If Putin Goes Nuclear, What’s Next? – With Russia’s misguided Ukraine invasion now grinding into its third month, worries about a frustrated President Putin using tactical nuclear weapons seem to be rising. Ukraine’s fierce resistance, symbolized by the sinking of the cruiser Moskva, hasn’t helped Russian tempers, nor were they soothed by the continued inflow of Western arms into that country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that NATO was “ in essence engaged in war with Russia,” and then went on to say that the threat of nuclear war “should not be underestimated.” Meanwhile, the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, added to Russian anxieties by declaring during his late April visit to Poland that America was hoping the war would end with a “weakened” Russia incapable of assaulting its neighbors.
If an insecure and angry Putin finally pushes the button, he may start small (hopefully) with one or more low-yield weapons launched against a Ukrainian battlefield target. Such a strike would be in line with the Russian military’s concept of “Escalate to De-escalate” when fighting a great power opponent. This limited use of nuclear weapons would supposedly intimidate an enemy into negotiating an end to the conflict on Russian terms.
Russia going nuclear would seemingly confront NATO with two unpalatable choices. One, back down and accede to Russian demands with the near-certainty of having to face additional attempts at nuclear blackmail farther down the road. The other option would be for NATO to hit back with its own nuclear arsenal with the obvious risk of having the Ukrainian War escalate into a general nuclear exchange.
How NATO Could Respond To Putin’s Escalation?
But rather than having only the choices of surrender or nuclear Armageddon, the Western powers may have another option open to them, and that is to counterattack sideways with a massive conventional response using their very large arsenal of precision-guided munitions (PGMs).
Replacing nuclear weapons with PGMs is an idea that’s been circulating since the mid-1970s when the then-brand-new technology was seized upon by American strategists as a way to counterbalance the old USSR’s big numbers advantage without going nuclear. This strategy took form with the adoption by the US Army of its Air-Land Battle Doctrine. In the war that fortunately never happened, the US and its NATO allies would have used long-range precision fire to wreck Soviet supply lines and rear areas, isolating their forward forces and defeating the Red Army’s plans to crush NATO with massed tank assaults and artillery fire.
Modern NATO’s extensive cruise missile arsenal shows that the alliance thinks the Air-Land Battle concept, now called Multi-Domain with the addition of the space and cyber battlefields, is alive and well.
The US Navy (USN), despite plans to cut back on its numbers, still has large numbers of the long-serving Tomahawk cruise missile deployed on surface ships and submarines. With their 900-mile range (1600 km) and their ability to be reprogrammed in mid-flight, subsonic Tomahawk swarms pose a serious threat to any opponent they’re launched against.
Other long-range US cruise missiles include the US Air Force’s (USAF) air launched AGM 86C with a 950 km (590 mi) range and the 620 miles (1000km) JASSM-ER (Joint-Air-to- Surface-Standoff-Missile-Extended Range) missile. The AGM 86C is the conventionally-armed member of the USAF’s series of ALCMs, while the JASSM-ER, used by both the USN and USAF, is the latest addition to the JASSM family, which first entered service in 2009.
Three of America’s NATO allies the United Kingdom, France, and Germany all have their own stable of homegrown cruise missiles. Britain and France both operate the French-built Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missile. The Storm Shadow’s nearly 250 miles (400 km) range gives it the ability to strike targets while well outside the range of most SAM missile systems. Another potent weapon is the even longer-ranged German-Swedish Taurus ALCM. With its 373 miles (500 km) range and specially designed bunker-busting warhead, the Taurus is a powerful addition to NATO’s conventional firepower.
Smaller NATO members have their own cruise missile forces as well. Poland already operates the JASSM-ER and Norway has its own locally built Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM). The short-ranged 100-mile (161 km) sea-skimming NSM can be used against both sea and land targets. Both versions of the NSM serve with the Norwegian military, the Polish Army, the US Navy, and US Marines.
But what target should NATO hit if Putin cuts loose with a limited nuclear strike? If the NATO powers want maximum shock value for their nonnuclear counterstroke, striking Crimea is the only serious answer.
Home to the Sevastopol naval base and other military installations and connected to the Russian mainland only by Kerch Strait Bridge, Crimea is essential to the logistics of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Devastating the Sevastopol naval base would cripple Russia’s Black Sea Fleet by depriving it of its main logistical support. Dropping the 19 km (12 miles) long dual Kerch road-rail bridge into the water below would make an even bigger hole in Russia’s war effort than the destruction of the Sevastopol base. Making Crimea useless to Russia could very well mean game over for Putin’s “Special Operation.”
Knocking out the Crimea with a massive cruise missile strike would not only hand Russia a decisive defeat in the physical world but it could also be used to tilt the psychological battlefield against the Kremlin by driving home the following three points.
One, a conventional attack would show the Russians that while NATO is certainly anxious about the possibility of nuclear war, won’t instantly cringe in fear and allow Russia to declare victory in Ukraine. Two, while NATO’s conventional strike smashed Crimea’s infrastructure, no nuclear weapons were involved, so any damaged assets could either be repaired or replaced, something that would be impossible after a nuclear strike since the target area would be reduced to radioactive vapor.
These first two points support the third reason for NATO hitting back with a strong non-nuclear response, and that’s to make Russia’s leadership, and especially Vladimir Putin, think very carefully about their next move. NATO launching a tit-for-tat nuclear strike against Russian forces in Ukraine could elicit a knee-jerk response from Russian leaders, causing them to move automatically up the escalation ladder toward full-scale nuclear war. But an effective conventional riposte just might make them think about moving the conflict off the battlefield and into the conference room.
Vladimir Putin 2017 New Year Address to the Nation.
How Would Putin Respond?
Would the nonnuclear option actually work? Who knows. But forcing Vladimir Putin and the men around him to take a good long, long look into the nuclear abyss could provide a necessary timeout on the road to Armageddon, and that might make all the difference.
