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Showing Original Post only (View all)Russia reasserts right to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine [View all]
Source: The Guardian
The Kremlin again raised the spectre of the use of nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine as Russian forces struggled to hold a key city in the south the country.
Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who is deputy chairman of the country's security council, said Moscow could strike against an enemy that only used conventional weapons while Vladimir Putin's defence minster claimed nuclear "readiness" was a priority.
The comments on Saturday prompted Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in an appearance by video link at Qatar's Doha Forum to warn that Moscow was a direct threat to the world.
"Russia is deliberating bragging they can destroy with nuclear weapons, not only a certain country but the entire planet."
Russia has approximately 6,000 nuclear warheads - the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. In an interview on Saturday, Medvedev said Russia's nuclear doctrine did not require an enemy state to use such weapons first.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/mar/26/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskiy-hails-powerful-blows-by-ukrainian-army-as-russia-hints-at-scaling-back-offensive-live?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-623f02a38f08d422c5d5de58#block-623f02a38f08d42
As Putin loses even more men and equipment in his brutal invasion of Ukraine, I feel it is more and more likely that he will lash out and escalate to using tactical nuclear weapons as he falls into the "sunk cost fallacy" trap. Like a gambler on a massive losing streak, I feel Putin will keep "doubling down" and ultimately resort to the most horrific weaponry in his arsenal.
Because of the "sunk cost" fallacy, I feel confronting Putin as soon as possible with the direct over whelming military superiority of the US and NATO would actually lessen the chance of nuclear escalation and save lives in the process by halting Russia's attack on civilians and cities.
It would increase the possibility that elements inside the Russian government and military would act to remove Putin from power before Russian losses reached a point of no-return.