and bloody ground operation. It turns out such a paradox: since they survived the Second World War, these 29% of those surveyed could, in principle, participate in this poll about justifying the atomic bombings of their cities - in many ways thanks to the same bombings.

These 29% of the Japanese, of course, like all Japanese, mourn the loss of 200,000 peaceful compatriots in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But at the same time, they also understand that in August 1945 it was necessary to destroy this extremist and criminal state machine, which unleashed the Second World War throughout Asia and against the United States, as soon and decisively as possible.

In this case, another question arises - what is the true motive for such a pretentious and feigned "deep indignation" Russian politicians and Kremlin propagandists in relation to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

If we are talking about the creation of a tribunal over the United States, this perfectly distracts attention, for example, from the proposal, which is very inconvenient for the Kremlin, to create a tribunal in the case of a civilian Boeing shot down over Donbass last year. This is another translation of the arrows to the United States. And at the same time, Naryshkin's proposal can once again show what kind of murderous criminals the American military are. There can be no overkill in principle, according to the Kremlin propagandists.

The theme of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was manipulated and inflated during the decades of the Cold War during the Soviet era. Moreover, Soviet propaganda hushed up the fact that it was Japan, having attacked the United States in December 1941, that dragged the United States into World War II.

Soviet propaganda also hushed up the important fact that American troops fought on a full scale against the Japanese army from 1941-45 in the wide and heavy Asian theater of operations, when the Americans simultaneously fought against Nazi Germany not only on the seas and in the air. The United States also fought against Nazi Germany and its allies on the ground: in North Africa (1942-43), in Italy (1943-45) and in Western Europe (1944-45).

Moreover, the United States, having the status of non-belligerent (not at war) in 1940, helped Britain in every possible way military equipment to defend against the Nazis, starting in 1940, when Stalin and Hitler were still allies.

At the same time, Soviet propaganda was fond of repeating that the American atomic bombings of Japan could not be considered otherwise than a war crime and "genocide", and there could be no other opinion on this issue. Now Russian politicians and pro-Kremlin political scientists continue the same propaganda campaign against the US in the worst tradition of the USSR.

Moreover, many of them say, there remains a real danger that the United States may well repeat Hiroshima and Nagasaki - and inflict the first, preemptive nuclear strike on Russian territory (!!). And even supposedly there are specific American plans for this, they warn menacingly.

It follows from this that Russia needs to go all out and spend about $80 billion every year on defense in order to put the Russian Federation in third place (after the US and China) in military spending. Such spending is needed, say leading pro-Kremlin military experts, to counter their "master enemy" who is threatening Russia with a nuclear apocalypse.

Like, the homeland still needs to be defended, if "the nuclear enemy is at the gate." The fact that the principle of mutually assured destruction still precludes any nuclear strike against Russia apparently does not bother these political scientists and politicians.

Countering not only nuclear, but also all other imaginary threats to the United States is almost the most important external and internal political platform of the Kremlin.

The 72nd anniversary of the surrender of Japan provides us with an excellent opportunity to analyze and appreciate the high political and economic development this country after being completely destroyed in World War II. Similar success has also been achieved in Germany over the past 72 years.

Interestingly, however, many in Russia give a very different assessment of Japan and Germany - namely, that they are in fact "colonies" and "vassals" of the US.

Many Russian jingoistic patriots believe that it is better for Russia not the "rotten, bourgeois" modern Japanese or German path of development, but its own "special path" - which, first of all, automatically means a policy that actively opposes the United States.

But where will such a dominant state ideology lead Russia, based on inciting anti-Americanism and creating an imaginary image of the enemy?

Where will Russian obsession with US resistance, which is based on building up its military-industrial complex to the detriment of developing its own economy, lead?

Such a "special path" will only lead to confrontation with the West, isolation, stagnation and backwardness.

At best, it's a special road to nowhere. And at worst - in degradation.

Nuclear war is one of the most common and real options for the end of the world. This manual will briefly tell you how to protect yourself from the consequences of a nuclear apocalypse.

So, comrades, you live your measured life, go to work / study, make plans for the future, and suddenly this harsh moment has come - the nuclear apocalypse. Hundreds of nuclear "Polaris", "Tridents" and other global sowers of democracy with a joyful whistle flew to the borders of our country. This whole "overseas gift" will arrive in about 30 minutes - about the time it takes for a rocket to fly from the launch silo to the "recipient". And a completely natural question arises: "What to do?" (Of course, after the question - "Why did this happen to me?"). First of all, comrades, do not really hope to quickly go to another world and light it up with angels / devils / houris. There are not so many thermonuclear munitions in the world, and they will be spent primarily on the destruction of retaliatory strike weapons hidden in the depths Siberian ores/ in the expanses of Texas and Oklahoma. Democracy and spirituality will be delivered to the bulk of the population by "usual" versions of this subject, that is, by nuclear devices.

For starters, despite statements such as: "In Russia, everything is through the wrong place," early warning and civil defense systems still work, and are even being modernized little by little. So you will be warned. They will warn you in the most simple and intelligible form, you do not need to memorize any three green whistles. The horns of the public address system that hang on houses and at all intersections will simply roar (no, these are not scenery Soviet period), after which the voice of an elderly frightened aunt (or a variant - a wooden military uncle) will utter the words: "ATTENTION EVERYONE !!" and in the same voice it will be stated what kind of apocalypse is approaching us. In our case, it will be about a nuclear missile attack. If you heard a signal, but it's far from the swear-box, turn on the radio or the zombie box - it will be the same on all channels. The voice, by the way, will also give advice on how to behave and where to run, as long as it has time. Then he will be silent forever.