Michael G. Gallagher is an American expatriate and independent researcher living in Seoul, South Korea, with his Korean wife. He has MA and Ph.D. degrees in International Relations from the University of Miami in Coral, Gables, Florida. Prior to residing in South Korea, he lived in Mainland China and Hong Kong.
Alex
May 2, 2022 at 9:50 am
All NATO can do is pray that this doesn’t happen. Otherwise, there will be a global nuclear strike that will wipe out all NATO countries from the face of the earth.
But such articles do not cause concern among Ukrainians, they know that the Russians will never use nuclear weapons against them. Even in order to destroy the Bandera Nazis with one blow. The fact is that the Bandera Nazis are hiding behind the Ukrainians using the terrorist tactics that CIA instructors instructed them to do.
One thing is for sure: some Western crazy politicians need more innocent victims, even if it means sacrificing everyone who lives in Ukraine. The famous expression: “The West will fight Russia to the last Ukrainian.”
However, the West does not take into account the main thing: Russia is not ready to sacrifice its people who are fleeing under the protection of Russia from Bandera Nazis.
Of course, you can do it like in Belgrade, when NATO acted like a war criminal. Until now, people in Serbia are dying of cancer, which is caused by uranium shells.
You can do the same as in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and just drop nuclear bombs on peaceful cities.
But the West does not understand that if NATO has millions of people killed during the existence of the Alliance, then Russia is used to being merciful and not killing for no reason, but protecting people. The history of different countries of the world teaches this.
But one thing is true: Ukraine will not exist in its former form. This is clear to absolutely all sane people. In any case, the east of Ukraine will belong to Russia, and the west, which the communists took away from us, will return to Greater Poland. I’m sure Russia won’t mind.
Marsam
May 3, 2022 at 8:54 am
So in effect, Russia attacks Ukraine and NATO are the bad guys in this? NATO wasn’t attacking Russia or Ukraine, but now, we have Putin / Russia being the only ones threatening global Armageddon with a nuclear war. No-one else started that kind of talk or threats.
You are either Russian or simply clueless.
Dudley
May 4, 2022 at 2:02 pm
I am not Russian, but if direct German decent.. I am highly educated, to the point that I do contract work for the US government.. I FULLY SUPPORT THE USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS ANYWHERE RUSSIA FEELS THE NEED TO.. My personal choice IS D.C. ??????
Michael
May 8, 2022 at 3:56 am
How did Alex morph into Dudley?
Like most Russian trolls, your arguments are ridiculous. So, for you, it’s okay to nuke DC?
What will you do when Moscow disappears in a cloud of radioactive dust?
Hoodun
May 28, 2022 at 7:42 pm
Any one who claims to be smart is dumb. These replies are indicative of s person with a very low iq. No amount of education can help this.
Him
May 3, 2022 at 10:02 am
Alex, what do you suggest we do against the Russia that allied with Nazi Germany at the start of WW2? Those Russian Nazi behaviour still carries on till today. Those Russian Nazis going around threatening everyone with nuclear bombs, upsetting the peace, thinking everyone wants to attack them. Those Russian Nazis are crazy.
Jaime
May 3, 2022 at 12:11 pm
Check your conscience before posting, Ivan… Your Dear Leader Vladimir is the aggresssor, dragging your country along into this abyss of death and destruction.
Dudley
May 4, 2022 at 2:05 pm
Too hell with conscience!! As a Famous U.S. General once said, “the 1st time you kill another, it is a sickening feeling, after that, KILL IS A HOOT!! Putin needs to Nuke the shit out of whoever he feels like, INCLUDING D.C.
Bertram
May 4, 2022 at 1:30 pm
Sasha.
After the second world war ended, many NAZI’s tried to defend themselves by saying they were only following orders.
This often didn’t work to allow them to escape justice on earth, and it did not help them at all in terms of judgement in the afterlife.
You know that you are lying, and helping a corrupt regime justify killing innocent people. You are doing wrong, and claims that you were only doing a job as you were ordered to do, will do nothing to wipe this stain away from your soul once this whole corrupt enterprise collapses. As days go by, the rumours of coup plans grow more prevalent in Moscow.
Their blood is on your hands too.
Jesus
May 4, 2022 at 1:45 pm
Io Alex my little putty boy… perhaps u should actually go to high school and learn some basic history and logic… your lies and DISTORTIONS are reminiscent of hitler and little devil starlin… are u in romance with your little boy PUTTY?
This is an old Starlin-putty playbook…claiming victim status while being the most evil brutal aggressor in the world.. REMEMBER the evil barrel bombs and chemical bombs on syria civians.. REMEMBER chechina CRIMES by putty… he actually blew up a school and blamed it upon chech so he could take power and destroy those cities…
Little alex of PUTTY, your dictators are all alike in loving to portray themselves as victims while being the most evil brutal murderers… playbook from machiavelli has not changed …little putty is not original…
Little PUTTY is still angry that Russian neighbors were treated very badly by russian and want nothing to do with Russia dictators… putty wants to reconstruct the Soviet union and continue to steal his monies from the people… nothing new here …
Please get in your meds and get back to high school..
Chris Cha
May 4, 2022 at 11:18 pm
Hey Alex, Russia’s entire landscape will get wiped out by the NATO retaliatory nuclear strike that will be launched before Russia’s missiles land. That’s the real abyss Russia would be staring into.
Oh, and by the way… Russia started this war, not Ukraine.
Maverick
May 7, 2022 at 9:57 pm
Negative Ghost Rider. There will only be a global nuclear war if the Orcs start one. Furthermore, as Putler is painfully learning, much of his arsenal is in disarray, this likely includes the nuclear arsenal. While we don’t want to find out the hard way the small percentage of her arsenal is still combat effective, the long odds are that most of his modernization funds made there way in to the hot tubs of his oligarchs yachts.
