Tadić on Russia’s nuclear threats: “The first indisputable proof Putin’s circle knows it is losing the war”

Russian lawmaker Aleksey Zhuravlyov has openly urged the Kremlin to use tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine if necessary to force Kyiv to surrender, reviving a threat that analyst Tonči Tadić says Moscow has repeated for years.

In a video posted on Telegram, Zhuravlyov said Russia must strike hard enough to make its enemy understand that it must capitulate. “If necessary, we are obliged to use it... If we have to strike, we will strike. And this is not a subject for discussion,” he said.

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Russia must strike so that the enemy understands that it must capitulate.

Zhuravlyov serves in the State Duma, is first deputy chairman of its defense committee and leads the nationalist Rodina party. Tadić told Večernji list that figures from Russia’s ruling elite periodically promote the idea of a tactical nuclear strike against Ukraine.

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If necessary, we are obliged to use it... If we have to strike, we will strike. And this is not a subject for discussion.

Tadić said he had counted 58 Russian references to a nuclear strike against Ukraine or NATO members during the four and a half years of war. He linked many of the threats to deliveries of Western weapons, including howitzers, tanks, HIMARS systems, aircraft and helicopters, and said none had been carried out.

He argued that the latest claims about nuclear use being more likely reflect a belief inside Putin’s circle that Russia is losing. Tadić also questioned why Moscow had not used such weapons during the previous 58 threats and said the reasons remain unchanged. He pointed to China’s opposition to nuclear escalation and to a 2013 Chinese-Ukrainian declaration on nuclear security, which he said commits China to protect Ukraine from a nuclear attack by any country.

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This is the first indisputable proof that Putin’s circle knows they are losing the war.