Ukrainian Ministry of Defence does not currently predict that Russia will use nuclear weapons
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO - FRIDAY, 15 APRIL 2022, 16:24
Ukrainian intelligence and its foreign partners see no signs as yet that Russia may use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
Source: Oleksandr Motuzianyk, Ukrainian Ministry of Defence spokesman, at a briefing at the Ukraine Media Centre
Quote: "Nuclear weapons are the Russian Federation’s so-called trump card. At the moment we do not see any signs that Russia might use these weapons. Our intelligence does not have such information.
Our foreign partners and foreign intelligence with whom we cooperate and exchange information also have no confirmation of this so far."
Details: At the same time, Motuzianyk added that Ukraine should be prepared for any developments in the situation, "which could include an extremely negative precedent such as this".
"As of now, we do not predict this," he repeated.
Background:
- On 27 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military to put "strategic deterrence forces" with nuclear warheads on high alert due to "hostile" remarks and Western sanctions.
- On 2 March, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said that World War III would be a nuclear war and the last war. On 24 March, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations threatened to start a nuclear war if NATO provoked Russia.
- US intelligence fears that Russia will resort to nuclear weapons if it senses imminent defeat in ground warfare and as a result of economic pressure from the West. According to media reports, the US government is developing scenarios for responding to the use of nuclear weapons.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Russia is bluffing when it threatens the world with nuclear weapons. However, he believes that the Kremlin could use nuclear weapons if it has a sense of its own impunity and sees the weakness of the West, but not vice versa.
- Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Oleksiy Danilov denied that the Russians were preparing for a nuclear strike on Kyiv.
On 14 April, Bill Burns, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, warned against not taking Russia’s threats of using tactical nuclear weapons seriously.
