During the Cold War, the American authorities were ready to use nuclear weapons, not only to reduce the military and industrial potential of the Soviet Union (USSR) but also to mass murder Soviet citizens, according to an article in the New York Times newspaper, Sputnik reports. .
Journalists of that American newspaper had access to previously secret documents, which were first discovered in the US National Archives.
In the materials from 1959, there is a list of targets that Washington was ready to target with nuclear weapons, which were located in the USSR, a number of Eastern European countries and China.
For example, in Moscow, the US military allocated 179 targets, which were intended for "systematic destruction" with nuclear weapons in case of war, in St. Petersburg - 145, in Eastern Europe - 91.
Many of these facilities were industrial complexes and government buildings.
Among the targets in each city is the "population", according to Sputnik.
"It's really surprising - to see that the centers where the population is concentrated were chosen as targets," the paper quotes George Washington University research associate William Burr, who in 2006 sent a request to the US National Archives to obtain these documents.
As Bur stated, the documents do not contain a detailed description of the buildings or their exact addresses, this information is still a secret.
The "New York Times" adds that it is a plan that was prepared before the time of intercontinental missiles launched from submarines.
At that time, bombers were mostly used to deliver nuclear weapons.
The paper also cites data according to which the United States was largely ahead of the USSR - it had a 10 times larger nuclear arsenal and was trying to surround its enemy with as many bases as possible with bombers.
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