Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Russian President Vladimir Putin can deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine if he senses strategic defeat. This was warned by General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander-in-chief of British Joint Forces Command.
“If Putin feels strategic defeat, he will likely use tactical nuclear weapons,” Barrons said, citing ExpressMonday (8/8/2022).
Barrons described Russian nuclear thinking as accepting the use of small nuclear weapons to inflict unacceptable damage on an adversary as a means of coercion, especially in circumstances where the very existence of the state is in question.
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO RESUME CONTENT
–
Putin has previously warned the international community not to get involved in his war with Ukraine. He also said the intervention would lead the situation to consequences never seen in world history.
Barrons then points to a scenario in which Russia claims parts of occupied Ukraine, such as the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas, which would inspire Ukrainian forces to retaliate.
“Before the end of this year, Russia will declare occupied Ukrainian territory as part of the Russian state. So if the Ukrainian offensive rolls on this new self-declared border, the use of nuclear weapons to stop attacks will be on the table,” he said.
The Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, with about 150,000 residents, just a few miles from the Donetsk front line, could be the target of a limited nuclear strike.
“According to Nukemap, a 10 kiloton warhead detonated 2,200 feet above the city the size of Kramatorsk in the Donbas would produce a fireball with a radius of about 500 feet, a fatal radiation dose of up to about 0.6 miles. Enough explosion damage to collapse buildings and cause injuries. third-degree burn a mile away,” he explained.
“That would break a 2.6-mile window,” he said, adding such a move would create a great sense of danger around the world.
It would also be an attack that would be restricted within Ukraine’s borders, he added.
“This will be the first use of nuclear weapons in 77 years, breaking a huge taboo, but this is inconceivable for Russia if its goals justify it in their eyes,” he added.
As is well known, shortly after launching the attack on Ukraine, Putin put Russia’s nuclear program on high alert. Even in April, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the risk of nuclear conflict was considerable.
Next Article
Horror! Russia’s nuclear bomb could ‘eliminate’ half of the Earth
–
–
(tfa/luc)
–
