Russia Rehearses Nuclear Attack Launched from Kaliningrad Against European/NATO Targets
WORLD NEWSDESK 05 MAY 2022 HITS: 4457
For perhaps the first time in its recent history, Russia has announced that it is simulating nuclear attacks against EU and NATO countries.
All indications are that Russia's political and military leadership has decided to go further in Ukraine, risking the application of the "escalation for de-escalation" doctrine.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the nuclear strike was simulated by Iskander-M ballistic systems deployed in Kaliningrad.
From there, Russia could hit Poland, Sweden, the Baltic states and Berlin.
According to the statement, Russia has conducted "electronic launches" of Iskander mobile ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads near the Russian border with EU members Lithuania and Poland.
"Russian forces have exercised single and multiple strikes against targets such as missile systems, airports, defense infrastructure, military equipment and command posts," the statement said.
The units involved also carried out "actions in conditions of radioactivity and chemical contamination".
More than 100 soldiers took part in the exercises.
Yesterday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Russian army would consider weapons shipments coming from NATO into Ukraine as :legitimate military targets for destruction."
"The United States and NATO continue to send weapons to Ukraine.
"I want to point out that any transfer from NATO to the Ukrainian Army is a legitimate target and must be destroyed," said the Russian Defense Minister.
WILL THIS "GO NUCLEAR?"
What is the possibility of escalating a Third World War that is already raging on Ukrainian soil, to nuclear?
- On April 25, 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the threat of a nuclear war between Russia and the United States has not disappeared, is real and should not be underestimated.
- The next day, on the air of Kremlin's official propagandist Vladimir Soloviev's television show, Margarita Simonyan said that in her opinion, President Putin would prefer to use nuclear weapons. in Ukraine rather than losing to it:
"In the end, all this will end with a nuclear strike," he said.
- Two days later, it was also broadcast live on Russian television how the latest generation RS-24 Sarmat ICBM intercontinental ballistic missile could hit the capitals of leading European countries in 106 to 200 seconds. The representative of the LDPR faction in the State Duma, Alexei Zhuravlev, commented:
What is the problem; A "Sarmat" rocket and the British Isles will not exist.
- On the same day, April 28, Margarita Simonyan, in her profile on a popular social network, threatened Kyiv with a nuclear strike in response to the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Russian territory:
"What choice do you give us, idiots?" Complete destruction of the rest of Ukraine? Nuclear strike? ” he said characteristically.
- On April 29, Sergei Mironov, leader of the Just Russia faction in parliament, spoke of the possibility of a nuclear attack in the United Kingdom:
"Someone tell Liz Truss that a Sarmat rocket is enough to destroy the island of Britain."
- On April 30, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concern that Ukraine might want to acquire a nuclear arsenal, which could pose a deadly threat to Russia.
In 2000, Russia developed the idea of using nuclear weapons, including " limited use " in a large-scale non-nuclear attack. This happened in the context of the NATO bombing of Serbia and the instability in Chechnya.
In the new military doctrine of the Russian Federation, 4 types of armed conflict were identified:
- a similar intensity to the war in Chechnya,
- local, such as the 2008 campaign in Georgia,
- regional, which apparently includes the operation now taking place in Ukraine
- and global
The big difference is that Moscow has now included the limited use of nuclear weapons not only in the fourth but also in the third level of the conflict. Its aim is to force the adversary to stop hostilities that have already begun with the threat of further nuclear escalation.
This concept is called "escalation for de-escalation".
The most shocking finding is that according to Russian dogma, the entire legal basis for Russia's use of nuclear weapons exists in this conflict.
The question is, will he dare to use nuclear weapons and if so where will he strike.
If Russia does not formally declare war on Ukraine in order to have a legal basis for the use of nuclear weapons (you can not even regularly drop nuclear weapons on a country with which you are not at war), then there is only one option left:
To strike a NATO weapons convoy first and in case of a counterattack to use nuclear weapons.
The No. 1 target seems to be a "European country" that helps Ukraine.
For example it could be Poland or Romania.
Let us not forget that Russia claims that Ukrainian fighters are taking off from Romanian airports. Through its territory and neighboring Moldova, fuel and lubricants are supplied for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Romanian military may be directly involved in the sinking of the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship.
But again, in order for that to happen, Russia must formally declare war on Ukraine, only to later claim that "Romania is helping Ukraine and therefore actively engaged in the war against Moscow."
Russia is oriented towards such a choice. This is probably why the Iskander-M simulation was chosen.
