The US has reportedly developed contingency plans to counter Moscow’s potential use of tactical nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine. NATO countries have repeatedly expressed their concerns over the possibility of Russia imperiling their borders.
Russia’s advancements in the war have recently been depleted by Ukrainian forces in important regions of Donetsk and Kherson, thus Putin is desperate to reverse his territorial loss by any means necessary.
Amid Putin’s eagerness to show off and disturb the West, Ramzan Kadyrov, chief of Russia’s Chechen republic, and one of Putin’s closest allies suggested the use of “low yield nuke strikes’ ‘ on Ukraine, after Russia retreated from Lyman, Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Kadyrov asserted the importance of drastic measures with disregard to NATO, and the vitality of martial laws in the border regions.
A video published online by the pro Russian telegram channel Rybar shows a train carrying military equipment belonging to their nuclear unit, The Daily Mail reported. A military analyst told CBS news, “the video shows an armored personnel carrier with a cannon attached, as well as another vehicle belonging to the unit, being transported on the train.” The train is also said to be carrying the world’s biggest submarine — which has “apocalyptic” capabilities.
The video was released after NATO allegedly warned its member states that Russia’s trailblazing K-329 Belgorod submarine has departed its White Sea base. The broadcasting of these weapons could only be a tactical move by Russia to intimidate Ukraine and its allies, for the fact that Putin promised to refrain from utilizing nuclear weapons during the war when it began back in February.
Konrad Muzyka, a defense and aerospace advisor centered on Russia and Belarus said to CBS news “Russia will try to increase the pressure on the West, and it will try to indicate to the world that, from its point of view, the nuclear option is being considered. But, you know, I still think that, to a large extent, it is a bluff”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed his concerns over Russia’s threat. He believes they are now a reality, compared to before when Russia’s nuclear threats were taken as a bluff. On Sunday, Zelensky mentioned to CBS’ “Face The Nation,” “I don’t think he’s bluffing. I think the world is deterring it and containing this threat. We need to keep putting pressure on him and not allow him to continue.”
The battlefield losses of Russia should be taken seriously, as Putin had predicted and boasted that the war would only last a few weeks. The support Ukraine is receiving from the West is agitating Putin, as it is meddling with the strategies Moscow had devised prior to attacking Ukraine at the start of the year.
Ukraine is fighting fiercely, Russian’s are protesting the war and fleeing their homes, Putin’s threats are not being taken seriously, and it is apparent he will chastise sooner than presumed.