Vladimir Putin has threatened that the war in Ukraine could escalate into a nuclear conflict, warning that “there will be no winners, including the United States” in a Third World War.
The despot’s threat to step up his invasion comes as Russian forces continued their endless assault on Ukraine by firing cruise missiles into the southern city of Odessa overnight.
The attack, launched from the Black Sea, killed at least three people and injured more than a dozen in an attack that damaged houses, a warehouse, shops and cafes, the regional state administration said.
Amid Russia’s response to the launch of the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive, Putin, speaking at a meeting with Russian war correspondents in Moscow yesterday, said: “The United States pretends not to be afraid of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, but the healthy people there. Clearly I don’t want to lead this into a Third World War.
“In the event of a Third World War, there will be no winners, including the United States.”
Vladimir Putin (pictured yesterday) threatened that the war in Ukraine could escalate into a nuclear conflict, warning that “there will be no winners, including the United States” in a Third World War.
Putin’s comments came as Russian forces continued their assault on Ukraine by firing cruise missiles at the southern city of Odessa overnight (pictured)
His comments come as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko revealed that his country had begun receiving tactical nuclear weapons from its ally Russia.
Lukashenko told Russian state television that his country was receiving weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the US atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is Moscow’s first move of such warheads – shorter-range, less powerful nuclear weapons that could be used on the battlefield – outside of Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Putin said on Friday that Russia, which will retain control of tactical nuclear weapons, will start deploying them in Belarus after special storage facilities are prepared to house them.
The United States has criticized Putin’s decision but has said it has no intention of changing its own stance on strategic nuclear weapons and has seen no sign that Russia is preparing to use one.
However, the Russian move is being closely watched by the United States and its allies, as well as by China, which has repeatedly warned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.
Revealing that Belarus had received the arms delivery, Lukashenko told Russian state TV channel Rossiya-1: “We have missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (left with Putin last week) revealed that his country has begun receiving tactical nuclear weapons from his ally Russia
The United States has criticized Putin’s decision to deliver tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Pictured: Ukrainian service members ride a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle near the front line in the newly liberated village of Neskuchne.
“The bombs are three times more powerful than the ones (dropped) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” he added, speaking on a road in a forest clearing with military vehicles parked nearby and some sort of military storage facility visible in the background.
During yesterday’s meeting with 18 Russian war correspondents and bloggers in the Kremlin, a gloating Putin also claimed that Western tanks, including US-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
He added: “The ammunition detonates inside and the pieces go flying in different directions.”
In a day of threats, the Russian tyrant has also hinted at another attempt to seize control of kyiv amid Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
Despite Moscow’s failed attack to capture the city last year, Putin suggested that a new round of mobilization in a new Russian offensive could be announced.
Hundreds of thousands of Russians fled the country last September when their leader announced that 300,000 men would be mobilized to push his invasion.
‘Should we go back there or not? Why am I asking such a rhetorical question? Putin told 18 Russian war correspondents and bloggers in the Kremlin.
‘Only I can answer this myself.’
Putin’s warnings come as former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday there were no longer “moral limits” to stop Moscow from destroying its enemies’ undersea cables in a threat to Britain and its allies.
This is because of what he said was Western complicity in the Nord Stream pipeline explosions last year, which have yet to be officially explained.
Medvedev made the threatening comments on his official channel on the Telegram messaging app earlier today amid fears that Russia could cut the cables connecting Britain to the internet causing widespread blackouts.
In a day of threats, Putin (pictured yesterday) has also hinted at another attempt to seize control of kyiv amid Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
Emergency workers extinguish a fire after a Russian rocket hit a warehouse in Odessa, Ukraine overnight.
The explosions ruptured the newly built Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which carried gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, last September.
The threats from the former and current presidents come amid yet another brutal Russian attack on Ukraine.
Moscow’s overnight attack on Odessa involved four sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles, three of which were intercepted by air defences, the regional administration said on Facebook.
Three food warehouse employees were killed and seven others injured, and rescuers were searching for possible survivors under the rubble, he said.
Six other people, guards and residents of a neighboring house, were injured.
Andriy Kovalov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian General Staff, said that Russian forces have increased air and missile strikes against Ukraine.
I am Rakesh Sharma, I associated with Elite News as an Editor, since 2021. I take care of all the news operations like content, budget, hiring and policy making.