On the first day after the impact, the speed of movement will be vital - scrabble away from the epicenter, every kilogram of weight taken will directly affect your chances of surviving and the rest of your life later. You should definitely take documents with you: passports, birth certificates (if you are a schoolboy or vice versa, you have already planed your Pinocchio), registration certificate / military ID. Do not think that after the blow, mother-anarchy will come, some kind of power will surely survive, like its tools: the police, the army, officials, and all of them will check the documents first. Persons without documents will be stuffed into filtration camps, and if they behave inappropriately, they can be soaked - citizens in uniform will also be very nervous. Take the money - communism will not come either. Food - to eat until you leave the zone of infection, you still can’t, and you won’t take it out of it “clean”. Household radiation dosimeters are practically useless if it does not turn sour from an electromagnetic pulse and penetrating radiation, their sensor is still not designed for action in conditions of severe infection, it quickly degrades and will show delirium. Unless then to get food and water to check, but the batteries will sit down quickly. The devices of nuclear scientists and the military require certain knowledge, and most importantly, they are heavy - the weight has already been said. But be sure to take the radio receiver, just disconnect the antenna and the battery, otherwise it will burn out from the pulse. And don't forget the map of the city and its immediate surroundings, if available.

Leave your cell phone at home - cellular networks will be turned off once and for all. Due to objective reasons, immediately after the alarm, it is most likely that you will not be able to get through anywhere. About special drugs-antirads: for sure they will slip expired, improperly stored. In general, then contact the military or the Ministry of Emergencies, they will give you something suitable and in the right concentration (by the way, about swell: vodka does not remove radiation! It reduces its damaging effect, so you need to thump before, not after, but it’s better not to , because you won’t be able to run fast anymore - and this is important). Immediately, as soon as all this nuclear rigmarole subsides, there is a choice of two options ..

Option number 1: Sit in the basement for as long as there is enough air and grub. In the first day after the impact, radiation levels are expected in the surrounding area, at which the existence of protein bodies is very difficult. Remember - the great law of half-life works for you, according to which the level of radiation will steadily subside. In addition, not everyone is able to quickly cover the 10 to 20 kilometers of cross-country required to escape from an area with a deadly level of infection. If we assume that the explosion was just nuclear (if it was still thermonuclear, in which case you are already dead and you don’t care), then already at a distance of 500 meters from the epicenter, just an hour after the explosion, the radiation level will not exceed 1 R / h. This level of radiation already poses a small threat to life. At a distance of 1 km, the radiation level in an hour will be completely less than 0.1 R / h. The danger is only the ingress of radioactive dust into the body (but you will die from this not immediately, but after years). So, if there is a respirator, there is no point in sitting in anticipation of a drop in the level of radiation for more than an hour. A respirator or gas mask is your best friend in this case. Yes! You also need to choose the right direction in which to drape, otherwise you can run completely where you don’t need to.

Option number 2: It comes from the fact that it will not be possible to sit out in the basement, you should get out and move further, while you can still walk. If there is gas in your house, you will have to get out immediately, otherwise you will quickly feel like a grilled chicken. However, even without gas, fires will pose a much more obvious threat than radiation. If the basement is completely filled up, breathing problems will quickly begin, and if it is plowed up by a shock wave, its remains will not protect against radiation. Absolutely cosmic levels of radiation will be closer to the epicenter than your basement (since you survived the penetrating and shock waves in it), and in the first hours after the explosion, the bulk of the radioactive shit is still hanging high in the atmosphere. It is quite possible to leave the most dangerous zone of infection during this time.

Regardless of when you got out, determine from the blockage of surrounding buildings where the shock wave came from, and quickly stomp in the opposite direction, but towards the exit from the city (only not in the wind!). Do not get too distracted by saving others, in general - stay away from people who have obvious signs of falling under the distribution - severe burns, torn off paws, etc. You will not save them, just die yourself, because they are already self-propelled Chernobyls, and not people. The faster you get out of the city, the less radiation you pick up, and the less likely you are to fall under a second blow.

The main threat in the first few days will be dust enriched with both primary nuclear fission products and secondary sources. Inhaling it or swallowing it means passing radiation directly to vital organs, and it is extremely undesirable to contact it with bare skin. Do not breathe through your mouth and in general breathe only through a rag, do not eat, drink only tap water, at worst running water (unless, of course, it flows from the side of the last observation of mushroom clouds), do not sit / lie down on the ground, avoid lowlands (there will be the highest concentrations canoe), do not go downwind unless this is the only available direction from the epicenter. Excretory processes hold back as long as possible. The worst thing that can happen is that it will rain and this rain will be so vigorous that at the first sign of it, immediately hide under awnings, trees, etc.

As you get out of the city so that the city is barely visible, turn on the radio and listen to alerts. The army and other services will arrange public service points, look at the map, which is the closest, and stomp there. A real paranoid will find out in advance the collection points, they will tell you about them at the local Ministry of Emergencies - the main thing is to inquire in advance. Upon arrival, go through control (remember or write down the results), decontamination - eat the medicines given out, take off and throw away outer clothing. Further, little will depend on you, just do not worsen the situation, especially with cries like: "Everything is lost !!" - this is breeding panic, they have the right to shoot. Help (or at least don't interfere with) those who save you.

Most civil defense shelters built from the late 1970s to the present for civilians are designed for a shock wave pressure of 0.1 MPa ( type A-I V), and now only this type is being built. The best and smallest shelters (type A-I) - by 0.5 MPa, 0.3 MPa (A-II), 0.2 MPa (A-III). But do not flatter yourself: as a rule, the stronger the shelter, the more strategic the object next to it, which means the higher the probability of a pinpoint strike on the object. Since the late 1950s, facilities for 0.15 and 0.3 MPa have been built. Pre-war structures were not designed for a nuclear explosion, but some shock wave, not more than 0.5 MPa, rather 0.1 - 0.2 MPa, ordinary basement shelters will withstand. More durable defenses, except for the metro, are not intended for us, ordinary citizens. In the 1960s - 1970s, shelters of the fifth class (0.05 MPa), fourth (0.1 MPa), third class 0.4 - 0.5 (MPa), second and first classes were built - this is the metro and some special bunkers . Subway stations located at a depth of about 20 meters (second-class shelters) will withstand not only in the epicenter of the air, but even in the immediate vicinity of a small-caliber ground explosion (up to 10-15 kilotons). Deeply located, over 30 m stations and tunnels (first-class shelters) will withstand a medium-caliber explosion (with a capacity of up to 100 kilotons) in the immediate vicinity. In the immediate vicinity - does not mean that directly under the explosion, it is somewhere in a few tens - a hundred or two meters from the boundaries of the funnel; 15 kt in an explosion on the surface is a funnel 22 m deep and 90–95 m in diameter, 100 kt, respectively, 42 m and 350 m.

