Vladimir Putin is preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine
Ukraine’s top military commander is sounding the alarm that Vladimir Putin plans to use nuclear weapons, as Russia spends four years in a quagmire with its neighbor to the west. RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Roman Kostenko warns that his country should brace for the possibility of “tactical nuclear weapons” targeting military bases, Ukrainian infrastructure and even major cities that would be likely targets.
The decorated colonel announced that he had introduced legislation to create a separate, standalone strategy for biological, chemical and nuclear security.
He stressed that this change is essential to maximize preparedness for the possible use of nuclear weapons, warning that the Russian threat has now reached a critical level.
“This will be a separate strategy in our national security law,” he said on Ukraine’s Channel 24.
Kostenko’s warming comes after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on April 29 unveiled “a new phase in the use of Ukrainian weapons to limit the potential of the Russian war.”
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) later confirmed that it had hit Transneft’s oil pumping and distribution facility in the Russian city of Perm. The site supplies oil to the Permian refinery and feeds pipelines running in four directions through Russia.
According to the SBU, the facility is “a strategically important junction of the main oil transportation system”, with early reports indicating that almost all oil storage tanks are on fire.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov labeled the attacks on the oil facility “terrorist attacks” as the conflict shows no signs of ending.
Underscoring the severity of the Permian attacks, Russia withdrew a group of military cadets and a column of military equipment from the upcoming Victory Day parade, which commemorates the end of World War II, “due to the current operational situation.”
The new warning from Ukraine comes days after saber-rattling by Alexei Likhachev, the head of Russia’s state nuclear energy company, over the Kremlin’s nuclear weapons.
“Our nuclear shield, our nuclear sword, remains our core mission,” he said on May 1, referring to Putin’s heavy-handed involvement.
“The President of the Russian Federation personally supervises the creation of weapons based on new physical principles and the preservation of the combat capabilities of our existing solutions,” Likhachev added.
The Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, recently warned at an education forum that a nuclear apocalypse remains a very real possibility, although his country hopes to “avoid” it.
“I am often accused of using harsh rhetoric and talking about a nuclear apocalypse. Unfortunately, it is really possible. Those who do not realize this are dreamers or fools. But we would like to avoid it,” he said.
Medvedev also accused European countries of pushing the narrative of an inevitable war with Russia.
“I don’t know where it comes from, but this is a real mantra, as they repeat it every day: ‘Russians will definitely attack us,’” he said at the forum.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and despite continued efforts by Donald Trump and his administration to end the war, neither side was willing to reach a peace agreement.