Michael
May 8, 2022 at 3:54 am
I love your reasoning in the last part ?
Basically, your saying that ALL sane people know that Ukraine won’t exist in its current form, so anyone disagreeing with you is automatically insane?
Ever thought that your reasoning might be at fault?
Michael Nunez
May 2, 2022 at 10:14 am
Sadly the World is facing Russia’s Homicidal Butcher Putin vs the US’s incompetent Infidel fool called Biden. There will be No Winners here both are Anti human .
Jesus
May 4, 2022 at 1:55 pm
Little miki… are u being treated for psychosis or slow learning issues? Infidel ? Are u being silly muslim ? Biden is a devoted Roman catholic … INCOMPETENT? He has been the bedrock to unite nato in a formidable defense of ukraine…very competent compared to TRUMPEE’S bungling and brainlessness… AMERICAN and western war strategy is always about surgical destruction of enemy war making… not killing civilians… Russian and middle eastern war strategy is about killing of CIVILIZATION… primitive and barbaric …
Here the aggressive party is russia trying to redo the soviet union … the bully of europe …
Alex
May 2, 2022 at 10:56 am
For some reason, people like you, Michael, did not squeal when Bandera Nazis tortured and killed Ukrainians (women, children) of Donbass for 8 years in a row. If you don’t have information, then keep your mouth shut so you don’t look like a fool.
Hoodun
May 28, 2022 at 7:44 pm
Youve been drinking Putin’s propaganda little boy.
CK
May 2, 2022 at 11:20 am
One day, Russia has no fear of dying and is willing to sacrifice every one in its lands to nuclear holocaust.
The next, Russia is the safekeeper of all peoples, who will not start a nuclear war, definitely doesn’t want its people to die, and is the big brother to all neighbours, valiantly bombing their houses and then extending the strong arm of friendship to them…
Alex, can you even think for yourself at this point, or do you just follow the daily op your troll managers give you? To be fair, we’ve seen what happens when you go off script, so I can totally understand their concern.
The issue I have with such a response is that, while the fact it is not nuclear definitely helps, Russia would then likely target NATO in kind – attacking bases, infrastructure, bridges, missiles, etc – also with what’s left of their PGMs, smart bombs, etc.
Then you are in a regular shooting war with each other, even if no borders are crossed or troops exchange fire. Who thinks in that scenario, WW3 won’t start then?
Hopefully Putin still has some integrity left not to get the nukes out in the first place.
Alex
May 2, 2022 at 11:29 am
Politico reported thousands of foreigners fighting on the side of Ukraine
Combat-trained Americans, along with thousands of other foreigners, are participating in the military operations in Ukraine on the side of Kyiv. Such an assessment is given in an article published in the American edition of Politico. The publication refers to retired military and employees of American PMCs, who are currently on the territory of Ukraine.
The material notes that in Ukraine, in particular, the Task Force Yankee group, headed by the American Harrison Yosefovitz, operates. He previously worked as a police officer in Chicago, Illinois, and also served in the US Army (ground forces).
On April 29, CNN, citing the family of an American citizen and PMC mercenary Willie Joseph, reported his death in Ukraine. According to the mother of the mercenary, he went to Poland on March 12 and crossed the border into Ukraine on March 12-13. The woman noted that in the group of mercenaries, in which her son was, there were citizens of “a variety of countries.”
The mercenaries come from the USA, Canada, Georgia, Great Britain, Poland and Romania.
More than a thousand mercenaries have already been destroyed. About a thousand more refused to participate in hostilities and returned to their former extremist deployment sites.
The remaining 4.8-5 thousand foreign mercenaries should return to their states, since, according to international law, they are deprived of legal protection and “at best” they will face long-term imprisonment. As we understand, most likely they will never return home. an easy walk to hunt people turned out to be a trap forever.
Representatives of the military-civilian administration of Kherson raised the Russian flag on the building of the local executive committee in the Russian-controlled village of Chernobaevka, where the Kherson international airport is located.
Russian security forces also removed Ukrainian signs from the building of the local administration.
According to the residents of Chernobaevka, the former head of the village administration, Igor Dudar, fled to the territory controlled by Ukraine. During his reign, the Eternal Flame was extinguished at the monument to the fallen heroes of the Great Patriotic War, and photographs of veterans were taken from the village Board of Honor. Now, as assured in the military-civilian administration, all this will be corrected.
Over the past day, from 8:00 am on May 1 to 8:00 am on May 2, 159 people, including 29 children, were evacuated from Mariupol to Bezymennoe, Novoazovsky District. Then people flee to Russia. Do you need more evidence of who is the aggressor and the killer, and to whom they run for help? Yes, propagandists and liars cannot change this.
During the day, Russian air defense systems destroyed 10 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the areas of the settlements of Vesele, Borshchevo and Balakleya in the Kharkiv region, Kisylivka in the Kherson region, Mayak in the Zaporozhye region, Dokuchaev, Korsun and Khanzhinkovo of the Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as in the area of the city of Lugansk. Western drones turned out to be just targets for Russia and Donbass.
High-precision air-launched missiles hit 38 Ukrainian military facilities in a day. Among them are four command posts, 30 strongholds, areas of concentration of manpower and Ukrainian military equipment, and three warehouses of missile and artillery weapons in the areas of Pervomayskoye and Ilyichevka settlements.
The Osa AKM air defense system and a battery of multiple launch rocket systems in the Arkhangelovka area were also destroyed. Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 27 strongholds, areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as a depot of rocket and artillery weapons and ammunition in the area of the village of Chervonoe, Zaporozhye region. Up to 160 personnel and 26 units of Ukrainian armored vehicles were destroyed.
