DISINFO: Russia has never threatened anyone with nuclear weapons
SUMMARY
Russia has never threatened anyone with nuclear weapons.
RESPONSE
False statement by a pro-Kremlin outlet.
On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On February 27, 2022 Vladimir Putin ordered his military to put Russia’s nuclear deterrence forces on high alert. Before that, Putin had warned that "whoever tries to hinder us" in Ukraine would see consequences 'you have never seen in history'.
Current U.S. and Russian military strategies reserve the option to use nuclear weapons first. In Russia’s case, its military policy allows for the president to order the use of nuclear weapons if the state is at risk or possibly if Russia is losing a major war.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the order "irresponsible," and qualified it as "dangerous rhetoric."
From the first day of the war, Russia has been voicing its right to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine at all levels, from high-ranking officials to propagandists.
Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president, now deputy chair of the Russian security council said Moscow’s nuclear doctrine does not require the enemy state to use such weapons first. He threatens 'nuclear' move if NATO expands. In May, Medvedev warned about nuclear war over Western arms deliveries to Ukraine.
In another notable example of warmongering and threats from Russia, EU-sanctioned Russian TV Host Dmitry Kiselyov lashed out at the UK, accusing it of pushing Ukraine to continue fighting against Russia and threatening the UK with nuclear annihilation. Read our article The Kremlin’s Warmongering Rhetoric at the Point of No Return.
Another Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the propaganda outlets RT and Sputnik, stated that "Vladimir Putin will launch an all-out nuclear war on the West rather than accept defeat in Ukraine".
The military expert of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Evseev warned NATO about the use of Russian nuclear weapons: "If NATO decides to invade the territory of the Kaliningrad region, Russia may respond with nuclear weapons."