Following the launch of a nuclear-capable missile by Russia in response to Ukraine using Western-supplied missiles, anxieties about a potential nuclear conflict are escalating. While many Russians express concern, state-controlled media portrays the move as a necessary deterrent against Western aggression.
The day after President Vladimir Putin raised the stakes in tensions with the West, many Russians awoke Friday feeling anxious that the prospect of nuclear war had come slightly closer. But in Russia’s tightly controlled news media and pro-government social media channels, there were only fawning reactions to the Russian leader’s new round of sabre-rattling and promises that Moscow’s enemies would “tremble in fear.
”Putin announced late Thursday that Russia had launched a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine in response to Kyiv’s first use of US and British missiles against targets inside Russia this past week. Russia, he said, also has the right to strike nations “that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities.” In the West, Thursday’s launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile and Putin’s remarks were perceived as a threat against Ukraine and its allies and drew widespread condemnation as an escalation. In Russia, the events were billed as an important sign that the Kremlin would enforce its red lines, with the implication that enforcement could include nuclear weapons. “This topic used to be a taboo in Russia,” said Denis Volkov, the director of the Levada Center, one of the few independent pollsters in Russia. “Within the elites, the consensus is shifting toward talking about it much more openly, and that Russia should make the West understand that it is serious.” Russians have been largely desensitised to the Kremlin’s frequent bellicose statements and claims of being besieged by the West since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. But there are also signs that more Russians have come to accept and even cheer on Putin’s hawkish stance, accompanied by a steady stream of government and media claims that Ukraine and the West are the aggressors. A growing number of Russians favour the initiation of peace talks, too, but the number of people who accept the use of nuclear weapons has risen slightly, polls suggest
Nuclearweapons Russiaukrainewar Vladimirputin Missilelaunch Internationaltensions
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