Propaganda for the use of nuclear weapons appears to have experienced a dangerous escalation on Russian television after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization in Russia on Wednesday.

“The only thing the West fears today is the possibility of Russia using its tactical nuclear weapons. In this regard, the words of Vladimir Putin are very valuable. However, in the West they are thinking about them and analyzing under what circumstances Russia will use such an argument,” says Ihor Korotchenko, who in recent months has become a favorite military columnist on Russian television.

It will be recalled that in his speech on Wednesday morning, Vladimir Putin threatened that Russia would not hesitate to respond to “nuclear blackmail” practiced by individual NATO member states against Moscow.

Among other things, he stated that “if the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will use all available means to protect our people – this is not a bluff,” as Russia prepares to annex territories where its armed forces have been operating in Ukraine.

In a video message released Wednesday afternoon from prison, dissident Alexei Navalny warned the West to take Vladimir Putin’s threats to use “nuclear weapons” seriously.

Returning to the TV show “Russia-1”, military analyst Ihor Korotchenko also stated that “the West must understand: if certain weapons are available, then taboos and restrictions on their use under certain circumstances can be lifted.”

Vladimir Putin’s “Iron Puppet” says nuclear war seems certain

Korotchenko is followed by host Olga Skabeeva, who rhetorically asks what the West wants.

“Do they want victory over Russia? It is impossible to defeat Russia without a nuclear explosion, it is out of the question, we will not allow the destruction of our country. If you try to destroy us, you will be destroyed with us,” she says.

Dubbed President Vladimir Putin’s “iron puppet” for her fierce criticism of opposition politicians when she was still relevant in Russia, Skabeeva then questions whether Russia should strike at decision-making centers in Ukraine and the West.

“In Kyiv, London, Washington, where?” she indicates, probably in the form of a question, without waiting for an answer from the guests, although one tries to intervene.

“What should we do to avoid a nuclear war or is it already certain? It certainly looks that way. If they don’t stop, it will become a reality,” says the TV presenter.

“What is the purpose of the collective West? Ukraine’s victory and Russia’s defeat. As long as the Russian Federation has nuclear weapons and the Russian Federation has nuclear weapons, its defeat is impossible. Back us into a corner and everything will be destroyed,” she threatens, then declares that Russia does not want a nuclear war.

However, after a few seconds, Skabeeva returns to threats, saying that if the West “gets closer to the borders of Russia”, the only way out will be a nuclear strike.

Threats of nuclear strikes are nothing new on Russian television, but this appears to be the first time one of the Kremlin’s top propagandists has said that full-scale nuclear war with the West now looks certain.

Why is Russia increasing its nuclear war propaganda right now?

The comments on the Rossiya-1 TV channel came after Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, threatened on Thursday afternoon that Moscow could use any weapon in its arsenal, including strategic (long-range) nuclear weapons, to to protect “territories of Ukraine that will be annexed to Russia.”

Pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk are calling for an emergency referendum on union with Russia starting Monday, a measure that, once approved, would de facto bring the conquered Ukrainian territories under Moscow’s nuclear umbrella.

Literally a day later, the Russian occupation authorities in the Ukrainian territories occupied by them jointly announced the holding of referendums on joining Russia on September 23-27.

The nuclear doctrine of the Russian state envisages 4 scenarios under which the head of the Kremlin can order an attack with the use of nuclear weapons, one of which is in the case of aggression against Russia “with the use of conventional weapons, when the very existence of the state is at risk.” .

Although it is obvious that the existence of the Russian state will in no way threaten the loss of the conquered territories that belong to Ukraine, Moscow propaganda has been starting to present the war in Ukraine as an existential one for Russia for more than a month, declaring that the country is fighting not only with Kyiv, but with the so-called “collective West”.

However, this does not mean that Russian television is really preparing the public for nuclear war, since the purpose of the threats was rather to discourage Ukraine from trying to return the occupied territories after their formal annexation by Moscow, as in the case of the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

By the way, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Wednesday that he does not believe that Vladimir Putin will give an order to use Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

“Tomorrow, Putin can say: ‘in addition to Ukraine, we also want a part of Poland,’ otherwise we will use nuclear weapons.” We cannot make such compromises,” the Kyiv leader emphasized.

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