TV host Vladimir Solovyov has made an alarming claim that Vladimir Putin already has a “basis to start a nuclear war”. Speaking on a recent Russian-state media program, he based his prediction on the country’s current nuclear doctrine.
In August, amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Kyiv launched its own counteroffensive into Kursk-marking the first time Russian territory has been seized since World War II.
However, Ukraine’s offensive sparked nuclear concerns from Moscow, which accused the Eastern European nation last month of attempting to attack a nuclear power plant using drones.
Putin has repeatedly made statements about nuclear weapons amid the war, and according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICANW), Moscow has more nuclear warheads than any other country.
During the recent program, Solovyov warned about a nuclear response following Ukraine’s counteroffensive into Kursk, stating that Russia already has a “basis to start a nuclear war”, citing the country’s nuclear doctrine.
According to Reuters, Russia’s 2020 nuclear doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack or a conventional threat to the state’s existence.
“We have a very simple problem. First, they were striking against our eyes that would detect a nuclear strike against Russia. According to our doctrine, this is already a basis to start a nuclear war against them”, Solovyov explained in a video translated and posted on YouTube by Russian Media Monitor.
He continued: “You say that everything is going according to plan. Pardon me, but the Nazi troops have invaded the territory of the Kursk region.
“This isn’t part of the plan. We have a clear and concise doctrine and we act according to it, including the use of nuclear weapons.”
The Kremlin has consistently tried to justify its invasion of Ukraine by alleging a “neo-Nazi regime” governs Kyiv, a claim strongly denied by Ukraine and widely dismissed by the international community.
Solovyov’s comments follow a statement from Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov earlier this month, as reported by Russian state news agency Tass, indicating that the Kremlin plans to revise its nuclear war policy due to what it perceives as Western escalation in the conflict with Ukraine.
Ryabkov told Tass that there is a “clear intent” to modify the nuclear doctrine, noting that the changes are “connected to our Western adversaries’ escalation course” regarding the situation in Ukraine.
He said: “As we have repeatedly said before, the work is in the advanced stage, and there is a clear intent to introduce a correction [to the nuclear doctrine], caused, among other things, by the examination and analysis of development of recent conflicts, including, of course, everything connected to our Western adversaries’ escalation course in regards to the special military operation.”
