Despite President Putin’s statement on Russia’s nuclear alert, observers say it’s highly unlikely Moscow could actually start a nuclear war. But given Putin’s volatility, his threats can’t be taken lightly either.
Amidst news of fighting in Ukraine, refugees at the country’s western borders and Russian attacks on Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a statement on Sunday that stood out, one that sent a chill around the world.
“I order the defense minister and the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces to put the deterrence forces of the Russian army into a special mode of combat service,” Putin said in a televised address.
The “deterrence” the president referred to includes nuclear forces, which immediately raised concerns about a possible escalation of the war against Ukraine.
A senior US Defense Department official said in a briefing on Sunday that Putin invoking Russia’s nuclear capability was “not only an unnecessary step for him to take but an escalatory one.” And NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the order “irresponsible,” telling US broadcaster CNN that “this is dangerous rhetoric.”
But there’s no clear understanding of what exactly the statement means in practical terms for Russia’s military strategy going forward.
“It is still unclear what the increased alert involves,” Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, wrote in an email to DW.
“There have been speculations that it might involve increasing the readiness of the nuclear command and control system to be more ready to transmit a launch order. There have also been some reports of increased activity of the missile submarines, but it is unclear if that is beyond the normal.”