During the day, the missile forces hit nine strongholds and areas of concentration of manpower and equipment, as well as the BM-21 Grad and an artillery battery in firing positions. Artillery subunits hit 26 command and control posts, 78 strongholds, 359 manpower and equipment concentration areas, and 67 artillery firing positions. Six ammunition depots, up to 280 personnel and 43 units of weapons and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroyed.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, Russia has destroyed 146 aircraft, 112 helicopters, 683 unmanned aerial vehicles, 281 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,756 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 316 multiple rocket launchers, 1,234 field artillery and mortar guns, as well as 2,563 units of special military vehicles. All this is confirmed and documented. Now tell us about 200,000 dead Russians and 5,000 destroyed Russian tanks, clowns.
The Ukrainian authorities are seeking the evacuation of all those at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol to the territory controlled by Kyiv in order to hide the presence among the military countries.
Among those at the plant there are a large number of characters who will confirm the presence of mercenaries, and perhaps acting officers of the Western armies on the side of the Ukrainian radicals.
Does the elimination of the influence of a few dozen (even thousands) of Nazis deserve to put a country of forty million at risk? This is not a completely correct question. This is a question that concerns the fundamental security interests of the Russian Federation.
We all remember the beginning of Nazism in Ukraine:
persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian language and the Russian media was carried out, sales of all printed materials in Russian were stopped, laws were adopted to promote Nazi theory and practice.
The whole world understood that Ukraine is not worth starting a nuclear war, for which all the peoples of Russia are ready, but the peoples of the West are not ready. However, if crazy politicians want to try, it will be as President Putin said: “… we will all go to heaven, and you all will just die …”. Most importantly, the majority of Russians supported his words. Are you ready for war with Russia? Then go ahead and try it.
Michael G. Gallagher
May 3, 2022 at 4:05 am
You’re not a Wumao man, so how much of a rumble are you getting for your ruble?
The author.
Marsam
May 3, 2022 at 8:58 am
Are the people’s of Russia all ready and willing to die for their nuclear war then? Seems pretty pointless, a war where everyone on the planet dies. Thanks for the escalation, Putin!
Andy Poulton
May 3, 2022 at 1:55 pm
Alex, why do you make no reference to the hundreds/thousands of civilian buildings destroyed by the Russian attack, of the hundreds/thousands of Ukrainian civilians that have been murdered by Russian soldiers. How Russia has used precision guided munitions to attack purely civilian targets in illegal acts of way?
Why are these statistics lacking from your detailed report?
Because it doesn’t fit with your view of the “Special Military Operation”, because it isn’t included in Russia’s propaganda kit and because Putin doesn’t think the murder of innocent civilians (including children) is a problem
les
May 4, 2022 at 1:48 pm
Just a suggestion, but if you want to have any hope of convincing anyone of anything, never start off by quoting Politico. Nothing you say after that has any credibility.
CK
May 2, 2022 at 12:23 pm
I was wondering when Alex was going to drop his daily bullshit…
You can smell the panic when the story changes day by day.
Day 1: We will take Kiev in 3 days! (Alex put’s on clown shoes)
Day 2: All Bandera-Nazis will be crushed! (Alex puts own striped clown trousers, with suspenders)
Day 3: Retreat is all part of the master plan! The Moskva suffered a fire! We remain master strategists! (Alex puts on clown shirt, with a water squirtie flower in his pocket)
Day 4: Don’t look at Ukraine! Look at Biden, Afghanistan, Iraq, BLM, MAGA, Trump, Hunter Biden, look at the birds, Elon Musk, anywhere but what we are doing in Ukraine! (Alex puts on his clown makeup)
Day 5: Look at all these fake documentaries, all these fake independent reporters, these pseudo-histocal facts, all this nonsense! (Alex puts on his bright green clown wig)
Day 6: Donbas Militia will crush everyone in East! Battle of encirclement is imminent! Victory shall be ours, we swear bro, plz believe bruh! (Alex puts on his clown gloves)
Day 7: No! We are not losing, it’s just because now there are thousands of Americans and Irishmen and Scots and god knows who else fighting with the Americans! We’d totes be winning if it weren’t for those pesky kids! (Alex grabs his clown equipment)
Day 8+: Alex is revealed for the clown he is.
Every day a different story huh? No wonder you clowns can’t get shit done in Ukraine, you have no focus.
Michael
May 2, 2022 at 12:53 pm
They should go ahead and knock out the Crimea bridge with non nuke mussile and cut them off at the knees.
CK
May 2, 2022 at 4:15 pm
Indeed, I think the article even suggests it. I’m surprised Ukraine hasn’t given it a try yet, tbh.
Wonder when the west will start giving them Tomahawks, and other guided missiles.
Michael
May 8, 2022 at 4:01 am
Because the bridge is supposedly very well defended (how well that would work against a determined attack with multiple cruise missiles is a different matter)
Alex
May 2, 2022 at 1:43 pm
I like your hysteria, Bandera Nazi. A beggar, vicious juvenile troll from the poorest country in Eurasia – Ukraine, who hid behind his mother’s skirt and does not fight with a machine gun in his hands, but squeals and hysteria here like a patient of the Lviv Regional Psychiatric Hospital. But we remember. what do you write from there. And here are two buts:
1. Attributing other people’s words and fantasies to me will not work.
2. All my data is easy to verify and is based on the state media of Western and Eastern countries, as well as independent journalists, whom you cannot accuse of lying, because they have an extremely high reputation in their field.
Bottom line: which of us is a clown, you can see right away and it’s you. Tell your handlers you’re pathetic, unfit for the job, and you’re being paid 10 cents an hour for nothing.