Nuclear weapons have been used for combat purposes only twice in the history of mankind. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 showed how dangerous it could be. It was the real experience of using nuclear weapons that could keep two mighty powers (USA and USSR) from unleashing a third world war.

Bomb drop on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Millions of innocent people suffered during World War II. The leaders of the world powers put the lives of soldiers and civilians on the cards without looking, in the hope of achieving superiority in the struggle for world domination. One of the worst disasters ever world history was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as a result of which about 200 thousand people were destroyed, and the total number of people who died during and after the explosion (from radiation) reached 500 thousand.

Until now, there are only assumptions that forced the President of the United States of America to order the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Did he realize, did he know what destruction and consequences would be left after the explosion of a nuclear bomb? Or was this action intended to demonstrate military power in front of the USSR in order to completely kill any thoughts of attacks on the United States?

History has not preserved the motives that moved the 33rd US President Harry Truman when he ordered a nuclear attack on Japan, but only one thing can be said with certainty: it was the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that forced the Japanese emperor to sign the surrender.

In order to try to understand the motives of the United States, one must carefully consider the situation that arose in the political arena in those years.

Emperor of Japan Hirohito

The Japanese emperor Hirohito was distinguished by good inclinations of a leader. In order to expand his lands, in 1935 he decides to seize all of China, which at that time was a backward agrarian country. Following the example of Hitler (with whom Japan entered into a military alliance in 1941), Hirohito begins to take over China, using methods favored by the Nazis.

In order to cleanse China of indigenous people, Japanese troops used chemical weapons, which were banned. Inhuman experiments were carried out on the Chinese, which aimed to find out the limits of the viability of the human body under different situations. In total, about 25 million Chinese died during the Japanese expansion, most of whom were children and women.

It is possible that the nuclear bombing of Japanese cities could not have taken place if, after the conclusion of a military pact with Nazi Germany, the emperor of Japan would not have given the order to launch an attack on Pearl Harbor, thereby provoking the United States to enter World War II. After this event, the date of the nuclear attack begins to approach with inexorable speed.

When it became clear that the defeat of Germany was inevitable, the question of the surrender of Japan seemed to be a matter of time. However, the Japanese emperor, the embodiment of samurai arrogance and a true God for his subjects, ordered all the inhabitants of the country to fight to the last drop of blood. Everyone, without exception, had to resist the invader, from soldiers to women and children. Knowing the mentality of the Japanese, there was no doubt that the inhabitants would fulfill the will of their emperor.

In order to force Japan to capitulate, drastic measures had to be taken. The atomic explosion that thundered first in Hiroshima, and then in Nagasaki, turned out to be exactly the impetus that convinced the emperor of the futility of resistance.

Why was a nuclear attack chosen?

Although the number of versions why a nuclear attack was chosen to intimidate Japan is quite large, the following versions should be considered the main ones:

1. Most historians (especially American ones) insist that the damage caused by dropped bombs is several times less than a bloody invasion of American troops could bring. According to this version, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not sacrificed in vain, as it saved the lives of the remaining millions of Japanese;
2. According to the second version, the purpose of the nuclear attack was to show the USSR how perfect the US military weapons were in order to intimidate a possible adversary. In 1945, the US President was informed that the activity of Soviet troops was noticed in the border area with Turkey (which was an ally of England). Perhaps this is why Truman decided to intimidate the Soviet leader;
3. The third version says that the nuclear attack on Japan was the revenge of the Americans for Pearl Harbor.

At the Potsdam Conference, which took place from July 17 to August 2, the fate of Japan was decided. Three states - the USA, England and the USSR, led by their leaders, signed the declaration. It talked about the sphere of post-war influence, although the Second World War was not yet over. One of the points of this declaration spoke of the immediate surrender of Japan.

This document was sent to the Japanese government, which rejected the proposal. Following the example of their emperor, the members of the government decided to continue the war to the end. After that, the fate of Japan was sealed. Since the US military command was looking for where to use the latest atomic weapons, the president approved the atomic bombing of Japanese cities.

The coalition against Nazi Germany was on the verge of breaking (due to the fact that one month remained before victory), the allied countries could not agree. The different policies of the USSR and the USA eventually led these states to the Cold War.

The fact that US President Harry Truman was informed about the start of nuclear bomb tests on the eve of the meeting in Potsdam played an important role in the decision of the head of state. Wanting to scare Stalin, Truman hinted to the Generalissimo that he had a new weapon ready, which could leave huge casualties after the explosion.

Stalin ignored this statement, although he soon called Kurchatov and ordered the completion of work on the development of Soviet nuclear weapons.

Having received no answer from Stalin, the American president decides to start the atomic bombing at his own peril and risk.

Why were Hiroshima and Nagasaki chosen for the nuclear attack?

In the spring of 1945, the US military had to select suitable sites for full-scale nuclear bomb tests. Even then, it was possible to notice the prerequisites for the fact that the last test of the American nuclear bomb was planned to be carried out at a civilian facility. The list of requirements for the last test of a nuclear bomb, created by scientists, looked like this:

1. The object had to be on a plain so that the blast wave was not interfered with by uneven terrain;
2. Urban development should be as wooden as possible so that fire damage is maximized;
3. The object must have a maximum building density;
4. The size of the object must exceed 3 kilometers in diameter;
5. The selected city should be located as far as possible from the military bases of the enemy in order to exclude the intervention of the enemy military forces;
6. For a blow to bring maximum benefit, it must be delivered to a large industrial center.

