It has been called the biggest nuclear threat to world safety since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis: as Vladimir Putin seeks to salvage his invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president has stepped up his threats to use nuclear weapons.
He said last week he would use “all available means” to keep Russia safe after unilaterally proclaiming four eastern Ukrainian provinces part of Russia. The US had “created a precedent” when it dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in 1945, he added.
At the weekend Chechen leader and Putin loyalist Ramzan Kadyrov suggested the Russian president consider using “low-yield nuclear weapons” in Ukraine — a proposal dismissed by the Kremlin on Monday, however. There were “no other considerations” beyond using nuclear weapons according to Russia’s military doctrine, which permits their deployment if Russia is struck first or if the very existence of the state is at risk, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.