Vik
May 2, 2022 at 2:47 pm
Alex, you must be a brainwashed, poor guy who thinks that Russia will wipe out all NATOs without any consequences. Ok, let’s say Russia nukes NATO today. Then where is Russia going to run tomorrow? Like Russia, the USA possesses second-strike capabilities and what are you gonna do when all those missiles rain down in Russia? The world has seen that Russia can’t even beat China in its military warfare. Every people has only seen the offensive missiles but no one knows yet how each of these countries’ defensive systems works, do you? It might work, or it might not work. But one thing you can’t deny unless you are really brainwashed is that the USA has the most advanced technologies, no matter if it’s some satellites or weapons, in the world. Look around you and you will see the daily techs you used are all managed within uSA.
Alex
May 2, 2022 at 3:16 pm
Take up arms and go free Bandera Nazis in the catacombs of Mariupol, who are already eating each other. They need fresh meat.
Marsam
May 3, 2022 at 9:00 am
Can’t make an argument to you go all childish. Lost that one too.
Michael G. Gallagher
May 3, 2022 at 4:28 am
Oh please, stop the Banderas stuff! Stop dragging up a corpse from 80 yrs ago to beat up the living today. People here in South Korea, and in China of course, still like to villianize modern-day Japanese over the Pacific War, which ended 77 years ago. This is particularly silly on the part of the South Koreans since if the US ever pulls out of the region due to its domestic difficulties, Seoul is going to have to go full Machiavelli and align it military with the JSDF to counter China real fast.
By the way Alex the Strelsky, if you’re talking about me, my late mother was Jewish, which means I’m Jewish as well. I’m not a practicing Jew, but comments by people like you are making me more aware of my background by the day.
Since you’re probably Russian, I’m sure you know what Peter the Great did to the Strelsky after he crushed their rebellion. But just in case you forgot, he broke them on the wheel.
Alex
May 2, 2022 at 5:17 pm
Canadian General Kadier was captured while trying to escape from Azovstal.
In the dungeons of the Azovstal plant there are foreign generals, in particular, those who arrived from Canada, Britain and the USA.
There is information that the general commanded the biological laboratory No. 1, in which 18 people worked. The laboratory worked with deadly viruses.
Currently, Trevor Kadier has been taken to Moscow, where he is testifying. If the information about the capture of the Canadian general is confirmed, then Twitter users are offering to test new types of biological weapons on which he worked as a punishment.
This mercenary was constantly in touch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
As we can see, any lies and propaganda fail sooner or later. How much this general and other foreigners who are sure to be captured will tell interesting things.
Michael
May 8, 2022 at 4:05 am
Are these the same “facts” as the picture of that scumbag Kadyrov being photographed pursuing at a petrol station in Ukraine?
You know, the one belonging to a chain that ONLY sold petrol in Russia? ???
Michael
May 8, 2022 at 4:10 am
Pursuing = praying
CK
May 2, 2022 at 6:36 pm
Thanks Alex, I’ll believe it when I see it reported elsewhere besides a known troll on this website, a single, Kremlin-aligned Twitter account, and one lone Russian website, which you have parroted, word for word.
speedster
May 2, 2022 at 8:24 pm
Bandera, was born 1909 and died 1959, yet some commentator, persists in pretending that Bandera, deceased is still alive.
Wait, Putin invaded ukraine to eliminate Bandera, so Putin has made a big mistake, ooops, ooops.
Mariupol, was the most Russian like city in Ukraine, yet the Russian invaders with half swastika on their tanks, have reduced that beautiful city to rubble.
Peter the Pan
May 3, 2022 at 5:04 am
If the glory West, aka USA, were to attack Russia with a nuke and in response Russia would destroy all US carrier groups with its hyper sonic rockets. What then glory peaceful USA?
The USA is done like the rest of the west (EU) they just haven’t recognised. Yet.
We need foreign energy, foreign minerals, foreign electronic parts and hole electronic equipments and foreign employees. How more dependend can one get. And all payed with worthless paper money. I’m afraid that will stop soon! Then good night america. And EU too!
Marsam
May 3, 2022 at 9:03 am
The West won’t start a nuclear war, it will defend itself against anyone else who starts one, by unleashing everything. The West will lose most of it’s cities, but the aggressor will lose everything. Best Russia shut up about their nuclear weapons, which will probably explode on the launch pads in they are anything like their troops and tanks i.e. not fit for purpose.
Michael
May 8, 2022 at 4:07 am
This is Alex with a different user name and I claim my £5 ?
CK
May 3, 2022 at 7:42 am
Ah yes, our prophet of blood and thunder returns. Here Alex, have a soapbox so you can more transparently proclaim your tidings.
Alex: “[screaming] … and the bezan shall be huge and black, and the eyes thereof red with the blood of living creatures… [Bandera Nazis] and the whore of Babylon [Zelensky] shall ride forth on a three-headed serpent, and throughout the lands, there will be a great rubbing of parts. Yeeah…
[yelling] … for the demon shall bear a nine-bladed sword. NINE-bladed! [NATO] Not two or five or seven, but NINE, which he will wield on all wretched sinners, sinners just like you, sir, [Alex] there, and the horns shall be on the head, with which he will…
[Fumbles a few pages of his script]
…there shall, in that time, be *rumors* of things going astray, errrm, and there shall be a great confusion as to where things really are, [Orcs in Kyiv? Kharkhiv? Azovstal?] and nobody will really know where lieth those little things wi – with the sort of raffia work base that has an attachment. [The tops of Russian tanks] At this time, a friend shall lose his friend’s hammer and the young shall not know where lieth the things possessed by their fathers that their fathers put there only just the night before, about eight o’clock. Yea, it is written in the book of Cyril that…
No nonsens shall remain unuttered, no lie too grand for the peoples of the earth, and that blessed are the cheesemakers [Ukrainians] because surely, they will inherit the earth. Meanwhile, a donkey will don his mother’s skirt, where he shall fart out a smaller, faeces-kissed version of himself [Putin] who shall make of his believers, meat-bicycles, with which he may show them buckets, if only they bring him buckets, notwhistanding his faeces smelling mien.
