The risk of using nuclear weapons by of Russia will increase dramatically under one scenario – if the Ukrainian army liberates the Crimean peninsula occupied by the Russians.
This opinion was expressed by the political expert Taras Zagorodniy to the UNIAN agency. His comments came in the wake of news that Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved an updated nuclear doctrine.
Putin signals that he is ready to start a nuclear war, says the headline of the British c. "Telegraph". He signed legislation changing the Russian Federation's nuclear doctrine, which expands the cases in which the use of nuclear weapons is permitted.
According to Zagorodniy, Putin will wonder whether to use nuclear weapons only when the ZSU enters Crimea, because “Crimea is a sacred territory” for Putin's regime. It was there that Putin's war against Ukraine began, which in February 2022 grew into a full-scale conflict.
Zagorodniy pointed out that with the updated doctrine, Putin wants to intimidate the West. The question, he says, is whether the West is ready to use its nuclear weapons and keep its promises if nuclear weapons are used in Ukraine.
American General Ben Hodges stated earlier that if the Russian Federation uses a nuclear weapon, within two hours the Russian Black Sea Fleet will be destroyed, and within six hours - all Russian targets on the territory of Ukraine with the help of NATO forces.
„It is worth understanding that nuclear weapons at the tactical level were made based on the experience of the Second World War. Let's say when huge armies gather in a fairly narrow space, tactical nuclear missiles are fired there, for example, a third of the army is destroyed, and then everything else is achieved. Now there is no such thing, just such a gathering of troops”, Zagorodniy said.
According to him, successive nuclear threats from Moscow are ridiculous. Already months ago, the Ukrainian army invaded the Kursk region, and then there was absolutely no reaction from Russia.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia's Security Council, warned the Kremlin's enemies that they could now start a nuclear war. "Russia can retaliate (to ATACMS strikes) with weapons of mass destruction against Kiev and NATO sites, regardless of where they are," Medvedev said. With such threats, Moscow wants to intimidate the Western countries that help Ukraine, although all the so-called “red lines” of the Putin regime were already crossed and the reaction was... none.