The number of nuclear warheads ready for use in the world increased during 2022, influenced by Russia and China in particular, according to a report published Wednesday.

The report of the "Observatory for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons", published by the non-governmental organization "Norwegian People's Aid" Norsk Folkehjelp, said that at the beginning of 2023, the nine countries that possessed nuclear weapons, formally or informally, had 9576 nuclear warheads ready for use with a power equivalent to "more than 135,000 bombs like those dropped on Hiroshima.

The figures come as Moscow constantly brandishes the nuclear threat during its invasion of Ukraine.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that he had an agreement with Minsk to deploy "tactical" nuclear weapons in Belarus, the country located at the gates of the European Union .

The addition of 136 warheads to the global nuclear stockpile last year is due to Russia, which has the largest arsenal in the world (5889 ready warheads), as well as China, India, North Korea and Pakistan.

"This increase is alarming and continues a trend that began in 2017," said Greti Loglu Eastern, responsible for the report.

The total stockpile of atomic weapons, which also includes those that have been decommissioned, continues to decline.

It fell from 12,705 to 12,512 in one year due to the destruction of old warheads in Russia and the United States.

The same official said that if the introduction of new warheads is not stopped, "the total number of nuclear weapons in the world will soon begin to rise again for the first time since the Cold War."

The eight nuclear powers are officially the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea, while Israel possesses weapons of this type without officially declaring it.