See, that’s the difference between you and the prophets of Monty Python. Their random gibberish is at least, entertaining. If only we could say the same of yours.
Alex
May 3, 2022 at 9:54 am
William Scott Ritter, Jr. is an American military analyst. Intelligence officer in the United States Marine Corps. He served in this position for about 12 years. He became the Marine Rapid Deployment Force’s lead analyst on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran-Iraq War. United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq.
During Desert Storm, he served as an adviser to General Norman Schwarzkopf on ballistic missiles. Ritter later worked as a security and military consultant for the Fox News network. According to an interview he gave to Democracy Now! in 2003, he also had a long official relationship with the British foreign intelligence agency MI6.
If the Bandera Nazis start squealing that he was bought by Putin, then let them shove their squeal up their ass.
Here are Scott Ritter’s words:
“Do you want to name the best students of military science today? These are Russian officers! And we treat them like children – “these are Russians.” And they are the most educated and trained officers of all who can be found. They understand everything better than us. They didn’t spend 20 years kicking down doors and slaughtering families in Iraq or crawling up hills in Afghanistan to kill a shepherd, that’s what we did, and the Russians think big.
We think in small arrows. We watch a video of how a Russian column is destroyed or three tanks are knocked out. War is hell, people die there, and if you look at the little arrows, you will think that the Russians are defeated. But look at the big arrows! The Russians kept the 100,000-strong group of Ukraine in Kyiv. If they are not threatened, they will move forward for reinforcements.
Therefore, you (Russians) send 40 thousand soldiers from Belarus and hold the enemy in place. You have 80,000 enemy forces in Odessa, you send 30,000 soldiers from Crimea – their (Security Council of Ukraine) group is stuck. You have 100,000 enemies in the Donbass, and you, the Russian troops, cannot let them go to Kyiv. You send the militia of Donetsk and Lugansk to the front line. The most difficult situation! But you clung to the enemy and hold him, don’t let him move!
You are conducting a through attack to break through the corridor to the Crimea. And Mariupol is a key city on the way, we had to take it. The only city for which the Russians fought. Why? Because he was the only one that mattered. The rest played no role.
You will not take 3 million Kyiv with a force of 40 thousand. It doesn’t happen! You will not take 1.6 million Kharkiv with a force of 50 thousand. But you will take Mariupol. They had to take it. This was a strategic necessity.
This whole phase was the preparation of the battlefield. The Russians have destroyed fuel storage facilities in Ukraine. What is a tank without fuel? Coffin! And the truck? Another coffin. Warehouses of ammunition and food are blown up. A soldier who is hungry and thirsty will be killed.
The Russians have rearranged everything for themselves in order to prepare for a massive pincer attack that will fall into the forces of the Ukrainians, who will have no food, no water, no fuel, no ammunition. Here’s what the second phase will look like.
The Russians have moved away from Kyiv, they no longer need to hold that grouping, it will not be able to move without fuel anyway. They’re stuck! If they leave the city, Russian aircraft will destroy them. There will be no reinforcements, the enemy in Donbas cannot move. They are trapped.
The Russians have closed the ring and will destroy everyone. Or they will capture a huge part of the Ukrainian army. And when that happens, there will be nothing left. And the Russians will be able to demand whatever they want. That’s why I say the Russians will win. Because I see the situation. I do not flatter myself with the illusions that “the Russians could not take Kyiv and Odessa.” THEY DIDN’T TRY!”
Alan
May 11, 2022 at 12:03 am
The Russian Army NCO’s are a joke; they are nothing like the NCO’s in the US, which are the core of the US military.
Amateurs study tactics but professionals study logistics, and Russian military has lousy logistics.
The Russian Navy has lousy damage control as exemplified by how the Moskva sank. Had that been an American ship with an American crew, the crew would have saved her from sinking.
Russia is a third world country with nuclear weapons. Maybe they can export their women to make up for the lack of a productive economy. (Now that people know Russian weapons systems are a joke, countries are going to stop buying them)
Hoidun
May 28, 2022 at 7:52 pm
This us how a typical Russian thinks. They all sound like this. I spent the last two months on their social media channels and it is nearly impossible to get them to snap out if the Putin soap bubble. They ONLY believe Putin and everything else is a lie. All the facts they use to back Putin up are selected usually by Kremlin who feeds to the news channels EVERY dissenter of the US. Its been creepy experiencing this in their social channels. These people are brainwashed lunatics!
Edmund
May 3, 2022 at 8:41 pm
Sorry, but on one had you can’t have a maniacal tyrannical war criminal bent on dominating a neighbor via absolute force and simultaneously believe he’d be reasoned not to use nukes if left with no other option to survive. Putin will, with metaphysical certitude use a nuke on Ukraine to win if he needs to. Rest assured, he’s already separated a few in his own chain of command to insure their delivery by plane or truck if need be. Putin will need a way out, ie, Crimea, Donbas and no Ukraine in NATO or he’ll wage the war until he gets it. If not, and if losing or time is slipping away, he’ll nuke Kyiv, kill 2 million, and get his way. Nobody is going to nuke Russia over that, and how does an expanded conventional attack help? Putin will just nuke Ukraine again and say “I can do this all day.”
Sucks, terrible, he’s Stalin in a dress, but get it through your head that he has a winning hand so long as has the will to play the hand. Putin is either killed by Russians, or he wins. No other option.
Uno
May 4, 2022 at 4:12 am
So someone who apparently has no authority on this subject (according to his bio, his credentials including living in Seoul with his Korean wife) throws an idea out there and admits that he has no idea how useful it would be. (He writes, “who knows.”) Thanks for wasting my time.
CK
May 4, 2022 at 6:34 am
@Michael Gallagher (the author) – I see you have met our resident troll.
