Vladimir Putin has threatened that the war in Ukraine could turn into a nuclear conflict and warned that “there will be no winners, including America” in a Third World War.
The despot’s threats to escalate his invasion come as Russian forces continue their endless assault on Ukraine by firing cruise missiles at the southern city of Odessa at night.
The attack, launched from the Black Sea, killed at least three people and injured more than a dozen others in an attack that damaged houses, a warehouse, shops and cafes, the regional government said.
Amid Russia’s reaction to Ukraine’s long-awaited counter-offensive, Putin said yesterday during a meeting with Russian war correspondents in Moscow: “The United States pretends not to fear an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, but sensible people there want clearly not taking this into a Third World War.
“In the event of World War III, there will be no winners, including America.”
Vladimir Putin (pictured yesterday) has threatened that the war in Ukraine could turn into a nuclear conflict and warned that “there will be no winners, including America” in a Third World War.
Putin’s comments came as Russian forces continued their assault on Ukraine by firing cruise missiles at the southern city of Odessa at night (pictured)
His comments come as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko revealed that his country had begun receiving tactical nuclear weapons from its ally Russia.
Lukashenko told Russian state television that his country received weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the US atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus is Moscow’s first move of such warheads — less powerful, shorter-range nuclear weapons that could potentially be used on the battlefield — outside of Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Putin said on Friday that Russia, which will retain control of the tactical nuclear weapons, will begin deploying them in Belarus after special storage facilities are prepared to house them.
The United States has criticized Putin’s decision but has said it has no intention of changing its own stance on strategic nuclear weapons and has seen no signs that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.
The Russian move is nevertheless closely watched by the United States and its allies, as well as China, which has repeatedly warned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.
Lukashenko revealed that Belarus had taken delivery of weapons and told Russia’s state television channel Rossiya-1: “We have missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (left last week with Putin) revealed his country has started receiving tactical nuclear weapons from its ally Russia
The United States has criticized Putin’s decision to supply tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers ride in a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle, amid the Russian assault on Ukraine, near the frontline in the newly liberated village of Neskuchne
“The bombs are three times more powerful than those (dropped) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” he added, speaking on a road in a forest clearing with military vehicles parked nearby and some kind of military storage facility visible in the background.
Meeting yesterday with 18 Russian war correspondents and bloggers at the Kremlin, a beaming Putin also claimed that Western tanks, including US Bradley fighting vehicles and German Leopards, “burn nicely, as we expected.”
He added: “Ammunition explodes inside and pieces fly off in different directions.”
In a day of threats, the Russian tyrant also hinted at another attempt to take control of Kiev during Ukraine’s counter-offensive.
Despite Moscow’s failed attempt to capture the city last year, Putin suggested another round of mobilization could be heralded in a new Russian offensive.
Hundreds of thousands of Russians fled the country last September when their leader announced that 300,000 men would be mobilized to boost his invasion.
‘Should we return there or not? Why am I asking such a rhetorical question?’ Putin told 18 Russian war correspondents and bloggers in the Kremlin.
“Only I can answer this myself.”
Putin’s warnings come as Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday there were no more “moral boundaries” to stop Moscow from destroying its enemies’ submarine cables in a threat to the United Kingdom and its allies.
This is because of what he said was Western complicity in last year’s Nord Stream pipeline explosions, which are officially still unexplained.
Medvedev made the menacing remarks on his official channel on the Telegram messaging application early Wednesday amid fears Russia could cut the cables connecting Britain to the internet, causing widespread blackouts.
In a day of threats, Putin (pictured yesterday) also hinted at another attempt to take control of Kiev during Ukraine’s counter-offensive
Rescuers extinguish a fire after a Russian missile hit a warehouse in Odessa, Ukraine at night
Explosions last September ruptured both Nord Stream 1 and the newly built Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which carried gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
The threats from the former and incumbent presidents come amid another ruthless Russian assault on Ukraine.
Moscow’s night attack on Odessa involved four sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles, three of which were intercepted by air defenses, the regional government said on Facebook.
Three food warehouse workers were killed and seven others injured, and rescuers searched for possible survivors under the rubble, it said.
Another six people – security guards and residents of a neighboring house – were injured.
Andriy Kovalov, a spokesman for the General Staff of Ukraine, said Russian forces have stepped up rocket attacks and airstrikes against Ukraine.