Russia often threatens to use its nuclear weapons. Now, the rhetoric of Russia’s use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine has increased again.
Recently, the issue regarding the use of dangerous weapons was raised by Member of Parliament or Duma, Andrey Gurulyov.
Gurulyov, who is also a military commander, said on state TV on Tuesday (29/8/2023) that the use of tactical nuclear weapons could now be considered. This was due to Russia’s defeat of Ukrainian troops in the Robotyne region, which made the region return to Kyiv.
“This area (Robotyne) is a perfect case for a tactical nuclear attack,” he said, quoted from Newsweek, Saturday (2/9/2023).
Kyiv is carrying out a three-month counteroffensive to reclaim territory captured by Russia since February 2022. Fierce clashes currently occur frequently along the front lines in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
The rhetoric of nuclear use itself was also uttered several times by the former Russian President who is also Deputy Secretary of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev. Late last month, Medvedev made it clear that Moscow would have to use nuclear weapons if Kyiv’s ongoing counteroffensive was successful.
“Imagine if… the offensive, supported by NATO, was successful and they tore up part of our land then we would be forced to use nuclear weapons according to the decree of the Russian president,” he explained, quoted by Reuters.
“There will be no other choice. So our enemies must pray for (the success of) our soldiers. They ensure that a global nuclear fire is not ignited.”
Russia has attacked Ukraine since February 24 2022. Putin argued that the attack was based on Kyiv’s intention to join NATO, which is Moscow’s rival.
In addition, Putin intends to take the Donetsk and Luhansk regions previously controlled by Ukraine. This is to liberate the ethnic Russian community which he said was experiencing persecution from Ukrainian ultra-nationalist groups.
Source : CNBC
