The point is that the Tu-160 will be carrying 5,000km range Kh-102s and all will be nuclear armed missiles... as I mentioned they used to have small missiles called AS-15, or Kh-15 Kickback missiles used to destroy threats for the aircraft as they fly near enemy territory... it is a 1.5 ton missile with a nuclear warhead that might be used against ground or air based defences... a radar or SAM system or airfield or even a group of enemy aircraft... these mach 5 rocket propelled missiles will be used to clear a path through defences so the bomber can get to its missile launch position.
Problem for the US is that 30 minutes after the Tu-160s took off there are going to be Russian ICBMs and SLBMs detonating all over the US and Canada and also Europe... 5 and a half hours later when the White Swans are lining up to launch their missiles there probably wont be much of anything there to stop them...
It would not take very much work to develop a scramjet powered replacement for Kickback that is relatively small and can be used in decent numbers and could be quite devastating on the way over the north pole against any US Navy vessels in the Arctic ocean...