These requirements indicate that the nuclear strike was most likely a long-planned affair, and Germany could well have been in the place of Japan.

The intended targets were 4 Japanese cities. These are Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kyoto and Kokura. Of these, it was only required to choose two real targets, since there were only two bombs. An American expert on Japan, Professor Reisshauer, begged to be struck off the list of the city of Kyoto, as it was of great historical value. It is unlikely that this request could affect the decision, but then the Minister of Defense intervened, who was on a honeymoon in Kyoto with his wife. The minister went to a meeting and Kyoto was saved from a nuclear attack.

The place of Kyoto in the list was taken by the city of Kokura, which was chosen as a target along with Hiroshima (though later weather made their own adjustments, and Nagasaki had to be bombed instead of Kokura). The cities had to be big, and the destruction large-scale, so that the Japanese people were horrified and stopped resisting. Of course, the main thing was to influence the position of the emperor.

Studies conducted by historians from various countries of the world show that the American side was not at all concerned about the moral side of the issue. Dozens and hundreds of potential civilian casualties were of no concern to either the government or the military.

After reviewing entire volumes of classified materials, historians have come to the conclusion that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were doomed in advance. There were only two bombs, and these cities had a convenient geographical location. In addition, Hiroshima was a very densely built-up city, and an attack on it could unleash the full potential of a nuclear bomb. The city of Nagasaki was the largest industrial center working for the defense industry. A large number of guns and military equipment were produced there.

Details of the bombing of Hiroshima

The combat strike on the Japanese city of Hiroshima was pre-planned and carried out in accordance with a clear plan. Each item of this plan was clearly executed, which indicates the careful preparation of this operation.

On July 26, 1945, a nuclear bomb bearing the name "Baby" was delivered to the island of Tinian. By the end of the month, all preparations were completed, and the bomb was ready for combat. After consulting the meteorological indications, the date of the bombardment was set - August 6th. On this day the weather was excellent and the bomber, with a nuclear bomb on board, soared into the air. Its name (Enola Gay) was remembered for a long time not only by the victims of a nuclear attack, but throughout Japan.

In flight, the death-carrying plane was escorted by three planes whose task was to determine the direction of the wind so that the atomic bomb hit the target as accurately as possible. Behind the bomber, an aircraft was flying, which was supposed to record all the data of the explosion using sensitive equipment. A bomber was flying at a safe distance with a photographer on board. Several planes flying towards the city did not cause any concern to either the Japanese air defense forces or the civilian population.

Although Japanese radars detected the approaching enemy, they did not raise the alarm because of a small group of military aircraft. Residents were warned of a possible bombardment, but they continued to work quietly. Since the nuclear strike was not like a conventional air raid, not a single Japanese fighter took to the air to intercept. Even the artillery paid no attention to the approaching planes.

At 8:15 a.m., the Enola Gay bomber dropped a nuclear bomb. This drop was made using a parachute to allow a group of attacking aircraft to retire to a safe distance. Having dropped a bomb at an altitude of 9,000 meters, battle group turned around and walked away.

Having flown about 8,500 meters, the bomb exploded at an altitude of 576 meters from the ground. A deafening explosion covered the city with an avalanche of fire that destroyed everything in its path. Directly at the epicenter, people simply disappeared, leaving behind only the so-called "shadows of Hiroshima." All that was left of the man was a dark silhouette imprinted on the floor or walls. At a distance from the epicenter, people burned alive, turning into black firebrands. Those who were on the outskirts of the city were a little more fortunate, many of them survived, having received only terrible burns.

This day has become a day of mourning not only in Japan, but throughout the world. About 100,000 people died that day, and the following years claimed the lives of several hundred thousand more. All of them died from radiation burns and radiation sickness. According to the official statistics of the Japanese authorities as of January 2017, the number of deaths and injuries from the American uranium bomb is 308,724 people.

Hiroshima is today the largest city in the Chugoku region. The city has a commemorative memorial dedicated to the victims of the American atomic bombing.

What happened in Hiroshima on the day of the tragedy

The first Japanese official sources said that the city of Hiroshima was attacked by new bombs that were dropped from several American aircraft. People did not yet know that the new bombs destroyed tens of thousands of lives in an instant, and the consequences of a nuclear explosion would last for decades.

It is possible that even the American scientists who created the atomic weapon did not anticipate the consequences of radiation for people. For 16 hours after the explosion, no signal was received from Hiroshima. Noticing this, the operator of the Broadcasting Station began to make attempts to contact the city, but the city remained silent.

After a short period of time, strange and confusing information came from the railway station, which was located near the city, from which the Japanese authorities understood only one thing, an enemy raid was made on the city. It was decided to send the aircraft for reconnaissance, since the authorities knew for sure that no serious enemy combat air groups broke through the front line.

Having approached the city at a distance of about 160 kilometers, the pilot and the officer accompanying him saw a huge dusty cloud. Flying closer, they saw a terrible picture of destruction: the whole city was ablaze with fires, and smoke and dust made it difficult to see the details of the tragedy.

Landing in a safe place, the Japanese officer reported to the command that the city of Hiroshima had been destroyed by US aircraft. After that, the military began selflessly to help the wounded and shell-shocked from the bomb explosion compatriots.

This catastrophe rallied all the surviving people into one big family. Wounded, barely standing people dismantled the rubble and put out fires, trying to save as many of their compatriots as possible.

Washington made an official statement about the successful operation only 16 hours after the bombing.

Dropping the atomic bomb on Nagasaki

The city of Nagasaki, which was an industrial center, has never been subjected to massive air strikes. They tried to save it to demonstrate the enormous power of the atomic bomb. Just a few high-explosive bombs damaged weapons factories, shipyards and medical hospitals in the week before the terrible tragedy.

