Paragraph: russian president vladimir putin recently stated that the risk of nuclear war was increasing. he reassured that russia had not “gone mad” and would only use weapons of mass destruction as a response to an attack. putin also acknowledged that the conflict in ukraine could be a “lengthy process”.
Paragraph: last month, russian forces were forced to retreat from kherson city, the only regional capital they had seized since the february invasion. ahead of a meeting of the russian security council, 10 members who had expressed doubts about the war were removed and replaced with pro-war officials. subjects for discussion were also heavily vetted beforehand.
Paragraph: putin has previously insisted that russia’s nuclear doctrine only allows for the defensive use of nuclear arms. he compared himself to tsar peter the great, who had an aspiration to make the sea of azov an “internal sea” of russia. recently, russia’s nuclear doctrine has been put under close examination, specifically concerning the use of a tactical nuclear weapon, which is designed for combat, in comparison to the larger strategic weapons created to cause wide-scale destruction.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63893316?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
