Nuclear tests as an option: how Putin might respond to permission to fire Storm Shadow at Russia

Nuclear tests as an option: how Putin might respond to permission to fire Storm Shadow at Russia Anzhelika Baibak

How Putin might react to permission to strike Russia with Storm Shadow/Collage by Channel 24 More interesting audio news Listen 00:000 1:07 1.25x 1.25x Audio synthesized using AI. More Audio News Turn off < p _ngcontent-sc101 class = "news-annotation" > < strong _ngcontent-sc101 > If the UK grants permission to use Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russia, Vladimir Putin's response could be different. Among the most likely options is conducting nuclear tests.

< p > Information that partners might allow the use of Western weapons to strike enemy territory appeared several days earlier. However, officials have not yet made such a decision.

How Putin might react to permission to fire Western missiles at Russia

The media suggest that Putin's response to permission to fire Western missiles at Russian territory may vary. For example, if Great Britain allows the use of Storm Shadow, the Russian dictator may attack British military reserves near Russia or decide to conduct nuclear tests.

For example, Ulrich Kühn, an arms expert at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy in Hamburg, is convinced that Putin will decide to send a “nuclear signal” to intimidate the West. For example, the Russian president may begin nuclear tests despite the ban on their implementation.

Important. Russia has not conducted nuclear tests since 1990. The media suggests that new tests would be the beginning of a dangerous era.

Nuclear tests would be new. I would not rule this out, and it would be consistent with the fact that Russia has violated a number of international security agreements that it has signed over the past few years, said Kühn.

Another security expert, Gerhard Mangott, also believes that Russia could resort to nuclear tests if the West allows the use of long-range missiles to strike deep into the aggressor country. However, he considers such a scenario unlikely, although he does not rule out a “nuclear signal” from the Kremlin.

“The Russians could conduct a nuclear test. They have made all the necessary preparations. They could detonate a tactical nuclear weapon somewhere in the east of the country to demonstrate what (they) mean when they say that we will eventually resort to nuclear weapons,” Mangott added.