Ukraine’s top general warns of Russian nuclear strike risk
- In rare public comments, military chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi claims responsibility for attacks on Russia’s airbases in Crimea and seeks more long-range weapons
- He expects the war to continue into 2023, striking a starkly contrasting tone to the optimistic comments from top Ukrainian officials
In rare public comments Ukraine’s military chief warned of the threat of Russia using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, which would create the risk of a “limited” nuclear conflict with other powers.
The war in Ukraine that began with Russia’s invasion on February 24 was likely to rage on into next year, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said in an article co-authored by lawmaker Mykhailo Zabrodskyi and published by state news agency Ukrinform on Wednesday.
The article contained by far the Ukrainian commander-in-chief’s most detailed assessment of the war to date, and gave starkly contrasting messages to those given by top Ukrainian officials.
“There is a direct threat of the use, under certain circumstances, of tactical nuclear weapons by the Russian armed forces,” Zaluzhnyi said.
“It is also impossible to completely rule out the possibility of the direct involvement of the world’s leading countries in a ‘limited’ nuclear conflict, in which the prospect of World War III is already directly visible,” the article said.
Moscow has in the past denied speculation of potential nuclear or chemical weapons use.