The countdown to the use of nukes in the Ukrainian theater of operations has begun. Western capitals have begun implementing contingency plans as Russia escalates threats to show it is very close to “ground zero”.
The British intelligence service MI6, citing its sources in Moscow, informed Ukraine and V. Zelensky about an “imminent nuclear strike” stressing that the list of targets has been approved.
MI6: “Several targets will be hit”
More specifically, MI6 reported that the Kremlin had reportedly agreed to strike a number of targets in Ukraine with tactical nuclear weapons.
This will not happen immediately and suddenly.
Initially, according to the British, Russia will proceed to carry out nuclear exercises with the launch of hypersonic and nuclear missiles against predetermined targets.
Then, according to British analysts, if the Ukrainians do not capitulate, the Russians will strike Ukrainian bases and the roads through which Western weapons are transported.
These strikes with tactical nuclear weapons will be carried out far from populated areas, but will make it impossible for a long time to restore the logistics and supply corridors of the Ukrainian special forces.
Other sources talk about the wider area of Lviv and the road axes that connect Ukraine with Poland.
US sources are talking about changing the country’s nuclear preparedness level to DEFCON 3
The classification of the Defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is: 1 ) Nuclear or conventional war 2) One step before war, 3) Increased readiness of Units, 4) Vigilance and increased security measures and monitoring 5) Normal state of readiness.
It was preceded by nuclear threats from B. Putin himself, S. Lavrov, N. Peskov and other Russian officials, while the Russian state television announced to the viewers that a nuclear war might already be a given!
Russian media have begun to justify the use of tactical nuclear weapons on modern battlefields. Russian state television have warned the West that if they feel Russia is being pushed into a corner, then it will ensure “everyone is destroyed.” Military expert Igor Korotchenko and state TV presenter Olga Skabeeva agreed that Russia would use nuclear weapons if it felt threatened to be destroyed.
The kiloton or electromagnetic Armageddon?
Humanity is entering the most critical period. Everyone is now focusing on what will happen and how the USA and NATO will react immediately after the use of this special tactical nuclear weapon.
Analysts say Moscow will likely use one or more “tactical” nuclear bombs or nuclear warhead bombs.
These are small weapons, ranging from 0.3 kilotons to 100 kilotons of explosive yield, compared to the 1.2 megatons of the largest US strategic warhead or the 58 megaton bomb tested by Russia in 1961.
Tactical bombs are designed to have limited impact on the battlefield, compared to strategic nuclear weapons that are designed to fight and win all wars.
But “small” and “limited” are relative: The atomic bomb that the US dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 with devastating effect was only 15 kilotons.
Western analysts say Russia’s goal in using a tactical nuclear bomb on Ukraine would be to scare it into surrendering or submit to negotiations and divide the country’s Western backers.
Mark Cancian, a military expert at the CSIS International Security Program in Washington, said Russia would likely not use nuclear weapons on the front line.
Holding 20 miles (32 km) of land could require 20 small nuclear bombs, small gains for the enormous risks of introducing nuclear weapons and nuclear fallout.
“Using just one will not be enough,” Cancian said.
Moscow could instead send a strong message and avoid significant casualties by detonating a nuclear bomb over water or high above Ukraine to create an electromagnetic pulse that would disable Ukrainian electronic equipment.
This scenario is also the most likely
Alternatively, Russia could choose greater disaster: attack a Ukrainian military base or strike an urban center like Kyiv, causing mass casualties and possibly killing the country’s political leadership.
Such scenarios “were likely designed to fracture the NATO alliance and global consensus against Putin,” Jon Wolfsthal, a former White House nuclear policy expert, wrote on Substack on Friday.
But “it’s unclear whether it will succeed and it could just as easily be seen as desperation as determination,” he said.
