Pyotr Tolstoy, the vice-president of the Duma, has stirred global alarm by openly discussing the prospect of Russia launching a nuclear bomb towards Paris and vowed that Russian troops ‘would kill all French soldiers’ deployed to Ukraine.
The comments come amid escalating tensions between Russia and the West, raising fears of a potential nuclear conflict.
Tolstoy, a figure closely associated with the Kremlin, did not mince words in expressing Russia’s calculations regarding a nuclear strike on the French capital.
Speaking to BFMTV in French, he said “We are calculating,” implying that the possibility of such an action was being actively considered within Russian strategic circles.
He further suggested that a projectile launched from Russia could reach Paris in “a little more” than “two minutes,” underlining the alarming speed with which such an attack could occur.
He added: “What is important historically for Russia is to ensure the security of the country.
“NATO countries, including France, place missiles around Russian borders.”
Piotr Tolstoi also promised to “kill all French soldiers” who would be sent to Ukraine, after Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that “operations on the ground” could be necessary “at a given moment”, even if he “does not want it” and would not “take the initiative”.
It comes as Russia fired more than two dozen missiles at Kyiv before dawn on Thursday, attacking the Ukrainian capital for the first time in six weeks and sending panicked residents flooding into the relative safety of the subway system in a scene reminiscent of the first weeks of the war.
Air defences shot down all 31 of the missiles, though the falling wreckage still damaged apartment buildings and injured 13 people, including a child, officials said.
An estimated 25,000 people, including about 3,000 children, took shelter in the city’s subway stations as air raid sirens wailed for about three hours, officials said.
Russia has attacked civilian areas since the war started in February 2022 in an apparent effort to demoralise Ukrainians and break their will to fight.