Now it seems incredible, but Nagasaki became the second Japanese city to be nuked by chance. The original target was the city of Kokura.

The second bomb was delivered and loaded onto the plane, according to the same plan as in the case of Hiroshima. The plane with a nuclear bomb took off and flew towards the city of Kokura. On approaching the island, three American planes were supposed to meet to record the explosion of an atomic bomb.

Two planes met, but they did not wait for the third. Contrary to the forecast of meteorologists, the sky over Kokura was covered with clouds, and the visual release of the bomb became impossible. After circling for 45 minutes over the island and not waiting for the third aircraft, the commander of the aircraft that carried the nuclear bomb on board noticed a malfunction in the fuel supply system. Since the weather finally deteriorated, it was decided to fly to the reserve target area - the city of Nagasaki. A group consisting of two aircraft flew to the alternate target.

On August 9, 1945, at 7:50 am, the inhabitants of Nagasaki woke up from an air raid signal and descended into shelters and bomb shelters. After 40 minutes, considering the alarm not worthy of attention, and classifying two aircraft as reconnaissance, the military canceled it. People went about their usual business, not suspecting that an atomic explosion would now thunder.

The Nagasaki attack went exactly the same way as the Hiroshima attack, only high cloud cover almost spoiled the Americans' bomb release. Literally in the last minutes, when the fuel supply was at the limit, the pilot noticed a “window” in the clouds and dropped a nuclear bomb at an altitude of 8,800 meters.

The carelessness of the Japanese air defense forces, which, despite the news of a similar attack on Hiroshima, is striking, did not take any measures to neutralize American military aircraft.

The atomic bomb, called "Fat Man", exploded at 11 hours 2 minutes, within a few seconds turned a beautiful city into a kind of hell on earth. 40,000 people died in an instant, and another 70,000 received terrible burns and injuries.

Consequences of nuclear bombings of Japanese cities

The consequences of a nuclear attack on Japanese cities were unpredictable. In addition to those who died at the time of the explosion and during the first year after it, radiation continued to kill people for many years to come. As a result, the number of victims has doubled.

Thus, the nuclear attack brought the United States a long-awaited victory, and Japan had to make concessions. The consequences of the nuclear bombing shocked Emperor Hirohito so much that he unconditionally accepted the terms of the Potsdam Conference. According to the official version, the nuclear attack carried out by the US military brought exactly what the American government wanted.

In addition, the troops of the USSR, which had accumulated on the border with Turkey, were urgently transferred to Japan, on which the USSR declared war. According to members of the Soviet Politburo, after learning about the consequences caused by nuclear explosions, Stalin said that the Turks were lucky, as the Japanese sacrificed themselves for them.

Only two weeks had passed since the entry of Soviet troops into Japan, and Emperor Hirohito had already signed an act of unconditional surrender. This day (September 2, 1945) went down in history as the day the Second World War ended.

Was there an urgent need to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Even in modern Japan, there is an ongoing debate about whether it was necessary to carry out a nuclear bombing or not. Scientists from all over the world are painstakingly studying secret documents and archives from the Second World War. Most researchers agree that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were sacrificed for the sake of ending the world war.

The well-known Japanese historian Tsuyoshi Hasegawa believes that the atomic bombing was started in order to prevent the expansion of the Soviet Union into Asian countries. It also allowed the United States to assert itself as a leader militarily, which they succeeded brilliantly. After the nuclear explosion, arguing with the United States was very dangerous.

If you stick to this theory, then Hiroshima and Nagasaki were simply sacrificed to the political ambitions of the superpowers. Tens of thousands of victims were completely ignored.

One can guess what could have happened if the USSR had time to complete the development of its nuclear bomb before the United States. It is possible that the atomic bombing would not have happened then.

Modern nuclear weapons are thousands of times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Japanese cities. It is difficult even to imagine what could happen if the two largest powers in the world started a nuclear war.

The most little-known facts about the tragedy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Although the tragedy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is known to the whole world, there are facts that only a few know:

1. The man who managed to survive in hell. Although everyone who was near the epicenter of the explosion died during the explosion of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, one person who was in the basement 200 meters from the epicenter managed to survive;
   
2. War is war, and the tournament must go on. At a distance of less than 5 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion in Hiroshima, a tournament was held in the ancient Chinese game "Go". Although the explosion destroyed the building and many of the competitors were injured, the tournament continued on the same day;
3. Able to withstand even a nuclear explosion. Although the explosion in Hiroshima destroyed most of the buildings, the safe in one of the banks was not damaged. After the end of the war, the American company that produced these safes received a letter of thanks from a bank manager in Hiroshima;
4. Extraordinary luck. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was the only person on earth, which officially survived two atomic explosions. After the explosion in Hiroshima, he went to work in Nagasaki, where he again managed to survive;
5. "Pumpkin" bombs. Before starting the atomic bombing, the United States dropped 50 Pumpkin bombs on Japan, so named for their resemblance to a pumpkin;
6. An attempt to overthrow the emperor. The Emperor of Japan mobilized all the citizens of the country for "total war". This meant that every Japanese, including women and children, must defend their country to the last drop of blood. After the emperor, frightened by atomic explosions, recognized all the conditions of the Potsdam Conference and later capitulated, Japanese generals attempted a coup d'état, which failed;
7. Met a nuclear explosion and survived. Japanese Gingko biloba trees are remarkably resilient. After the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, 6 of these trees survived and continue to grow to this day;
   
