WHAT IF THE WAR GOES NUCLEAR?

Ominous threats by Vladimir Putin suggest he may be willing to use weapons of mass destruction. We take a look at whether the world has reason to be worried

- NASIFA SULAIMAN

WHOLE cities wiped off the map, millions killed within minutes, complete devastation – and all because some deranged world leader with a chip on his shoulder has pressed a button.

After the Cold War ended in 1989 the risk of this happening seemed unlikely but now with Russian president Vladimir Putin making all kinds of scary threats as he pushes ahead with his invasion of Ukraine, he’s got the whole world feeling decidedly jumpy.

And Putin, who has access to a huge nuclear arsenal, seems to be going out of his way to stoke these feelings of paranoia, warning that any country which intervenes to stop the invasion will suffer consequences “such as you have never seen in your entire history”.

It’s hard not to feel nervous when hearing this kind of rhetoric, even though experts say the risk of him unleashing a nuclear attack are close to zero.

But the reality is that for decades the nuclear threat has been at play. Russia and America aren’t the only countries with nukes – there are thousands of nuclear warheads scattered around the world, ready to be launched at a moment’s notice.

We take a look at who owns what and the havoc that could be unleashed if they were used.

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

Nuclear weapons fall into two groups: tactical weapons intended for use on the battlefield and strategic weapons which can be used to destroy much bigger targets such as entire states.

The only difference between them is how they are deployed. Tactical weapons are fired off using shorter-range delivery systems such as artillery, land mines, and torpedoes while strategic weapons, which can weigh hundreds of kilotons, would potentially be fired off using intercontinental ballistic missiles.