On Russian state television, tightly controlled by Vladimir Putin's regime, it was reported that tactical nuclear weapons are deployed in Ukraine, Newsweek reported.
Director of the Center for Political Information Alexei Mukhin said this on “Rossiya-1”, without, of course, presenting any evidence to support this crazy thesis.
However, Russian propaganda has never needed evidence. She only has to blame others for the evils committed by Putin's regime itself, which almost daily threatens Western countries and Ukraine with a nuclear attack.
Aleksei Mukhin said the delivery of US-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had long lobbied for, showed that tactical nuclear weapons had already been delivered to the war-torn country. There is no evidence to suggest that the Ukrainians were sent nuclear weapons from the West.
„First, [the F-16s] are already there and I'm sure the tactical nuclear weapons are already there,” the Russian propagandist said. He even claims that the delivery was made several months ago.
Ukraine actually became nuclear-free in 1994 with the signing of the Budapest Memorandum. Kiev gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for “security guarantees” from Russia – the same Russia that in 2022 started a full-scale war, violating all international agreements.
The Kremlin has vowed to shoot down Ukraine's Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets, while saying it does not believe they will turn the tide of the war.
Meanwhile, Russia has been conducting exercises of its nuclear forces for weeks, saying it was doing so because of provocative statements and threats from Western countries supporting Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on July 31 that it had begun the third stage of its tactical nuclear exercises.