8. People who dreamed of salvation. After the explosion in Hiroshima, hundreds of survivors fled to Nagasaki. Of these, 164 people managed to survive, although only Tsutomu Yamaguchi is considered the official survivor;
9. Not a single policeman died in the atomic explosion in Nagasaki. The surviving law enforcement officers from Hiroshima were sent to Nagasaki in order to teach colleagues the basics of behavior after a nuclear explosion. As a result of these actions, not a single policeman was killed in the Nagasaki bombing;
10. 25 percent of those who died in Japan were Koreans. Although it is believed that all of those who died in the atomic explosions were Japanese, in fact a quarter of them were Koreans, who were mobilized by the Japanese government to participate in the war;
11. Radiation is a fairy tale for children. After the atomic explosion, the American government for a long time concealed the fact of the presence of radioactive contamination;
12. "Meetinghouse". Few people know that the US authorities did not limit themselves to nuclear bombing of two Japanese cities. Before that, using the tactics of carpet bombing, they destroyed several Japanese cities. During Operation Meetinghouse, the city of Tokyo was virtually destroyed, and 300,000 of its inhabitants died;
13. They didn't know what they were doing. The crew of the plane that dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima was 12 people. Of these, only three knew what a nuclear bomb was;
14. On one of the anniversaries of the tragedy (in 1964), an eternal flame was lit in Hiroshima, which should burn as long as at least one nuclear warhead remains in the world;
    
15. Lost connection. After the destruction of Hiroshima, communication with the city was completely lost. Only three hours later did the capital learn that Hiroshima had been destroyed;
16. Deadly poison. The crew of the Enola Gay were given ampoules of potassium cyanide, which they had to take in case they failed to complete the task;
17. radioactive mutants. The famous Japanese monster "Godzilla" was invented as a mutation for radioactive contamination after a nuclear bombing;
18. Shadows of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The explosions of nuclear bombs had such tremendous power that people literally evaporated, leaving only dark prints on the walls and floor as a memory of themselves;
19. Hiroshima symbol. The first plant to bloom after the Hiroshima nuclear attack was the oleander. It is he who is now the official symbol of the city of Hiroshima;
20. Warning before a nuclear attack. Before the nuclear attack began, US aircraft dropped millions of leaflets on 33 Japanese cities warning of an impending bombardment;
21. Radio signals. An American radio station in Saipan broadcast warnings of a nuclear attack throughout Japan until the very last moment. The signals were repeated every 15 minutes.

The tragedy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened 72 years ago, but it still serves as a reminder that humanity should not thoughtlessly destroy its own kind.

A lot of noise has been made about the analysis by US departments of the consequences of nuclear strikes on Russia and China. However, this moment, although important, is by no means decisive in the problem of a guaranteed retaliatory strike of the Strategic Missile Forces against the aggressor. The key is the automated missile launch control system in the event of a nuclear war and the silence of the Perimeter command.

According to Bloomberg, the corresponding .

It is worth noting that the nuclear potential of the Celestial Empire is classified. According to experts, it does not exceed a quarter of a thousand warheads at most - in comparison with almost two thousand both in our country and in the Americans. In addition, Chinese solid-propellant missiles are obsolete for a massive breakthrough of the American missile defense system - so the problem of a Chinese retaliatory strike on the United States does not look so relevant.

But if you understand it well - what's the point in the American "Wishlist"? The only rational motive seems to be only an attempt to prevent the strike of retaliation in response - by decapitating the top leadership of the country, which has the opportunity to give such an order. How technically possible is this?

Now, not only the president, but even the head of any company, it is not at all necessary to be in some specially equipped place to exercise his powers. It was in the 20th century that computers often occupied entire floors in large buildings. And now, on the cheapest laptops, thousands of times superior in performance to the aforementioned "dinosaurs of the computer era", you can install the Mobile Office sample program - and carry out your management functions from anywhere, there would be an Internet connection.

Well, in order to give an order to use atomic weapons, even in more distant times, a "nuclear suitcase" was enough. In the USSR, it was called the “Kazbek system.” So, in the event of a threat of a nuclear attack, Russian leaders can be evacuated by their guards anywhere. .

Yes, if desired, the enemy can subject all these places to nuclear bombardment. But this is if you know exactly where to hit. One of the options to prevent such a scenario is to classify such shelters as much as possible. The other, which can be used in parallel - on the contrary, give the enemy information about the maximum decoys.

But actually, the most important thing is not even that. After all, if we allow the most fatal scenario with the death of all the leaders of the state and the high command, the aggressor will still not be in trouble. Back in 1985, the Perimeter system, which in the West was called the Dead Hand, was put on combat duty in the USSR. In short, this system just ensures the launch of atomic missiles in the event of a nuclear attack on our country, if there is simply no one physically able to give the corresponding order. Either the lines of communication, although very protected, have been destroyed, or the worst has happened ...

Data in the public domain on the "Perimeter" is most often given with the epithets "probably", "possibly", "most likely", etc. That is, how this system works at least now, only the insiders know for sure. In general terms, this is artificial intelligence that evaluates a lot of different factors that may indicate a nuclear attack - based on satellite tracking data, radar, seismic waves after nuclear explosions. And most importantly, the silence of those who have the right to order the deployment of Russian nuclear forces.

By the way, there are suggestions that it is this last point that can, if desired, become decisive. That is, missiles in silos, on mobile Topols, in the hatches of strategic aviation aircraft and on submarines, by default, will have to launch to targets previously entered into their electronic "brains" - if a cancellation signal is not regularly received from the control center attacks.

This does not mean, of course, that the president will need, say, every 15 minutes to be distracted to press the appropriate button on his "suitcase" - for this there is also the duty personnel of the central command post of the Strategic Missile Forces, perhaps some other duplicating structures. Finally, launcher officers - after all, they, too, can quite orient themselves in the situation at "hour X", even taking into account the banal monitoring of news releases, make a request "upstairs" - and make the final decision themselves in the event of a long silence of the main command.

However, as mentioned above, the exact algorithm of the "Perimeter", as it should be the most important state secret, is known for certain only to a very limited circle of people. But something else is known for sure: contrary to the speculations that regularly appear in separate publications that the “Dead Hand” is a myth, “in fact, this“ machine doomsday" exists.

What was openly stated more than 5 years ago in an interview with one of the Russian publications by the most informed specialist on this issue - the commander of the Rocket Forces strategic purpose Lieutenant General Sergey Karakaev: “Yes, the Perimeter system exists today. It is on combat duty. And when the need arises for a retaliatory strike, when there is no way to bring a signal to some part of the launchers, this command can come from these missiles from Perimeter...

What will follow the use of at least "Perimeter", even the order of the Russian leadership to strike retaliation, is also well known, including to US military experts. Some of the most recent forecasts were received just over 2 years ago - in the course of a command-and-control game in the Pentagon with a scenario of nuclear war with the "Eurasian autocracy Usira", under whose "nickname" the Americans encrypted our country.

Another quote from the translation of the report on the results of this game:

"The United States was able to deliver a massive strike with high-precision cruise missiles at the enemy's stationary missile silos, partly at the locations of mobile missile installations and at military command and control centers, including secret and buried command posts of strategic and conventional armed forces spaced apart in space (the latter is exactly what American congressmen became so interested - approx.).

However, in the course of simulating an attack with the most realistic conditions, the United States received unacceptable damage due to four main reasons: the use by the enemy of nuclear missile weapons with current characteristics, according to analysts, made it possible to break through missile defense systems and destroy both infrastructure and military installations, as well as about 100,000 000 civilians. played a major destructive role submarine fleet enemy, despite the destruction of its significant part in open ocean. the most destructive were salvos from enemy submarine missile carriers, including those fired from the North Pole and near US territories.

The review also states that the analyzed tactics and strategy of the attack eventually led to a massive nuclear-missile exchange between Usira and the United States, as a result of which both states received unacceptable damage. The projected number of deaths during the year as a result of the operation and the retaliatory strike on both sides exceeded 400,000,000 people."

It can be easily seen that the professional military did not even seriously consider the option that the destruction of secret command posts could somehow interfere with the Russian response to the American attack. What, I think, played not least in the fact that the "peacemaker" Obama, with the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, preferred to unleash a "sanctions" war against Russia - instead of the usual war so beloved by the Americans, in the manner of aggression against Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya ...

So the current request of American legislators is of purely academic interest. Although, who knows, maybe “dreamers” have already appeared among them in the manner of Ukrainian figures, who only have to console themselves in their own media with sweet dreams about the imminent “coup in the Kremlin”, “Russia’s collapse into 30 parts”, " mass uprising against the authorities" and similar utopias.

True, the practical sense of such dreams is in full accordance with the well-marked oriental proverb "Though say a hundred times sultana - it will not become sweeter in your mouth." Or somewhat ruder, in accordance with the Ukrainian proverb (alas, quite forgotten there, especially in the last 3 years): "A fool gets richer with his thoughts." But, in the end, the right to comfort oneself with absurd hopes is free choice those who do so.

And in this regard, Russian citizens can be advised to be realists - and optimists. Understanding that in a real, and not a fantastic state of affairs, nuclear war between Russia and the United States will only lead to the destruction of humanity. Therefore, all measures will be taken on both sides to avoid it.

August marks two consecutive 65th anniversaries of the use of atomic weapons against the civilian population - on the 6th in Hiroshima and on August 9 in Nagasaki. These explosions, terrible in their scale, which the whole world would call war crimes, if they were committed by a country that lost the war, suggest different thoughts.

For example, about the cynicism of Western propaganda. The textbooks published in Japan under the control of the American authorities during the years of the post-war occupation describe the atomic bombings in such a way that it is difficult to understand from them who and how used weapons of mass destruction on peaceful cities. As a result, recent opinion polls in Japan show that a significant portion of Japanese youth believe that the nuclear bombings were some kind of natural disaster, like a tsunami, and not the result of a conscious American desire to cause the greatest damage to Japan. And even that the country was bombed not by the United States, but by the Red Army, no more and no less.

And in general, today's claims of Japan, which lost the war, are addressed not at all to the Americans, who, in violation of the rules of warfare, used weapons of mass destruction and indiscriminately destroyed more than 400,000 civilians, but to Russia, which did not violate either the Hague or Geneva conventions. And for some reason, not from the United States, but from Russia, the Japanese today demand repentance and the return of territories lost during the war.

Moreover, Japan itself never formally apologized to the peoples of Asia for the use of hundreds of thousands of their women, whom the Japanese army carried behind their regiments to serve the soldiers. And from the history books, references to the crimes of the Japanese military in China, Singapore and the Philippines were removed. And the ashes of Japanese war criminals executed by decision Tokyo process, is buried in the sacred temple of Yasukuni, where the current prime ministers of the country go to worship.

However, the PRC still remembers the "Nanjing massacre" of 1937, when Japanese troops captured the city, which was then the capital of China, and consider it the worst war crime. Then, for six weeks, Japanese soldiers burned and plundered a peaceful city, destroying everyone in a row in the most brutal ways and raping women and teenage girls. Chinese historians claim that the Japanese then killed 300,000 civilians and raped more than 20,000 women, from seven-year-old girls to old women. A significant part of them were sent to the soldiers' brothels, where they subsequently died.

In February 1942, the Japanese captured the British colony of Singapore, after which they began to identify and eliminate the "anti-Japanese elements" of the Chinese community there. This definition then fell under the Chinese - participants in the defense of the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, former employees of the British administration and ordinary citizens who just made donations to the China aid fund. The list of suspects included almost all Chinese men living in Singapore between the ages of eighteen and fifty. Those who, according to the Japanese, could pose a threat to the occupying authorities, were taken out on trucks outside the cities and shot with machine guns. More than 50,000 people were killed in this way.

