Russia TV Questions Whether Putin Has Any Decent Nuclear Weapons
Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS
A leading Russian propagandist is openly questioning whether Russia has proper nuclear weapons to confront the West.
On air Wednesday October 26, Vladimir Solovyov, the host of the Russian state TV program Evening with Vladimir Solovyov, admitted that the NATO bloc’s military potential “is completely different than what we thought” and that Russian forces might have problems dealing with it.
“But at least we’re holding exercises with our strategic nuclear weapons,” Solovyov said during the evening show. “I hope we actually have them. I hope at least in this, we’re still capable.”
Two days before that, Solovyov said on his program that Russia could send nukes into space and take out Elon Musk’s satellites.
On October 17, NATO began nuclear exercises as part of the annual “Steadfast Noon.” The exercises end on October 30 with no launched live missiles involved. Russia is expected to start its own nuclear exercises this week.
Previously on October 13, John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, admitted that U.S. officials were aware of Russia’s intentions to launch live missiles and deploy strategic assets.
Nuclear escalation has significantly risen after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said his country “will use all defense methods at our disposal” in case there is any threat to their territorial sovereignty.
Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s Defense Minister, declared last week that Ukraine was inciting a threat with a “dirty bomb.”
On Monday, Ukraine Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov tweeted about his conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Lloyd Austin about leaving Russian provocations with no reaction and showing a “zero tolerance of blackmail.”
The next day, President Joe Biden said that “Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake if it used a tactical nuclear weapon.”
In his evening show, Solovyov described Ukrainians as “Satanists” and insisted that it is “a holy war” and “a jihad” of Russians to get the world cleaned from them.
Other Russian officials, including Aleksey Pavlov, assistant secretary of the security council of the Russian Federation, have also referred to the “desatanization” of Ukraine due to an alleged abandonment of Orthodox values.
