The illegitimate president of Russia, Putin, has repeatedly threatened nuclear weapons, but in the fall of 2022 there was a real risk of using weapons of mass destruction. On September 7, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the USA, William Burns, said this during the FT Weekend Festival.
Points of attention
- In the fall of 2022, there was a real risk of Russia using nuclear weapons.
- Director of the US CIA, William Burns, told what he talked about with the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin.
- The Kremlin tried to induce Ukraine to surrender through nuclear blackmail.
- Russia's illegitimate president, Putin, is known for his constant rhetoric about nuclear escalation, but the West has not given in to it.
Russia could use nuclear weapons in the fall of 2022
The maximum risks were in the first year of full-scale war. According to Burns' personal opinion, this could happen in the fall of 2022.
The Ukrainian army began to actively retake territories during the counteroffensive. The Kremlin was frankly nervous then.
There was a point in the fall of 2022 when, in my opinion, there was a real risk of the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons.
William Burns
Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency
The West was wary of such a scenario. Therefore, active diplomatic activity began.
At the end of 2022, Burns personally spoke with the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin. An American spy reported to Putin's henchman the consequences that Russia would face in the event of the use of nuclear weapons.
The head of British intelligence, Richard Moore, noted that there is only one person who constantly talks about nuclear escalation - that is Putin.
Moore emphasized that Russia will not be able to intimidate the West with nuclear blackmail.
Threats with nuclear weapons
Russian representatives have repeatedly spoken about the possibility of using weapons of mass destruction. Moreover, this was said not only by Putin, but also by other representatives of the top political leadership.
Russia tried to induce Ukraine to surrender with nuclear blackmail. Most often, such threats sounded in the first year of a full-scale war.
The strategic nuclear forces of the Russian Federation are called the "nuclear triad". These are missile forces, naval strategic forces and strategic aviation.
The Russian Federation has 5,889 nuclear warheads. For comparison, there are 5,244 in the United States.