During the 1949 Khabarovsk trial of Japanese war criminals, it became clear that the Japanese were preparing to widely use bacteriological weapons against the population of the USSR and other countries on the eve and during World War II. It became known that the Japanese in the Kwantung Army, which occupied Manchuria, created a special "Togo detachment" for preparing bacteriological warfare, as well as detachments No. 731 and No. 100. In their laboratories, bacteria of plague, anthrax, glanders, typhoid fever and other USSR. The detachments carried out experiments on Soviet and Chinese prisoners, as a result of which more than 4,000 people died from the end of 1937 to the summer of 1945. The Japanese used bacteriological weapons against Soviet and Mongolian troops in the battles on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939 and against China in 1940-1942, spreading plague and smallpox bacteria. The Japanese sent groups of saboteurs to the Soviet borders, infecting water bodies in the border areas.

All this Japanese society today preferred to forget. But on the other hand, he selectively remembers that as a result of the war, Japan lost the Kuril Islands, and demands that Russia return them. At the same time, he is not even going to discuss the return to China of other disputed territories - the Senkaku Islands. These islands were taken over by Japan along with Taiwan at the end of the 19th century. After World War II, when Japan returned Taiwan to China, the Senkaku archipelago came under the jurisdiction of the United States, which then annexed them to the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, where their military base is located.

Today, the Japanese simply do not hear the demands of the PRC to return Senkaku and do not discuss them with China, and not because there are oil reserves in the area of ​​the archipelago. Tokyo proceeds from the fact that only weak countries, led by narrow-minded leaders, distribute their territories, and Japan does not consider itself to be such.

But it refers to them modern Russia, although it was her soldiers in World War II who in two weeks smashed Japan's main force, the Kwantung Army, which numbered more than a million soldiers and officers, to dust. Today, Japan demands the return of the Kuril Islands, otherwise refusing to sign a peace treaty with Russia. And he arranges provocations, such as mass sending Japanese fishing schooners to the shores of the Kuril Islands, which begin to catch crabs there under the pretext that they can do anything in their “northern territories”.

But when a similar action was attempted in 2004 by seven Chinese advocating the return of the Senkaku Islands to the PRC, Japan showed that it was protecting its territory well. As soon as the Chinese activists landed on one of the islands of the archipelago, they were arrested by the Japanese police and taken to Okinawa, where they spent several months in prison. That's the whole discussion of the problem of returning the islands "in Japanese style."

From Russia, Japan brazenly demands the return of the islands in exchange for the possible conclusion of some kind of peace treaty with it. Although even international experts strongly doubt the need for Moscow to conclude a peace treaty with the country that it defeated and which recognized itself as defeated, on September 2, 1945, signing an act of unconditional surrender aboard the Missouri battleship. In it, Japan agreed to recognize the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, in paragraph 8 of which it is written that its sovereignty is henceforth limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and "those smaller islands" that the victorious countries will indicate to it. Then conquered by force weapons, Japan did not dispute the right of the victors to decide questions of its territory. The same happened in the case of Germany, which capitulated to the Allies in May 1945 and in doing so lost Prussia, which became Polish Silesia, and Alsace and Lorraine, which went to France. But for more than 60 years Russia has been successfully developing trade, economic and political relations with Germany without concluding any peace treaty. But the Japanese, a few years after the defeat in the war, dragged Moscow into an endless dispute about the Kuriles, according to international law without having any reason to. After all, it is quite obvious that the games of the Japanese with the idea of ​​a peace treaty have one goal - to use the weakness of the Moscow leaders, to review the results of the Second World War in their favor and regain the lost lands.

But in the world they don’t give away territories just like that, thanks for that. Even the two islands of the Kuril chain, Moscow for the first time agreed in 1956 to transfer to Japan during the years of the government of the near-minded Nikita Khrushchev, only in the hope of exchanging them for the neutral status of Japan. But Japan did not have any neutral status, but, on the contrary, American military bases firmly settled on its territory, making it an "unsinkable US aircraft carrier." Naturally, the transfer of any Russian territories to it is out of the question.

However, Russian leaders, instead of simply ignoring Tokyo's attempts to start a discussion of the "problem of northern territories", continue to unwittingly pander to them. Although the Kuriles belong to Russia under international law, and we, obviously, should not be interested in what the Japanese think about this. It is clear as daylight that the attempts to “fool out” the islands, not by washing, but by rolling, are calculated on the inability of the Moscow chiefs to “take a hit” for a long time, and the perseverance of the talkative Japanese diplomats. And also to the “fifth column” existing in Russia, which from time to time prints articles in our newspapers on Japanese money about the “original rights” of the Japanese to the Kuriles.

It seems that the problem of the Kuriles in relations with Japan can be solved once and for all by simply not responding to Tokyo's attempts to draw Russia into its discussion, i.e., acting in the same way as the Japanese do regarding Chinese claims to the Senkaku Islands. For the polite readiness of Russia to solve a non-existent problem for her by peace only inflames the Japanese, beckoning with the illusory proximity of the “return of the territories”, and provokes the invention of new scandals.

And Moscow should finally forget about signing a peace treaty with Japan. Russia does not need it, and Japan already signed a text in San Francisco in 1951 in front of 48 countries, which says that it renounces the rights and claims to the Kuril Islands, the southern part of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to them. Incidentally, China, along with Soviet Union also did not sign the San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan, but this does not prevent him from living and developing

Reference
The so-called "problem of the northern territories" is a dispute initiated by Japan with Russia regarding the ownership of a number of islands in the Kuril chain. After the Second World War, all the Kuril Islands came under the administrative control of the USSR, but subsequently a number of the southern islands - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands began to be disputed by Japan. The problem of ownership of the southern Kuril Islands is the main obstacle to the signing of a peace treaty with Japan.
The Japanese first received information about the islands during an expedition to the island of Hokkaido in 1635, but the Japanese did not reach the Kuriles themselves. In 1643, the Lesser Kuril Ridge was surveyed by the Dutch expedition of Maarten Gerritsen de Vries in search of the "Golden Lands" and it was compiled detailed map, a copy of which he sold to the Empire of Japan, finding nothing of value there.
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