![]() ![]() defense official told reporters Monday that the the U.S. "Putin might hope that he could coerce the Ukrainians into accepting his terms, that he could coerce the West into backing off from supporting Ukraine." "I think the biggest factor in the use of nuclear weapons is the fear they provoke," Bunn said. The Russian military has already devastated a number of Ukrainian cities with conventional firepower.īunn said if Russia uses a nuclear weapons, the intention may be mainly to intimidate Ukraine and the West. Russia can do just as much damage, if not more, with a relentless barrage of conventional weapons. However, Bunn notes that "one problem with using nuclear weapons, especially if you detonate them on the ground where they suck up a bunch of dirt and rock into the air, is the place where you use them ends up being uninhabitable because radioactive fallout." Russia has an estimated 2,000 small, low-yield, tactical nuclear weapons that could be used against specific targets - like a concentration of troops, a military base, perhaps a port or an air field. It's not clear that such an attack would give Russia a major military boost. How could a nuclear strike help Russia on the battlefield? While that's a pretty low probability for most things in life, when it comes to nuclear weapons, it is "intolerably high," Bunn said. Most nuclear experts say the likelihood of Russia actually using a nuclear weapon is still relatively low, but given Putin's current predicament, and his public statements, the threat is seen as increasing.īunn said his best estimate is that there's a 10 percent to 20 percent likelihood that Russia might use a nuke. The Russian leader is probably the only person who can answer this question with authority. So is Putin just trying to appease some of his critics, or might he actually use a nuclear weapon? This has likely contributed to Putin's recent escalation, which includes the mobilization of 300,000 additional troops, annexing Ukrainian territory, and the nuclear saber rattling. TRIBAL WARS 2 NUKE FULLMany of these hardliners say Russia needs to unleash the full force of its military in Ukraine. ![]() With these battlefield setbacks, Putin is facing pressure from the pro-war camp in Russia. Ukraine's military keeps regaining ground in the east and the south of the country, which Russia had seized earlier in the war. Why is Vladimir Putin raising the possibility of a nuclear attack now? Here are a number of key questions surrounding Russia possible use of nuclear weapons. "We need to do everything we can to maintain that tradition of not using nuclear weapons in combat." He's spent his career studying nuclear weapons, including a stint in the 1990s as a White House adviser when President Bill Clinton was in office. Russia is threatening that," said Matthew Bunn a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School. "We have a 77-year tradition, some call it a taboo, of non-use of nuclear weapons. So what is the likelihood that the Russian leader might use of such weapons? The U.S., he said, set a "precedent" when it dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in 1945 at the end of World War II. Putin has done this before, though he was more explicit in a speech last Friday, and he says he's not bluffing. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has raised the specter of using a nuclear weapon in his war with Ukraine. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |