The latest manifestation of Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is not some sharp or sudden escalation.
Putin is not trying to scare us or the West. He is frightening his own population and elites. Through this nuclear blackmail, he is directly addressing Russians: weapons capable of carrying a nuclear component could appear in Ukraine. In reality, this is a message to his own people — “we must continue the war.”
In fact, it would not be a bad thing if Ukraine were to acquire a nuclear instrument, a deterrent weapon. That would be a positive development.
In this case, however, Putin effectively ignores the core issue and does not explain why they have failed to win the war over four years. Instead, he claims that things will become even worse, that Ukraine is supposedly on the verge of being radically rearmed — and therefore the war must continue.
For Russians, nuclear weapons symbolise the advantage of a great power, not “some Ukraine”. This is, above all, the trading of fear — primarily directed at his own population.
Viktor Nebozhenko
