If Russia uses nuclear weapons, Western politicians are unlikely to respond with military force, Kevin Ryan, a retired brigadier general and former military attaché at the US Embassy in Moscow, told Russian media.
“There is no clear prescription (on the response to a nuclear strike), so there is a small chance that some NATO members will start to believe that there should be a real response to the use nuclear weapons (from Russia), but I don’t think that will happen,” Ryan said.
According to the retired general, the West’s response to a possible Russian nuclear strike has yet to take the form of “practical ideas”. He named several possible actions the United States could take in the event of a Russian attack. First, Ryan believes, the United States and its allies could supply Ukraine with weapons that the West has so far refrained from transferring, such as long-range weapons.
Second, the West could increase the number of training projects it has with Ukrainian military forces, the retired general added.
Third, in the event of a Russian nuclear attack in Ukraine, the United States could change its position regarding the presence of its military on Ukrainian territory. “They can go to Ukraine as advisers, as a training team or as a medical team,” Russian media’s interlocutor said.
Fourth, according to Ryan, the United States can deploy American troops behind the lines to provide security for supply chains and territories adjacent to the Ukrainian border.
Ryan added that the West’s reaction will depend, among other things, on how Russia can use nuclear weapons. A strike can be inflicted for the purpose of intimidation, against a specific military formation, to block the path of movement of Ukrainian troops or on military infrastructure. “If the weapons are used in a limited format, with no casualties, it probably won’t provoke any sort of strategic response,” the retired general said.
Either way, it’s impossible to prepare for a nuclear attack, Ryan said. At the same time, Russia’s adversaries could quickly provide medical assistance after the strike, prepare special suits to prevent radioactive particles from getting on the skin of people in the affected area.
Moreover, Russia’s adversaries could try to fight “around the territory of nuclear destruction”, Ryan admits. “During the Cold War, Western and Eastern countries prepared and trained to fight on the nuclear battlefield. And personally, I have always been convinced that a mandatory part of military training should be precisely the preparation for war after a nuclear strike, because theoretically war can continue after that,” the retired general said. . He added that the West should pay more attention to such a scenario.
June 13, Academic Supervisor of the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs Sergey Karaganov appointed reasons why Russia might use nuclear weapons in its confrontation with Ukraine and the West. In his opinion, the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine, which consumes a lot of resources, “will divert Russia from the urgent displacement of its spiritual, economic and military-political center towards Eastern Eurasia”, and the territories of current Ukraine will draw on managerial, human and financial resources.
A more attractive option is to establish control over eastern and southern Ukraine and impose on the remnants of the country “capitulation with complete demilitarization, the creation of a buffer and friendly state”, Karaganov believes. . But such an outcome is only possible if Russia can “break the will” of the West, writes the political scientist. He authorized the use of a “preventive retaliatory strike” if the West did not stop supporting Ukraine and its pressure on Moscow.
“This is a morally terrible choice – we use the weapons of God, condemning us to grave spiritual losses. But if this is not done, not only Russia may perish, but most likely all human civilization will come to an end” , Karaganov wrote.
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