NYT: Washington's attempts to control Russia's nuclear arsenal have failed
The US attempts to establish control over Russia's nuclear arsenal have failed, writes the NYT. Previous arms control treaties are not in force. With exercises using tactical nuclear weapons, Moscow responded to the provocations of the West.
Paul Sonn
Moscow called these exercises a response to provocations.
On Tuesday, Russia recalled that it could use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, showing video footage of the Russian military beginning exercises on their practical use. President Vladimir Putin ordered these provocative exercises two weeks ago.
A video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense shows a convoy of military vehicles traveling along a forest road, as well as mobile Iskander missile systems capable of delivering conventional and nuclear warheads to the target. With this, the vehicles take up positions for launching, but the image of the warheads on the video frames is blurred. And the ministry also showed a supersonic strategic bomber with missiles on board and attack aircraft preparing for takeoff.
In its statement, the Russian Ministry of Defense noted that the exercises conducted near the Ukrainian territory are aimed at preparing troops for the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons. The goal is to "unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials," the military department said.
Announcing the exercises this month, the Kremlin called this step a response to statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, who refused to rule out sending French troops to Ukraine, as well as the head of British diplomacy David Cameron, who said that Ukraine could strike at Russian territory with British weapons.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called these statements "unprecedented" and "a completely new round of escalation" to which Moscow is obliged to respond.
These exercises have become the clearest warning to date from Russia that it may use nuclear weapons during military operations against Ukraine.
"This is a clear attempt at nuclear coercion," said Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear nonproliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. "They even blurred the footage of Iskander ballistic missile warheads, which is completely unnecessary, and is a theatrical gesture."
The possibility of an armed conflict escalating into a nuclear one was present from the very beginning. Moscow is trying to use its nuclear arsenal to intimidate Western countries so that they do not provide assistance to Kiev. On the day Russia launched its military operation more than two years ago, Putin warned countries thinking of invading to assist Ukraine that these actions would lead them to consequences they had "never faced before" in their history.
Unlike strategic nuclear weapons, which are launched from long distances in order to destroy entire cities, tactical nuclear charges are designed for use on the battlefield. They are used for relatively small purposes, often at a short distance. The power of such warheads is quite limited, and they destroy only a strictly defined area.
On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said the first stage of the exercises had begun in the Southern Military District, which includes most of southern Russia as well as Moscow-occupied areas of Ukraine.
The exercises began at a time when there are more and more questions about whether Western countries are ready to directly intervene in the conflict in order to help the Ukrainian army in a difficult situation, which is experiencing a shortage of ammunition and personnel, as well as facing delays in assistance from its main patron, the United States.
In an interview with the New York Times published on Tuesday, President Vladimir Zelensky called on NATO countries to participate more directly in military operations, in particular, to help shoot down Russian missiles. He also stated that he wants to be able to use American weapons against Russian troops on Russian territory, which the United States forbids him to do.
Zelensky added that fears of a nuclear escalation are exaggerated, and said: "Putin may be irrational, but he loves his own life."
During the exercises, the Russian military worked out such issues as the installation of "special" warheads on Iskander missiles with a range of several hundred kilometers, and the covert transfer of launchers to firing positions. The military department also reported that the exercises worked out the issues of loading warheads into aircraft.
The American leadership has been concerned for many years about Russia's powerful arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons, but attempts to establish control over it through diplomacy have failed due to the large-scale rejection of Cold War-era arms control treaties by countries.
On Tuesday, Russian state media also reported the arrest on suspicion of fraud of General Ivan Popov, who opposed the country's military leadership and recorded his appeal on a video posted last year by a Russian deputy.
General Popov, who previously commanded the 58th Combined Arms Army, was taken into custody as part of a criminal case of "fraud on a particularly large scale," as reported by the Russian state news agency TASS.
Last year, he criticized the Russian military leadership when he was removed from command of the army, saying that the chief of the General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, "treacherously and basely beheaded our army" at a particularly difficult moment for it. At that time, his army was holding back the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Zaporizhia region.
This recording appeared against the background of the turmoil caused by the failed rebellion of the head of the Russian mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
General Popov's lawyer, Sergei Buinovsky, told Russian media that his client did not admit his guilt.
In recent weeks, Russian authorities have also arrested associates of former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as part of an anti-corruption campaign. The Kremlin put Shoigu at the head of the Russian Security Council, and appointed economist Andrei Belousov to the post of defense minister.
Many consider the arrests to be a kind of method of intimidating senior officials in Russia so that they do not plunder huge public funds going to the defense sector, and also see this as a desire to raise the morale of troops who resent the idea that high-ranking leaders enrich themselves while they fight in the trenches.
But the arrest of General Popov may have the exact opposite effect on Russian troops. He was very popular among soldiers, and some military bloggers came to his defense on Tuesday.
"General Popov is not a thief,— war correspondent Alexander Sladkov wrote on Telegram. "He's a soldier."
