By Alice Davis BBC News
image provided, Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the threat of nuclear war is growing. But he said Russia was not “crazy” and would not be the first to use nuclear weapons.
In a video link to a meeting of the Russian Human Rights Council, Putin said he would only use weapons of mass destruction if his country was attacked. He also said that a war in Ukraine would be “a long way”.
Western countries believe that Putin originally planned to end the invasion quickly.
Russia’s ability to use nuclear weapons has received a lot of attention since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February this year.
“It would be wrong to hide such a growing (nuclear) threat,” Putin said at the meeting.
“We are not crazy. We know what a nuclear weapon is,” he said.
Putin claims that Russia possesses the most modern and advanced nuclear weapons in the world. As for the United States, he compared the strategy, saying he was taking it a step further by deploying nuclear weapons in other countries.
“Russia does not place nuclear weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons, on the territory of other countries, but the Americans do. Turkey and many European countries.”
Putin has previously said that Russia’s nuclear policy is that nuclear weapons can only be used for defensive purposes.
The invasion of Ukraine is a “long road”
Putin appeared to have admitted that his plan to capture and declare victory over Ukraine within days had failed, and said war would be “a long road”.
In particular, he claims to have conquered the Sea of Azov, which stretches from southern Ukraine to southwestern Russia, making it “Russia’s internal sea”. He added that it was the same as the territorial expansion ambitions of Peter I (Peter the Great).
However, although Russia has declared the annexation of four provinces – Kherson, Zaporizhia, Luhansk and Donetsk – it has not taken full control of any of them.
Since withdrawing from the front lines, Russian forces have destroyed power grids across Ukraine with massive airstrikes.
The airstrikes have extensively damaged Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and forced many people to live without electricity or heating in sub-zero temperatures for hours or even days.
The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Krychenko, has warned of a possible “catastrophe” in the city, hit by power outages.
“Kyiv could lose electricity, water and heating,” Krychenko told Reuters news agency. It could happen,” he said.
Heated shelters are currently installed in the city, but the mayor said they are not sufficient for the number of residents. He added that people should be ready to evacuate in case the situation worsens.
Eliminate war skeptics early
Meanwhile, in Russia, any possible critic of Putin’s aggression has been eliminated before the Human Rights Council.
Before the meeting on the 7th, 10 directors who had expressed doubts about the war were fired and replaced by pro-war members.
According to the independent Russian news site Verstka, topics discussed at the meeting were also scrutinized in advance.
Russia’s nuclear doctrine has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, including when nuclear weapons could be used, especially “tactical nuclear bombs” that could be dropped on the Ukrainian battlefield.
In contrast to “strategic nuclear” weapons, which are intended for large-scale destruction, tactical nuclear weapons are those used in combat.
