Putin Ally Says Nuclear Weapons 'Must' Be Used to Strike NATO Countries

A key ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the use of nuclear weapons against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

NATO has been a key ally to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion, which Putin launched last February. The military alliance between the United States, Europe and Canada has condemned the invasion as lacking justification and a violation of international norms, providing Kyiv with billions of dollars of military aid attributed with turning the tide of the war in favor of the Ukrainians. But this military aid has long sparked condemnation from Moscow, which equates this support to participation in the war and has frequently warned about consequences for the West as it sends Ukraine more powerful weaponry.

The latest threat against the West came from Vladimir Solovyov, the host of Russian state TV's Evening with Vladimir Solovyov.

Solovyov and other Russian state TV hosts have largely towed the Kremlin line amid the war, as Russian lawmakers cracked down on dissent. In addition, these hosts have made numerous threats against NATO and the West, oftentimes using harsher rhetoric than Russian officials.
 

Solovyov said he believes the use of tactical nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict is "inevitable," explaining where he believes the Russian military should deploy these weapons—which would likely cause a significant escalation of the war.

"The approach is very simple. I think tactical nuclear weapons will be used, and it is inevitable. I believe that tactical nuclear weapons must be used on the crossings over the Dnieper, on entry points of railroad transport from Western countries which supply arms, on Boryspil," he said.

Solovyov continued to say that Russia should use nuclear weapons against places where Western equipment is being stored to be used by Ukrainian soldiers in countries such as Poland, Germany and Slovakia, as well as places where Ukrainians are being trained—even if those areas are in NATO countries.

Video of his remarks was translated and posted to Twitter on Saturday by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
 

Attention, Poland, Germany, Slovakia!

Nuclear threats from Russian propagandist Solovyev. pic.twitter.com/yizoVj0FkK

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) June 17, 2023

Newsweek reached out to NATO for comment via its online press form.

Despite Solovyov's plea, Russian authorities have not announced plans to use nuclear weapons either in Ukraine or against NATO. A nuclear attack on NATO could draw a joint military response from the military alliance due to Article Five, which states that an attack against one member state would be treated as an attack against them all.

His remarks come after Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova issued a statement about whether Moscow would deploy nuclear weapons.