Putin Ensures The Spectre Of Nuclear Disaster Will Always Hang Over The Ukraine War

The spectre of nuclear disaster has been a constant throughout the war in Ukraine

- BORZOU DARAGAHI

From the threat posed to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – the largest such facility in Europe – to the actual use of nuclear weapons.

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, and a number of other Russian war hawks, have sought to stoke fears by making such talk a regular feature of their speeches and rhetoric. The latest example was by Putin himself yesterday, suggesting that Moscow’s new generation Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads, would soon be deployed for combat duty.

The weapons, given the ominous “Satan II” moniker by some, are supposed to be part of a new Russian arsenal of weapons that Moscow claims will be the envy of the world. In a speech to new graduates of military academies, Putin stressed the importance of Russia's “triad” of nuclear forces that can be launched from land, sea or air.

“The most important task here is the development of the nuclear triad, which is a key guarantee of Russia's military security and global stability,” he said. “Already about half of the units and formations of the Strategic Missile Forces are equipped with the latest Yars systems, and the troops are being re-equipped with modern missile systems with the Avangard hypersonic warhead.”

The first Sarmat launchers will be put on combat duty “in the near future”, Putin said. The new Sarmat missile is designed to carry out nuclear strikes on targets thousands of missiles away in the United States or Europe. But its deployment has proceeded slower than planned, as Russia said in April 2022 that it would be in place by autumn of that year.