Amidst the realm of Moscow, President Vladimir Putin conveyed Russia’s unwavering readiness to deploy nuclear armaments if a specter looms over its statehood, sovereignty, or autonomy, expressing an optimistic anticipation that the United States would abstain from actions that might incite a nuclear conflagration.
Putin’s proclamation serves as yet another unequivocal admonition to the Western world, heralding the imminent presidential ballot this week, in which his triumphant ascendancy for another sextennial tenure appears virtually certain.
In a discourse aired early Wednesday by Russian state television, Putin delineated U.S. President Joe Biden as a seasoned statesman cognizant of the potential perils of escalation, conjecturing that the global trajectory does not inexorably lead to nuclear warfare.
Simultaneously, he accentuated the impeccable preparedness of Russia’s nuclear forces, asserting, “From a military-technical standpoint, we stand poised.”
Putin underscored that in adherence to the nation’s security doctrine, Moscow stands prepared to wield nuclear armaments in the event of a threat to “the perpetuity of the Russian state, our autonomy, and sovereignty.”
Since initiating the incursion into Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian leader has recurrently espoused his willingness to resort to nuclear armaments. The most recent articulation of such a threat occurred during his state-of-the-nation address last month, wherein he admonished the West that further entanglement in the conflict in Ukraine would precipitate nuclear warfare.
When queried during the interview if the notion of deploying tactical nuclear armaments in Ukraine had ever crossed his mind, Putin retorted that such contingency had yet to manifest.
Additionally, he expressed certitude in Russia’s attainment of its objectives in Ukraine and extended an invitation for dialogue, underlining Russia’s resolve to safeguard its territorial acquisitions and its pursuit of resolute assurances from the West. “It ought not to serve as an intermission for the adversary to rearm but rather a substantive dialogue incorporating the assurance of the Russian Federation’s security,” he articulated.
Putin remarked that the recent surge in Ukrainian drone incursions deep into Russian territory is a facet of endeavors to disrupt the nation’s triennial presidential election, slated to commence Friday, where he is poised for a landslide victory, leveraging the stranglehold he has maintained over Russia’s political landscape during his 24-year reign.
Russian authorities reported another substantial incursion by Ukrainian drones early Wednesday. The Ministry of Defense disclosed that air defenses had intercepted 58 drones across six regions. One drone struck an oil refinery in the Ryazan region, resulting in at least two injuries and igniting a conflagration. Another drone was neutralized as it approached a refinery near St. Petersburg.
Concurrently, Ukraine reported additional Russian assaults early Wednesday.
A Russian strike claimed two lives and injured five others in the town of Myrnohrad in the eastern precinct of Donetsk, approximately 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) from the front line, as reported by Governor Vadym Filashkin. Local responders extricated a 13-year-old girl from the rubble of an apartment complex struck by a Russian missile.
A residential edifice in the northern metropolis of Sumy sustained a strike from a drone launched from Russia overnight, resulting in the rescue of 10 individuals from the debris, eight of whom sustained injuries, according to the regional administration.
In President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s native enclave in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, the death toll from a Russian missile assault the preceding night escalated to four, as declared by Governor Serhii Lysak. He disclosed that 43 individuals were wounded in Kryvyi Rih, including 12 minors, the youngest among them being a two and eleven-month-old.
“Each passing day witnesses our urban centers and rural hamlets weathering analogous onslaughts. Each day, Ukraine mourns the loss of its denizens owing to the malevolence of Russia,” remarked Zelenskyy.
