In a chilling outburst, a former adviser to Vladimir Putin has claimed Russia may be ready to use nuclear weapons against Western countries including Britain. Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme whether nuclear missiles could come to London, Russian political scientist Sergei Markov said “yes, it is possible”.
Markov was asked whether he believed the Russian leader had made a clear threat not just to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine but also to start a general nuclear war that would kill everyone. He replied “not everyone” but added it “could kill a lot of people in the Western countries”.
Mr Markov said: “It was absolutely clear that Russia has no war against Ukraine. Russia has no reason to use technical nuclear weapons against Ukrainians. Ukrainians are our brothers but Ukrainians are occupied by Western countries.”
After warning it was “possible” that Russia could launch nuclear missiles at London, Markov said: “I would say that everybody in this world now is thinking about nuclear war. This nuclear war could be a result of the crazy behaviour of the president of the United States Joe Biden and prime ministers of Great Britain Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.”
He added: “People in London should understand that this threat comes from Liz Truss, who is the aggressor. Stop the war against Russia on the Ukrainian territory.”
However, another Putin ally, Evgeny Popov, gave a very different assessment. Popov, a member of the Duma for Mr Putin’s United Russia party, told the BBC: “We are not going to attack Western countries first. We are not going to do some nuclear massacre in the world.
"It’s not our policy. It’s not our practice. We are peaceful people in Russia, but we can respond if you would attack us.”
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin’s warning that Russia will use “all the means at our disposal” to protect itself has been dismissed as “sabre rattling” by Prime Minister Liz Truss. The Russian president’s comments in a televised address to the nation appeared to suggest the conflict in Ukraine could spiral into a nuclear crisis.
And Mr Putin said “it’s not a bluff” when he vowed that Russia would use its weapons of mass destruction if its territory was threatened.
Truss, speaking in New York where she is attending the United Nations General Assembly, said it was important for her to be at the gathering with fellow leaders “because we are facing such a difficult international situation with the war in Ukraine started by Vladimir Putin”.
She added: “We’ve heard more sabre rattling from him this morning.“
