Threat of nuclear war is now at its highest level, - The Telegraph
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has his finger on the nuclear trigger. The threat of nuclear war is now at its highest level.
It is written in the article for The Telegraph by US military intelligence analyst Rebekah Koffler, as reported by Censor.NET.
According to her, the flight of Russian drones over Poland and Romania, as well as the incursion of Russian MiG-31 fighters into Estonian airspace, is a dangerous escalation on the part of the Kremlin. Putin is likely seeking to understand how NATO will respond to provocations, as well as to reduce Europeans' sensitivity to violations of their sovereignty.
Koffler recalled that last week, during the "Zapad 2025" exercises, Russia simulated a tactical nuclear strike. This was observed by dictator Putin in military uniform.
"Many think that nuclear war is impossible today. As a former Defense Intelligence Agency intelligence officer who led "red teams" in war games simulating a Russia-Nato conflict, I’m here to tell you why that’s wrong. The threat of nuclear war is at an all time high. The "unthinkable" is more thinkable than most are prepared to admit," she noted.
She believes that neither Russia nor NATO wants direct conflict, but as the war in Ukraine continues, the risk of "unintentional escalation due to a misunderstanding is rising rapidly."
"The Russians regularly practice the authorisation of nuclear weapon strikes as part of military drills, with Putin "pressing the button", because they believe their leader must be psychologically prepared for this action. This is the result of an important lesson learned during the Soviet era. In 1972, then general secretary Leonid Brezhnev is said to have "trembled" when he was asked to push a button during a command post exercise simulating a war with the US. He kept asking his Defence Minister Andrei Grechko whether it was "definitely an exercise," Koffler said.
According to her, this does not mean that Putin wants a nuclear war, but he and the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces do indeed view nuclear weapons as combat potential, rather than merely a psychological weapon.
Crucially, there is now zero trust between Nato and Russia. Moscow’s long-standing fear that the US is seeking regime change in Russia has been exacerbated by frequent commentary from Western officials stating openly or implying their intention to defeat the Russian military, tank its economy, and remove Putin from power. Ukrainian strikes on the Russian nuclear triad, specifically the strategic bombers that form the centre-piece of Russia’s deterrence and defence strategy, are likely to have further exacerbated those fears," she added.
