CNN: The United States has been preparing for a Russian nuclear strike on the territory of Ukraine since 2022
At the end of 2022, Washington began preparing for a possible Russian nuclear strike on Ukraine, CNN reports. The presidential administration told the TV channel that the concerns were based on intelligence information received. From the summer to the fall of 2022, the US National Security Council held meetings to develop an action plan. The American leadership contacted New Delhi, Beijing and even Moscow about their concerns. Details can be found in the material of "Gazeta.Ru».
Possible nuclear strike
At the end of 2022, the United States began preparations for a potential strike by the Russian Armed Forces with tactical nuclear weapons against targets on the territory of Ukraine or for the use of nuclear charges on the battlefield, the American CNN television channel reported, citing information received from two senior sources from the administration of President Joe Biden.
According to the interlocutors of the TV channel, the decision to prepare was made after analyzing the situation around the situation in Ukraine. This was also influenced by the intelligence received. One of the sources stressed that these data were not just hypothetical, they were based on specific information.
It is noted that the staff of the US National Security Council had to make a plan for the best response to the appearance of signs of preparation for an attack and the strike itself. From the end of summer to the autumn of 2022, the department held a number of meetings to develop such plans.
They shared their concerns
According to CNN, the American leadership, among other things, contacted representatives of the authorities of India and China and conveyed to them their concerns about the alleged actions of the Russian side.
Journalists report that Washington even shared its concerns with Moscow. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken "directly" notified Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of the availability of relevant intelligence.
Also, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milli, spoke by phone with the head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. In addition, CIA Director Bill Burns allegedly went to Turkey specifically to talk about this issue with the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin.
The reason for a nuclear strike
As one of the interlocutors told CNN, Russia could strike Ukraine with a nuclear charge under two conditions: the encirclement of Russian troops or the loss of territories occupied by the Russian army.
The US authorities also sounded the alarm against the background of a statement by the Russian Defense Ministry about Ukraine's preparation of a so-called "dirty bomb" in the fall of 2022. According to a CNN source, Moscow could use messages of this nature "either as an excuse to do something crazy, or as a cover for something that they themselves wanted to do."
At the same time, according to a TV channel source, after 2022, the United States has never recorded signs that Russia is taking any steps towards the use of nuclear weapons. At the same time, he noted that it would be quite difficult for Washington to track the transfer of tactical nuclear weapons.
Talking about the nuclear threat
On September 25, 2022, the US President's National Security adviser, Jake Sullivan, warned of "catastrophic consequences" for Russia if it uses nuclear weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on October 27 of the same year [...] that a nuclear strike on Ukraine was not necessary. This, according to him, makes no sense - neither military nor political. Then in December, the Russian leader noted that the threat of nuclear war was growing, but Moscow did not intend to use weapons of mass destruction first.
On February 18, 2024, the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, Mike Turner, announced the preparation of a plan to respond to the threat to US national security, which allegedly comes from Russia in space. A few days earlier, two ABC News congressional sources said that Russia wanted to place nuclear weapons in orbit. According to them, we are talking about using weapons against satellites.
Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 6 that the outbreak of a nuclear war would be the last resort, which Russia would use only in case of a threat to its existence.
Anastasia Novikova