Russia unlikely to use strategic missiles despite nuclear threats, says Ukrainian diplomat

He spoke about this on Espreso TV.

“Russia will not use any strategic missiles for two reasons. Firstly, Russia's potential is not comparable to that of the United States and the United Kingdom. In fact, the Russians know that their missiles fly every other time, but they don't know what about the charges. I would note that unlike the United States, which has found a way to test a nuclear warhead without a real large-scale explosion, Russia does not have such technology. Therefore, the Russians have not had normal nuclear weapons tests. And without a normal test, no country will use nuclear weapons, except at a time when hundreds of warheads are flying at you. And in any other situation, it will not use it,” the diplomat commented.

According to him, the second reason why Russia has no need to use nuclear weapons is to control facilities such as, for example, the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, the explosion of which led to a disaster.

“They also have Zaporizhzhia NPP under their control, which is constantly under threat. Experts know that dangerous situations there are either looming or decreasing. In addition, the enemy attacks our transformers at nuclear power plants, which then jeopardizes the normal operation of the nuclear power plant. There were 17,000 such dangerous facilities on our territory before the Russian invasion. In fact, they are primarily thinking about how to use this, not about nuclear weapons, which the Kremlin constantly threatens. Nuclear weapons in Russia are definitely not for this war. And Russia also knows that it will be bad for them if they use even one tactical charge. And Putin knows this. I would pay more attention to such facilities as the ZNPP, which have been seized by the Russians, because this is a real threat,” Valeriy Chaly emphasized.

• In June, during a press conference in Vietnam, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was considering “lowering the threshold” for the use of nuclear weapons in Russian nuclear doctrine and that a possible future strategic defeat of Russian forces on the battlefield in Ukraine would lead to “the end of Russia's statehood.”
• Later, in a speech to Russian graduating officers, Putin said that Russia plans to further develop its nuclear triad as a “guarantee of strategic deterrence” and to maintain the balance of power in the world.
• At the same time, 34% of Russians surveyed by the Russian Levada Center believe that Russia's use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine is justified.
• On September 8, CIA Director William Burns said that at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there was a real risk of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons.