“It’s an expression of despair”

“We don’t need a nuclear attack on Ukraine. It makes no sense – neither politically nor militarily.” With these words, Russian President Vladimir Putin (70) surprised Thursday evening during a speech at a meeting of the Valdai Club – a gathering of Russian and international journalists, politicians and scientists.

Shortly after the de-escalating statement, however, he followed up on one of his usual threats: According to Russian military doctrine, a nuclear attack on other nations is justified – “to protect Russian sovereignty and territorial integrity and the security of the Russian people.”

Why is the Russian president playing with this extremely dangerous rhetoric?

“Putin has only a few options left”

“The threat of nuclear weapons is a weapon in itself,” Ulrich Schmid (56), professor of Russian culture and society at the University of St. Gallen, told Blick. Even though a nuclear attack by Russia on the territory of Ukraine seems quite unlikely at the moment – the nuclear sword of Damocles still hangs over the world.

In this way, Russia can prevent the West from directly intervening in the Ukraine war or sending more heavy weapons into the country. “The goal is to give the West the impression that Russia is ready for anything.” The rhetoric works: On Thursday evening, US President Joe Biden (79) again warned of a Russian nuclear attack. “But if he has no intention of using these weapons, then why does he keep talking about them?” Biden said in a TV interview with News Nation on Thursday.

Certainly in the current situation, threatening gestures like this are indispensable for the Russian president, according to the Russia specialist. “It is an expression of despair. Given the precarious course of the war, Putin has few options open.” He must keep alive the myth of the ‘second strongest army in the world’.

“Dirty Bomb” Causes Uproar in the West

The Bild sees a different tactic behind the nuclear threats: the West should be forced to enter into negotiations with Russia in order to end the war of aggression. While these threats end up at least partially on fertile ground in the West, Ukraine stands firm, stressing that even nuclear war will not prevent Ukrainian troops from fighting for their homeland.

Recently, the Russian accusation that Ukraine was building a “dirty bomb” caused a stir. In a telephone conversation with his French and British colleagues last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, 67, claimed that Kiev plans to detonate such a conventional explosive, enriched with radioactive material, on its own territory. This is meant to turn the world against Russia.

So far, however, there is no evidence that the Ukrainian – or even the Russian – side is striving to break such a taboo.