An ex-Ukrainian MP has urged Vladimir Putin to use weapons of mass destruction against his own country amid growing fears that Russia could resort to using nukes.
Ilya Kiva, an opposition politician banned from parliament for supporting Russia’s invasion, posted the appeal to his Telegram channel on Sunday – just a day after Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Putin could go nuclear.
‘Zelensky, his entourage and Western curators, are most afraid of a [Russian] pre-emptive strike [with] weapons of mass destruction.
Ilya Kiva, an opposition politician banned from parliament for supporting Putin’s invasion, has called on Russia to use weapons of mass destruction (above)
‘If anyone thinks that this is not according to the rules, remember: the West wrote these rules in its own interests and only in order to more effectively destroy you.’
He spoke out after President Zelensky sat down for an interview with CNN in which he warned that the West needs to prepare for the possibility that Putin will resort to using nuclear or chemical weapons against his country.
Kiva was charged with treason for supporting Putin, and is now thought to be in hiding in Russia (pictured)
Western officials fear the Russian strongman could resort to such desperate measures in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide of war in his favour after a series of embarrassing battlefield defeats.
‘They could do it,’ Zelensky said. ‘For them the life of the people [means] nothing. That’s why.
‘We should not be afraid… but be ready. That is a question not only for Ukraine but for all the world, I think.’
His warning had been echoed days earlier by CIA director William Burns who said the threat of a Russian nuclear strike was not to be ‘taken lightly’.
‘Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they’ve faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons,’ he said.
‘We’re obviously very concerned. I know President Biden is deeply concerned about avoiding a third world war, about avoiding a threshold in which nuclear conflict becomes possible.’
Tactical nuclear weapons are nukes with smaller and less-powerful warheads that were originally designed to be used on friendly territory as part of defence against an invasion where the goal is not widespread destruction.
