A Russian nuclear-destroyer counterfactual

Could Russia have built twelve nuclear destroyers and its planned frigates, and how would other navies have reacted?

The answer doubts that all the Russian programs could have been funded together and speculates about an American response through Zumwalt.

The panel doubts that Russia could have funded twelve nuclear destroyers alongside full Gorshkov and Grigorovich frigate programs. It then speculates about whether visible Russian nuclear-powered ships would have affected American discussion of Zumwalt. That proposed connection is an interpretation within the counterfactual, without evidence of a particular procurement decision.