Vladimir Putin is likely to be "killed" by his own generals if he tries to use nuclear weapons, an expert has predicted.
In a televised address earlier this week, the Russian leader appeared to suggest that the conflict in Ukraine could spiral into a nuclear crisis.
He announced a partial military mobilisation, with 300,000 reservists set to be called up as the Kremlin attempts to regain ground in the face of a counter-attack by Ukraine’s forces.
Putin said “it’s not a bluff” when he vowed that Russia would use its weapons of mass destruction if its territory was threatened.
He accused the West of “nuclear blackmail” and claimed “high-ranking representatives of the leading Nato states” had talked about the possibility of using weapons of mass destruction against Russia.
Putin said: "To those who allow themselves such statements regarding Russia, I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction.."
Experts have claimed that Putin is either bluffing or he doesn't understand the situation.
Professor Peter Duncan at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) told Express.co.uk that Putin would likely be killed before pressing the nuclear button.
Prof Duncan said: "The bottom line is that Putin is isolated from reality. He just doesn't understand either about Russia, what people think in Russia, or what people think abroad, which is, in other words, everywhere. And that's why he makes mistake after mistake."
He explained that this is partly due to the fact that Putin's allies and his own security service are scared of him, which has led to Putin being misled about the realities on the ground in Ukraine.
He said: "It's still this old problem that people are afraid to tell him the truth. Particularly, the FSB is afraid to tell him the truth so he just doesn't know what's going on."
Prof Duncan has also said that if things escalated to the brink of Putin pressing the nuclear button, his allies would step in.
He is sceptical his allies would obey Putin's orders if things reached that level.
Prof Duncan said: "I still think that if Putin did begin to use nuclear weapons - or if he did actually tell Shoigu and Gerasimov to use nuclear weapons - not just deploy them, but use them somewhere in Ukraine, I think it's entirely likely that [they] would refuse and then they would have to move against Putin and kill him.
"Because they would be disobeying an order. Not that it is that easy to kill Putin, they'd have to get the people in the FSB to help them kill Putin."
Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden said Putin has "shamelessly violated" Ukraine with his "reckless" threats.
The Democrat didn't hold back as he started his speech blasting the Russian leader over its "brutal, needless war" and accused Russia of violating core principles of UN membership by invading Ukraine.
He warned that Moscow was making "irresponsible" threats to use nuclear weapons.
“A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council invaded its neighbour, attempted to erase a sovereign state from the map. Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations Charter,'' Mr Biden told the UN General Assembly.
He added: "A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”
