Chechnya Leader Instigates Putin To Use Nuclear Weapons In East Ukraine

On October 1st, after the Russian army lost its Lyman stronghold in eastern Ukraine, Putin’s ally, Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov publicly incited the Moscow authorities to take more drastic measures. He said to include declaring martial law on the border areas and even using low-yield nuclear weapons in eastern Ukraine.
Russian aggressor troops have been using the Lyman as a logistics and transportation hub in the Northern Donetsk region. Recovery of Lyman was Ukraine’s most significant battlefield victory since last month’s sudden counteroffensive in the northeastern part of Kharkiv. Earlier, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev who is the current deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation had hinted that Moscow might need to resort the nuclear weapons. Still, Kadyrov’s call was the most urgent and explicit.

Putin, who said last week that he was ready to use all means to defend the so-called “territorial integrity” of Russia, also made clear on September 30th on the scope of his nuclear umbrella, which includes the newly annexed regions of four Ukrainian provinces. At the time, the U.S. government pointed out that it would respond decisively to any use of nuclear weapons and warned Putin that there would be disastrous consequences.