Former Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin has spoken out in favor of the use of tactical nuclear weapons. This could be used to stop a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
In response to Ukraine’s alleged drone attack on the Kremlin, former head of the Russian Space Agency Dmitry Rogozin has spoken out in favor of the use of tactical nuclear weapons. From his point of view, there is no other way to disrupt the Ukrainian counter-offensive, Rogozin said in a video via Telegram.
According to the Russian nuclear doctrine, “one has the right to use tactical nuclear weapons, because that’s what they are for,” he said, describing them as “great compensation for those moments when there is a clear discrepancy in favor of the enemy.” The best way to destroy the Ukrainian offensive “is to use tactical nuclear weapons,” he explains in the video. He is aware of the consequences. “But right now I don’t think there is any other option.”
He was convinced that Russia could reduce its losses with a limited nuclear strike. Rogozin was head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos from 2018 to 2022. He is currently said to be in Ukraine as a military adviser to Russia.
Prigozhin warns: “We look like clowns”
According to The Moscow Times, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian Parliament Duma, made similar demands. After the alleged drone attack on the Kremlin, Volodin hinted at the use of nuclear weapons on Telegram: “There can be no negotiations (…) We will demand the use of weapons that can stop and destroy the terrorist regime in Kiev.”
However, there are also voices from Russia warning against the use of tactical nuclear weapons. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary troupe, thinks little of these demands. “As a radical thinker, I can say that of course there should be no question of using nuclear weapons in retaliation for a drone,” Prigozhin said on Thursday. Such repeated threats made Russia “look like clowns,” he said.
Russia has nearly 2,000 warheads
In March, Russia announced that it would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, not far from the Polish border. Tactical nuclear weapons were developed during the Cold War to destroy troop concentrations, tank formations, command centers or underground bunkers. Even if their explosive power is lower than that of strategic nuclear weapons, their effects are still devastating. Even small warheads create mushroom clouds, nuclear fallout, and set everything in the area on fire.
US researchers from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists estimate that there are currently at least 1,912 tactical warheads in Russian arsenals, most of which are under the control of the Navy and Air Force.