It’s pointless arguing with him. He is not here for engagement, as he has realised recently pretty much everybody on this board is against him. He has been transparently exposed as the exceedingly obvious Internet Research Agency employee he is, working for Yevgeny Prigozhin – an oligarch with close ties to Putin.
He is either operating out of the IRA headquarters building at 55 Savushkina Street, St.Petersburg if he is lucky, or more likely, out of a shed in the massive Arsenal Machine-Building Factory at Komsomol, 1-3, also St.Petersburg, if he is unlucky.
I gather the latter, seeing as he is exceedingly stupid and dim-witted, as you have noticed. His tactics are fairly simple:
Paragraphs and paragraphs of bollocks, dubious claims about “independent journalists”, random documentarians, conspiracy theorists, deluded claims that of course, have no backup, lie after lie after lie.
Classical Kremlin troll approach. Just flood the internet, the comments, the media, with tosh, doesn’t matter what it is, just make sure you write some old nonsense. Make sure to say the claim is supported by some dude in Germany, France, the states. If it’s a “documentary” (usually from youtube) then the better.
Anything that victimises Russia, always the victim, always the bullied, never the problem. It’s always the Nazis. It’s always some pseudo-historical point.
Anyone that has had the misfortune to study his “tactics” sees the forest for the trees, the pattern of lies, disinformation, blanketing of random claims, deflection, obfuscation, and other words beyond your vocabulary.
It’s hopeless Alex. Your lies are as short as your intellect. What a pathetic job, to sit in your government shed, spreading your pathetic, government lies.
A pathetic job for a truly pathetic man. A better match could not be made in heaven.
Having realised he can’t gain traction on this board now, he has resorted to two simple strategies:
1) Be the first to comment on any article. This ensures anyone reading the article for the first time will inevitably stumble upon whatever his message of the day is, before it gets buried.
2) Ideally, be the LAST person to comment on any article. Have the last say. For the same reasons as above. If there is a large discussion, people will usually scroll all the way down, and voila, you see his targeted message again.
And that’s it. Every day, he blankets every article with the same copy + pasted content, over and over again. Saturation. This is how he ensures the message is seen one way or another.
Funnily enough, if you copy + paste some of his bollocks onto google, you find other websites where you can almost verbatim find 100% matches. These are either Alex himself operating elsewhere, or the “daily script” these idiots are given by their supervisors to disseminate for this day, sent by other colleagues. You can find dozens of duplicates for example, on:
https://en.topwar.ru/ (An obvious Kremlin mouthpiece, with an English service)
Unfortunately, the shoddy or non-existent moderation and supervision of this website allows this to happen day, after day, after day. Anywhere else, he would have been banned by now.
Here are some links to learn more about how they operate:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Research_Agency
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/01/troll-factory-spreading-russian-pro-war-lies-online-says-uk
https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-troll-factory-hacking/31076160.html (An account by an ex-employee, basically Alex if he ever grew any balls)
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 7:46 am
Edmund: The peoples of Russia have made their choice and supported their president. He destroys Banner’s Nazis, and rightly so. And they just don’t care about your opinion and the opinion of people like you.
German journalist Thomas Röper: Ukrainians are very afraid that the Russians will leave.
The journalist spoke about the distortion of facts in the Western media:
“I was three times in the south (Ukraine). The first trip was also to Melitopol. And so, on this trip, I was most impressed by the fact, or the fear that you see there in the eyes of people. And not among those who do not agree with the military operation, and according to my estimates, this is a minority. It is they who swear, the camera writes, and they will say how much they disagree. And those who agree are the majority.
I see it in the squares, when there are hundreds of people, they walk past the soldiers and say in a whisper: “Thank you guys, don’t leave.” They are very afraid, and they said it directly. They are very afraid that the Russians will leave and there will be reprisals. What, in my understanding, happened in Bucha, by the way.
And the fact that now, Alina said, from Mariupol is another such example. The woman was afraid to just speak the truth. Afraid that, God forbid, the Russians would leave and there would be reprisals. I don’t want to take too much time now, I just want to give one example, because the West always says it’s Russian propaganda if they say that Azov and other units of the Ukrainian troops use civilians as a “human shield”.
I write in German, and the other day I read an article in the German magazine Spiegel, which is probably known to many. And there was a very surprising offer. So they wrote… Everything, of course, sounded very positive, but they wrote that in Mariupol… More precisely, they (the newspaper) were told by people in Zaporozhye who had come from Mariupol, telling them that their national battalions held them, “politely of course”, held peaceful residents to the basement, and took positions in the apartments above these basements. It sounds in the Western media as if they are protecting them. Excuse me, what is this? If the fighters take up their combat positions above the basements where civilians are sitting, and how voluntarily they went to this basement.
Most people know the truth, but the Western media do not need this truth, they have a different manual, you need to do everything the other way around, and if it doesn’t work out the way America wants, you get sanctions, but the EU countries, not Russia, they will die after the first package of sanctions.”
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 8:38 am
Finally our lands are back!
The ex-deputy of the Rada announced the beginning of the “attachment” of the west of Ukraine to Poland.
Ex-deputy of the Rada Ilya Kiva announced the first stage of the annexation of Western Ukraine by Poland.
“This is the first stage before secession and the creation of a “pro-Western Ukraine” with its capital in Lviv. With subsequent accession, through a referendum, to Poland,” he said.
According to the ex-people’s deputy, Kyiv has changed the strategy for the use of weapons that it receives from Europe. Now they are not transported to the war zone, but left in the west. Thus, a “new line of defense” is being formed, thanks to which it will be possible to achieve the annexation of this region by Poland, Kiva believes.
Last week, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, said that Poland intends to establish tight military-political control over “its historical possessions” in western Ukraine. According to him, Warsaw expects that the consolidation in these territories will most likely lead to a split in the country, and Poland will receive control over the lands occupied by “peacekeepers”.
