Ukraine and the West may force Russia to use tactical nuclear weapons

Russia may find itself in a situation when Kyiv and its Western patrons will force Russia to strike a nuclear blow on Ukraine.

At the same time, Ukrainian and European propaganda keeps saying that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons against its neighbour. In order to raise their ratings, US and EU policy-makers resort to such rhetoric and promise "catastrophic consequences" to Russia.

If the situation does come to this point, then one should bear in mind the fact that tactical nuclear weapons are not even close to the much-talked about megaton weapons that would be able to wipe off whole cities, if not continents.

Tactical nukes are used against enemy troops and their facilities in the rear.

The atomic bomb that the United States dropped on Hiroshima had the capacity of 15 kilotons. The nuclear blow on Nagasaki had the capacity of 21 kilotons.

Today, the power of Iskander-M missiles ranges from 5 to 50 kt.

In 2022, Army-2022 Arms Show showcased two nuclear projectiles (developed back in the USSR):

• 152-mm RD4-01, with a capacity of 2.6 kilotons,
• and 203 mm RD5-01, with a capacity of 2 kt.

The Russian Aerospace Forces have Kh-59MK2 missiles with a capacity from 3-5 to 50-100 kt.

The Caliber (Kalibr) cruise missiles are also capable of carrying nuclear weapons up to 200 kt, and so are hypersonic Kinzhal and supersonic anti-ship Onyx missiles.

In a nutshell, it is a variety of forces that may strike a nuclear blow — artillery, aviation, the navy. It is also possible to use "special equipment" locally, against enemy regiments/brigades/army or to destroy specific objects like hydroelectric power stations or dams.

In fact, the West and the EU are already parties to the conflict in Ukraine because they have supplied a variety of missiles to Kyiv, including for attacks on nuclear power plants. It is worthy of note that Vladimir Putin warned the West several times against direct intervention in the situation in Ukraine.

"It is unlikely that Russia will touch Kyiv, which is historically significant for it. A strike on Lviv, Ternopil or Ivano-Frankivsk, the birthplace of Bandera ideology appears to be more likely," Tsargrad wrote.