This pool image distributed by Sputnik agency shows Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un shaking hands during their meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur region on Sept. 13, 2023. (Vladimir Smirnov, Pool Photo, Getty Images via TNS)
With the U.S. presidential election swiftly approaching, the new U.S. administration will have to face significant challenges. In addition to the war in Ukraine and the Middle East, the West will encounter an expanding Russian nuclear doctrine, coupled with Russia’s closer ties to North Korea.
Notably, last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced imminent changes to the country’s nuclear doctrine, lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. Under the three clauses, the doctrine defines that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but “with the participation or support” of a nuclear one, should be considered a joint attack, it allows for Russian nuclear strike if Belarus is attacked, as well as lowers the criteria for when nuclear weapons can be used.
However, the real threat lies outside of Putin’s public statements. It rests within the hidden truth of how the nuclear program is being expanded. While not often receiving media attention, Russia’s Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), located in Dubna, plays a central role.
JINR is positioning itself as an international scientific research organization, whose work has only peaceful applications. However, the focus of the JINR’s policy is promoting Russian government interests at home and abroad, both in research work and in its international outreach.
There are more than 70 countries that host institutes listed as JINR collaborators. Notably, JINR claims to collaborate with numerous American universities, including University of Texas Arlington, Duke University and even Harvard.
By collaborating with Western institutions, JINR scientists acquire information about Western technological developments during their work in various international research projects and disseminate it to the Russian weapon development companies as well as to their peers in North Korea.
For many years JINR management allowed North Korean scientists to work in JINR, circumventing the sanctions imposed by the United Nations. Even though North Korean participation was officially suspended in 2015, JINR’s internal documents show that North Korea is still listed as a contributor to JINR’s budget and is represented on the Committee of Plenipotentiaries.
Since 2021 JINR has a collaboration agreement with JSC NIIEFA, which is known to supply equipment to North Korea. This is consistent with Russia’s ongoing “special relationship” with North Korea, which involved a Russian veto to a United Nations resolution strengthening sanctions against the country in March 2024 and the supply by North Korea of missiles and ammunition, which have been used against Ukraine. In April 2024, North Korean officials visited the Dubna Special Economic Zone (Dubna SEZ), to explore possibilities for future collaboration.
This becomes particularly concerning as just last week Putin submitted a draft law to the State Duma to ratify a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between Russia and North Korea.
Under the agreement, if either Russia or North Korea is attacked and enters a state of war, the other party will provide military and other assistance using all available means. The law has a significant impact on the war in Ukraine as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Oct. 14 that North Korea is not only sending weapons but also deploying its citizens to fight alongside Russian troops.
The president furthered that Russia’s plans for the fall and winter include “the actual involvement of North Korea in the war.”
In light of such developments, JINR’s projects, which involve American partners, become particularly concerning. A crucial Multifunctional Information and Computing Complex (MICC) project aims to develop and maintain the IT infrastructure of companies active in the production of weapons in the Dubna SEZ, companies engaged in explosives detection or satellite surveillance.
Notably, three American institutions — University of Texas, Arlington, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Fermilab — are listed as participants on this project, allowing JINR to syphon American expertise, boosting Russia’s weapon industry.
While JINR is hiding behind scientific neutrality, the organization has numerous connections to enterprises involved in military projects in the Dubna SEZ. Some of these projects are currently under Western sanctions, such as the Kronstadt company, which was created in 2021 to produce reconnaissance and attack drones for the Russian army. The center produces the Orion drones equipped with a radar station, capable of carrying from three to six KAB-50, UPAB-50, FAB-50 aerial bombs or a Kh-50 guided missile.
JINR is also involved in projects with “dual-use” applications. Recent JINR projects include the development of power sources for heavy drones, and the training of specialists at Dubna State University for local enterprises that now play a critical role in weapon production for the war in Ukraine.
Importantly, it was recently exposed that the U.S. had intelligence pointing to “highly sensitive, credible conversations inside the Kremlin” that Putin was seriously considering using nuclear weapons to avoid major battlefield losses. JINR’s projects play significantly into this threat.
Other “dual-use” projects include the development of electrical chemical generator based fuel cell power for unmanned aerial vehicles, which will allow take-off weight of 750kg, increase in flight time, accelerated refueling time for long-distance transportation of cargo in harsh climate conditions.
Additionally, LLC Yadro Fab Dubna is involved in the manufacturing of electronic components used in numerous weapons systems operated by Russia’s military and is under sanctions in the U.S., Canada, Japan and Ukraine. In fact, of about 180 Russian institutes hosted by JINR, at least 77 are currently under sanctions, unlike JINR itself.
All these examples show that JINR’s activities are crucial for Russia’s development of new more advanced weapons that in addition to the war in Ukraine can be used to attack the European Union, the U.K. and the U.S. in the future.
To put a stop to those activities, it is crucial that JINR becomes subject to international sanctions, suspending all scientific and technical cooperation as well as cultural exchanges and visits involving persons or groups representing JINR.
With the Kremlin expanding its nuclear doctrine, and forging a closer alliance with North Korea, the next U.S. administration can no longer take its chances, and needs to address the problem at its core — which is the JINR.
Wes Martin, a retired U.S. Army colonel, has served in law enforcement positions around the world and holds an MBA in International Politics and Business.