CK
May 4, 2022 at 9:27 am
You see? He makes my point for me.
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 11:20 am
Director Oliver Stone described the scenario of US nuclear sabotage.
The author of the films “Ukraine on Fire” and “In the Struggle for Ukraine” noted that now the West is already masterfully and with the use of brute force is waging an information war against Russia.
American director Oliver Stone said that the most gloomy scenario for the development of the conflict in Ukraine remains a nuclear provocation by the United States. He shared this message on Twitter.
According to him, in this case, Washington will not even have to cover its tracks, since Russia is considered to be the main initiator of all atrocities. Stone wondered if the United States was creating “the conditions for a high-yield nuclear explosion of unknown origin somewhere in the Donbass” that would incur the deaths of thousands of Ukrainians.
“Of course, if this, God forbid, happens, the whole world, like Pavlov’s trained dog, will blame Russia for everything. This guilt has already been established in advance, regardless of who presses the button,” the director wrote.
The United States deliberately hushed up the crimes of the Kyiv regime against the civilian population in Ukraine, which have been going on since 2014, Stone recalled. He also stressed that now the West “with skill and brute force” is waging an information war against Russia.
Earlier, US General Mark Milley said that the likelihood of a clash between the great powers is growing. The military also spoke about the events in Ukraine, calling them the biggest security threat in Europe, and possibly the whole world, for “more than 40 years of his military career.”
Stefan Stackhouse
May 4, 2022 at 12:25 pm
Perhaps the question had better not be: “How do we win and make the Russians lose?” Instead, the question had better be: “How do we all survive this?” If that is the question, then escalation, or even “Tit-for-tat” retaliation, had best be avoided. At the same time, we must stand strong and firm, and find ways to make it clear to Putin that persisting will be too difficult, costly, and dangerous. It is a fine line, and requires much better statecraft than we are used to seeing. I don’t know if the author’s proposed conventional strikes against targets in Crimea will do that or not. It probably would be advisable to let the Russians know that this – and maybe more – would be on the table, and to let them know BEFORE they let loose any nukes.
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 1:28 pm
Stefan, do you understand that this is not your war, but if a nuclear weapon is used, you and your loved ones could die with a probability of 80 to 100 percent? You do not understand what is happening near my borders, but we understand. It doesn’t matter where you are – in Ukraine, in Europe, Britain or the USA, but remember that the probability is from 80 to 100%. Hitler once said that he was going to “liberate” the USSR. What came of it? Napoleon said the same. So did the kings of Western Europe. Where are they?
CK
May 4, 2022 at 3:55 pm
It is our war though. This reckless aggression by Russia against Ukraine is a war against freedom, democracy, liberal values, the West, EU, and by extension – NATO.
You knew what you were doing when you went in there. Now you pay the price.
And boo hoo. The threat of nukes is all you have left now. You think we won’t retaliate if you dare use them against us?
Dream on.
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 6:28 pm
Bandera Nazi. All you can do is be destroyed by the Ukrainians. And then burn in the same boiler in Bandera. It’s all you can.
Duane Stone
May 4, 2022 at 6:05 pm
Consider this response if Russia used a nuke in Ukraine:
1. Take out Black Sea Fleet and Crimea bases.
2. Take out all Air Force bases being used to hit Ukraine
3. Attack all logistic centers, bridges and entry points that can be chocked.
4. Unleash EMP’s over Russia or at least command and control facilities.
5. Unleash Microwave weapons to target Putin and the leadership, or at least fry all electronics in Russia.
6. Sink, Seize all Russia oil tankers and hit Russia’s terminals that pump oil onto ships and close all pipelines. Collapse their ability to make money
7. Arm Ukraine with Patriot batteries, F-15’s, F-16’s, F-18’s, A-10’s, missile boats, submarines and naval mines.
8. Nato enter Western Ukraine to defend its borders and cities freeing its soldiers to go fight.
9. Arm Ukraine with Abrams tanks.
10. Blockade all Russian naval ships in port. If Russian Submarines attempt to go to sea, sink them.
Nuclear weapon use can never be allowed. The Response must be devastating to the Russian government, military and people for choosing to do so. They must all feel the pain.
Michael Veritas
May 4, 2022 at 11:07 pm
Michael G. Gallagher knows the majority of Ukrainian forces are in east and once surrounded that’s end of war. Any student of military history will remember The Battle of Alesia. Vercingetorix forces were surrounded and forced to surrender. A more recent version would be The Battle of Stalingrad. Once surrounded even the mighty German army was forced to surrender. You see it doesn’t matter how skilled or determined an army is when the food, water and bullets run out. Don’t forget when terrorist…I mean freedom loving rebels in Syria were on the run when a mysterious poison gas was supposedly released by Assad. Yes, even though he was winning and knew this would bring attack from West. We were told the irrefutable evidence showing Damascus was responsible would be released but somehow that ironclad evidence was never produced. Yes, this is test ballon aimed at sheeple for false flag number two!
A Nun On Mouse
May 5, 2022 at 7:09 am
Americans seem to think that Ukrainians don’t mind their country become a nuclear battlefield for he US and Russia.
CK
May 5, 2022 at 9:52 am
Americans seem to think they have a say in how this war ends.
It is down to Ukraine and Russia. If Ukraine wishes to capitulate after a nuke, its up to them. If they don’t… it’s also up to them.
Whatever the choice, it’s doubtful NATO will just sit on the sidelines and watch.
Daniel Montes
May 22, 2022 at 9:30 pm
Putin’s use of a nuclear weapon in Ukraine must be answered likewise with equal yield on Russian territory. Putin is a bully and thats how you deal with bullies, hit them hard on their nose.
If Russia wishes to escalate, let them. Its their choice to suicide themselves. Russia is led by a war criminal and the people refuse to reign him in. They will pay for his crimes. Same happened to Hitler.