Russia uses nuclear maneuvers to deter the West from helping Ukraine iRADIO

In its campaign, according to analysts, the Kremlin uses one of the key tools of its hybrid war against Western countries, the so-called reflexive control. This consists in shaping the adversary’s decisions through targeted statements and information operations and is supposed to lead to the other party seemingly of its own free will taking steps beneficial to Russia.

Nuclear threats are part of such a procedure by Moscow, notes ISW. Russian officials have repeatedly talked about a possible nuclear confrontation since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops in February 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin, for example, stated in March that his country is prepared for a nuclear war from a military-technological point of view and is ready to use nuclear weapons in the event of a threat.

A few days before, the head of the Russian civilian intelligence SVR, Sergei Naryshkin, had also spoken about the impending nuclear war, and it has been repeatedly mentioned by the former Russian president and prime minister and the current deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev.

The article continues under the online report.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Monday that Putin had issued an instruction to prepare for nuclear weapons maneuvers to “practice their preparation and use.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense and diplomacy subsequently stated, in accordance with previous statements, that it was a response to “provocative statements and threats” by the West.

Russian officials consistently time their vague threats of nuclear retaliation or nuclear preparedness exercises to coincide with important Western political decisions regarding Ukraine. It is likely trying to deter Kiev’s Western allies from providing further military support or to prevent the West from allowing Ukrainian forces to use its weapons systems to attack legitimate military targets in Russia.

The current apparent resurgence of nuclear rhetoric, this time in the form of planned tactical nuclear weapons exercises, coincides with the imminent arrival of Western weapons in Ukraine, analysts believe. According to them, however, it is unlikely that Russia would use a tactical nuclear weapon on the battlefield in a neighboring country or anywhere else.

hof, CTK

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