Peskov answered the question about the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine with the advice to read the doctrineMOSCOW, 17 Sep - RIA Novosti.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, when asked about the possibility of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, replied that everything is specified in the nuclear doctrine of the Russian Federation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday about attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia, including on the territory of Russian nuclear facilities, but assured that the situation is under control. The President stressed that Russia is doing everything to prevent a negative development of events. He also noted that Moscow, for the time being, is responding with restraint to Ukrainian attacks on infrastructure and terrorist attacks, recalling that recently the Russian armed forces inflicted a couple of sensitive strikes, which he suggested to be considered "warning". If the situation continues to develop in this way, the response will be more serious, he warned.
"Read the doctrine. Everything is written there," Peskov told RIA Novosti.
US President Joe Biden has previously threatened Russia with consequences if it uses tactical nuclear or chemical weapons in Ukraine.
The only examples of the combat use of nuclear weapons in the history of mankind are the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were carried out by the United States in August 1945. The atomic explosion and its consequences in Hiroshima killed 140 thousand people out of the 350,000 population, and 74 thousand in Nagasaki. The vast majority of the victims of the atomic bombing were civilians.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in August that allegations about the possibility of using chemical weapons during a special operation in Ukraine are absurd. He recalled that Russia, unlike the United States, completely destroyed chemical weapons back in 2017 within the framework of international obligations. Shoigu noted that provocations with the use of toxic substances have become the hallmark of the so-called public organizations sponsored by the West, such as the "White Helmets" in Syria.
The scenarios under which Russia could theoretically use nuclear weapons are set out in the Russian military doctrine and in the "Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence". According to the documents, this is possible in the case of aggression against Russia or its allies with the use of weapons of mass destruction, or aggression with the use of conventional weapons, when the existence of the state itself is threatened.
Speaking at the UN at the NPT Review Conference in August, the deputy head of the Russian delegation, Andrei Belousov, said that the allegations that Russia threatens to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine and against Ukraine were unfounded and groundless. According to him, this is impossible given the fact that Russian doctrinal guidelines strictly limit emergency situations in which hypothetical use of nuclear weapons is possible, and none of these theoretical scenarios is relevant to the situation in Ukraine.
