Are we in for a World War III? Here’s what you should know

Another day, another nuclear threat from Vladimir Putin, the despot of Russia. The threat of direct strikes against Russia brought the West dangerously close to starting World War Three two years ago due to Putin’s nuclear plan. With his initial three-day invasion plan in ruins, Putin turned to his nuclear weapons stockpile. Since February 24, 2022, he has waged a full-scale war against Ukraine, and today marks day 934 of that conflict.

The number of times Putin and his goons have threatened Armageddon is difficult to count. These threats are extremely frightening on one level. Putin is in control of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, which contains nearly 6,000 warheads capable of destroying the planet. During a speech in London last week, Bill Burns, the director of the US CIA, acknowledged that there was a genuine risk early in the war that Moscow was going to drop a nuclear bomb. Ben Wallace, the UK’s defence secretary at the time, made an urgent trip to the US for crisis talks at the Pentagon, according to information obtained by The Sun at the time. As a show of force, Putin was considering detonating a tactical nuclear weapon over the Black Sea.

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Putin’s initial three-day invasion plan was a complete bust. Rather than the triumphal procession he had imagined, Russian forces withdrew from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, abandoning a horrifying trail of rape, murder, and war crimes in their wake. Then, when Ukraine fired its first GMLRS-guided missiles from US and UK launchers, Russia’s front lines collapsed east of Kharkiv.

Kherson, the southern Ukrainian city that Putin’s forces had managed to seize as the only regional capital since the brutal invasion, had to be abandoned. Putin was in a tight spot, fearing that he might lose Crimea, the location of his naval base in the Black Sea. Putin’s forces abandoned Ukraine’s Kherson, fearing Crimea’s loss. The West responded with diplomatic blitzes, threats to Russia, and entreaties to China and India. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned of massive and direct conventional strikes by the US and its allies against Russia, akin to World War Three. The West was reassured that Putin was a bully and would continue to sabre-rattle.

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Putin is threatening war with NATO due to long-range missiles and the West’s refusal to permit Ukraine to use them to hit Russia. Britain and France have given Ukraine stealth cruise missiles with a range of 150 miles, while America has donated a ground-launched ballistic missile known as ATACMS. Ukraine wants to use these weapons to hit high-value targets in Russia, including its airfields. The White House has stood in the way amid fears the conflict could spiral out of control, which Putin is trying to exploit. He is relying on China to fuel his war machine with high-tech tools and components. Arming Ukraine is not only prolonging the war but also testing the West’s resolve.

FAQs

Did Putin think about deploying nuclear weapons?
Putin reportedly thought of using tactical nuclear weapons to regain control in 2022 during a trying time in the war with Ukraine, raising grave concerns about a world war.

How did the West react in response to Putin’s nuclear threats?
To deter further escalation, Western leaders—including those from the US and the UK—directly warned Russia of the catastrophic effects of using nuclear weapons.