Russian radicals are demanding that Putin strike Ukraine with nuclear weapons — Reuters
Pro-war radical circles in Russia are exerting serious pressure on Vladimir Putin, calling on him to completely cut off diplomatic contacts mediated by the U.S. and to radically escalate the war in Ukraine.
Hardliners are demanding a nuclear strike in response to a series of painful and effective attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on targets within Russian territory.
According to the radicals, Washington has grossly violated its previous promises to ensure the end of hostilities on terms favorable to the Kremlin.
The current wave of aggressive calls for radical measures within Russia is not an entirely new phenomenon, but its intensity has increased significantly.
Russian military bloggers and media moguls have previously demanded that the state leadership announce a new wave of large-scale mobilization, begin shelling European military factories, and deploy tactical nuclear weapons.
However, the Ukrainian military’s recent successful operations using long-range weapons have forced the “hawks” to act much more aggressively due to the apparent inability of Russian air defense to protect strategic rear-area facilities.
These demands intensified following a series of long-range strikes by the Ukrainian military that reached Crimea and Moscow, triggering a severe gasoline crisis in the country and forcing the Crimean authorities to declare a state of emergency in the middle of the tourist season.
The destruction of oil refining infrastructure and the closure of the peninsula to vacationers dealt a severe blow to the Russian government’s domestic image.
Representatives of the far-right wing consider this situation humiliating and are demanding an immediate show of force.
“What else has to happen before we start fighting for real? War means victory at any cost. Why aren’t we using the nuclear weapons that our ancestors developed and built specifically for this purpose?” — Konstantin Malofeev, owner of the Tsargrad TV channel, exclaimed last week after drones struck the Moscow oil refinery.
Reuters reports on this.
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