Ukraine: the undertones of the nuclear threat wielded by Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attend the opening of the Army 2022 International Military-Technical Forum, outside Moscow, Monday, August 15, 2022. AP

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Vladimir Putin announced, this Wednesday, September 21, that he had signed a partial mobilization decree concerning 300,000 reservists, in order to be able to fulfill the objectives of his "special military operation in Ukraine".

The Russian president also recalled that Moscow had many weapons to " 

 ", again leaving the threat of a nuclear strike hovering, which he has been agitating since the start of the war.

Advertising

Read more

The threat is not new: Russian doctrine provides for nuclear engagement from the first level with the use of tactical weapons on the battlefield.

But in this “special military operation”, where the equation changes, it is the desire, now displayed by Moscow, to integrate the conquered Ukrainian territories by referendum.

►Read also: Ukraine: Vladimir Putin announces a "partial mobilization" in Russia

The Ukrainian counter-offensives would thus take place, if these referendums bore fruit, in now

territory , from Moscow's point of view, and this could thus legitimize an unconventional response from the Russian Federation, points out Colonel Pierre de Jong, former aide-de-camp to President Chirac.

This is called “nuclear first engagement”.

It is a debate which took place, there are already about fifteen years, to know if one was able to draw the nuclear armament in first.

No one knows, since that's part of the deterrence.

And there, we see today that Putin would put himself in a position to be able to fire nuclear weapons first.

It's both very paradoxical and very contrary to everything that's been happening for twenty years.

We were on a model of keeping conflicts at the lowest possible level.

The territory of a country is sacred;

if you integrate a country into yours, it becomes sacred by force of circumstance.

And there, Putin enters into a rhetoric of climbing to extremes.

Nuclear power being upgraded, the Western camp and NATO could set a red line: the dialectic of deterrence.

Volodymyr Zelensky: "I don't believe these weapons will be used"

In an interview with German channel Bild TV, the Ukrainian president said he did not believe in the latest Russian nuclear threats.

" 

" Zelensky said.

»

" 

we want a part of Poland in addition to Ukraine, otherwise we will use nuclear weapons

 ", continued the Ukrainian president, who believes that " 

 ".

Ukraine "will 

", assures the head of state, claiming to be " 

 ".

Vladimir Putin “

”, tackles Volodymyr Zelensky.

“ 

»

“ 

 ,” he added.

And to qualify as " 

 " the annexation referendums planned for Friday by Russia in the occupied territories.

“ 

 ,” he added.

►Read again: Russia: the announcement of the "partial mobilization" in Ukraine arouses cautious reactions

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

• Ukraine

• Russia

• Nuclear