The United States fears that a nuclear strike by Russia could be detected too late amid concerns that failures by Moscow’s armed forces in Ukraine could prompt President Vladimir Putin to sharply escalate the war, Politico reports.

Five current and former U.S. officials told Politico on condition of anonymity that U.S. and allied intelligence agencies have stepped up efforts to identify any Russian military maneuvers or communications that could signal that Vladimir Putin has ordered the use of nuclear weapons. weapons against Ukraine.

It will be recalled that the President of the Russian Federation ordered to bring the nuclear deterrent forces of the Russian Federation into high alert as early as February 27, 3 days after the start of the “military special operation”.

US officials have warned that any sign that the Kremlin leader has decided to use Russia’s nuclear weapons in a desperate bid to regain the initiative in the war or intimidate Ukraine and the international community into heeding his warning may come too late.

This is because most aircraft and missile systems in the Russian armed forces can also launch smaller tactical nuclear weapons.

These types of nuclear weapons were designed for use on the battlefield, unlike intercontinental ballistic missiles, which leave specific clues when their units are deployed or mobilized for training.

This means that unless Putin and his commanders want the world to know ahead of time, the United States may never know that Moscow’s leaders have decided to swap conventional munitions for nuclear ones.

Events that caused new concerns in the United States

The situation has become increasingly worrisome in Washington after the Russian military completely lost the initiative in Ukraine following the collapse of the Kharkiv front and events elsewhere, compounded by the fact that President Vladimir Putin has become less popular at home since his decree. partial mobilization last week.

The process of mobilization was so chaotic and brutal that even Russian TV broadcasters could not hide it, being forced to report cases of the incorporation of incapacitated persons or even released by a decree signed by Putin, after numerous reports on this matter – they went viral. social networks used by Russians.

“We are monitoring the situation more closely,” a U.S. government official with access to reports on Russia’s nuclear forces and strategy told Politico.

The intelligence services of the United States and other NATO member states have begun to devote more resources to air, space and cyberspace and to rely more on images taken by commercial satellites to analyze Russian units on the battlefield that have the ability to launch tactical nuclear weapons.

They are also paying more attention to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, where the Russian Ministry of Defense has installed both hypersonic missiles and dual-purpose weapons systems – capable of using conventional or nuclear munitions.

What nuclear weapons can Russia use in Ukraine?

More than 20 Russian weapons systems have this dual capability, and public estimates of Russian tactical nuclear warheads number around 1,900.

“They include everything from cruise missiles to nuclear torpedoes and gravity bombs to medium-range ballistic missiles,” explained one source cited by Politico.

But, according to her, Western special services are confident that Russia will not risk an all-out nuclear war by launching a massive attack on Ukraine or NATO member states.

“They (the Russians) will never use strategic nuclear weapons,” said one US official, explaining that if Vladimir Putin decides to use Russia’s nuclear arsenal, “they will use short-range weapons.”

“They have what we call micro-nuclear warheads, with an explosive yield of tens to hundreds of tons,” the same source said.

By comparison, the explosive power of the nuclear bombs dropped by the United States on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II was between 15,000 and 20,000 kilotons.

Most of the Russian systems capable of launching such warheads, such as the Iskander dual-purpose launchers, were used by the Russian invasion force sent into Ukraine on February 24, from the first days of the war.

• You may also be interested in: How does Dead Hand, the Russian Doomsday Machine, work? Explanation of the former Soviet colonel who built it

Follow the latest events of the 217th day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.