Russia lowers threshold of when it will probably launch a nuclear strike

Vladimir Putin has lowered the threshold for when Russia can launch a nuclear strike in a chilling new threat to the West. 

The despot, 71, announced yesterday during a meeting of Russia’s Security Council that he needed to ‘correct’ Moscow‘s nuclear doctrine.

Putin could now deploy his nuclear arsenal if the country was struck with conventional missiles, and the Kremlin chief said Moscow would consider any assault supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack.  

He said the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons are ‘clearly fixed’ and they could consider such a move if ‘we receive reliable information about a massive launch of air and space attack assets and them crossing our state border’.

The expansion of the policy comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the US to present his ‘victory plan’ and press the case to use long-range missiles on targets inside Putin’s territory.

Putin said Russia reserved the right to use nuclear weapons if it or ally Belarus were the subject of aggression. 

‘Aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, is treated as a joint attack on the Russian Federation,’ he said. 

Russia is making slow but steady gains in Ukraine as the conflict grinds through its third year, and the Kremlin is seeking to discourage stronger Western support for Kyiv. 

Russia’s current published nuclear doctrine, set out in a 2020 decree by Putin, says Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state. 

Ukraine’s ambassador Valerii Zaluzhnyi this week issued a fresh plea to use Western long-range weapons to strike Russian territory, saying they are ‘critically important’ for Kyiv’s success.

He warned it was a ‘critical time’ for allies to show ‘fortitude’ and ‘patience’ in bolstering Ukraine’s defence, as Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged allies to show ‘guts’.

Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Mr Zaluzhnyi insisted that lifting restrictions on the weapons would be crucial to Kyiv’s defence.

This week, a devastating nuclear strike on London causing 850,000 deaths with two million injured has been simulated by a staunchly pro-Putin propaganda TV channel.

Broadcasting the four minute video with an English commentary appears to be the latest move in a concerted campaign to scare Britain from giving permission to Ukraine to allow Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets inside Russia.

Putin’s propagandists and entourage have repeatedly warned that he could use nuclear weapons.

The video shown on Tsargrad’s Telegram channel begins by threatening: ‘Imagine for a moment that the unimaginable happens.

‘A nuclear weapon explodes over London. In this documentary, we explore the devastating consequences of this catastrophe.

‘In the simulation, we will use a warhead with a yield of 750 kilotons. That’s a pretty powerful charge.’

The commentary warns viewers: ‘Upon detonation, a fireball as hot as the sun rapidly expands, reaching a radius of 950 metres [1,039 yards].

‘Anything trapped inside this fireball is instantly vaporised.

‘In our simulation, the epicentre of the explosion is at Westminster.

‘People within that radius won’t even feel anything because the nerve impulse transmission speed is slower.

‘Within 5 km [3 miles] of the epicentre the blast radius city of London, Camden town, Kensington, Brixton these areas will receive the most destruction.’

A ticker on the screen tots up the number of possible fatalities.

‘Buildings will be destroyed and debris will fill the streets, creating extremely dangerous conditions for everyone in the vicinity.

‘Given the population density in central London, the initial death toll could exceed 250,000 people and around 600,000 injured within a radius of 10 km [6.25 miles] the radiation will cause third degree burns.

‘Within that radius anything that can burn will catch fire.’

Meanwhile, tensions in the Middle East continue to be strained with US President Joe Biden saying the region is now on the cusp of ‘all-out war’.

Israel is preparing to open a second front with a ground invasion of Lebanon, while continuing with its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel and Hezbollah’s burgeoning conflict took a dramatic turn overnight as army chief Herzi Halevi told troops to ‘prepare’ themselves to strike into Lebanon behind the salvoes of rockets continuing to pound Hezbollah strongpoints. 

Mediators have scrambled to find a way to stop the conflict from spilling over into a much larger war amid fears Iran – a key ally of Russia – and its other proxies could be dragged in.