When the United States unleashed two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, the world officially passed the nuclear threshold. Over 100,000 people were instantly killed by the explosions, and countless more perished afterwards. Every American should be alarmed by how nonchalantly both Russian and Western officials are discussing using nuclear weapons now, especially given that some modern nuclear bombs have hundreds or even thousands of times more destructive force than the versions developed in 1945.
Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February of last year, starting a “special military operation” that has already resulted in tens of thousands of fatalities. Ukrainians actively seek assistance from any and all Western sources to help push the invaders out since they naturally loathe the Russians. Even if we believe Ukrainian fury to be warranted, the United States does not have to grant Kiev every request it makes, especially if doing so puts the country’s national security at increased danger. Now, we are perilously near to that point.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made an announcement this week on a partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists in response to significant military losses Russia sustained earlier this month in the Kharkiv region. The response from Kiev and the West was logical and swift: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky adamantly vowed that his country would fight no matter how many Russian troops Putin sent into the conflict and that Russia should be held accountable.
Putin’s Russia Keeps Making Rhetorical Advances
The only way to stop this war, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, is to show that President Putin will not prevail on the battlefield, in reaction to Putin’s mobilization. While incoming British Prime Minister Liz Truss vowed that the U.K. will “sustain or increase our military support to Ukraine for as long as it takes” to beat Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron urged that the West should apply “maximum pressure” on Putin. In response to the mounting criticism from the West, Putin reacted quickly and alarmingly.
In a speech broadcast on television, Putin issued a warning to the West, strongly hinting the use of nuclear weapons, saying: “This is not a bluff. We will use all available means to protect our people.” In response, retired US Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said that if Putin took such action, the US might, for instance, launch “a devastating (nuclear) strike” to obliterate Russia’s Black Sea fleet or bases.
Not to be outdone, Zelensky’s top adviser Mykhailo Podolyak declared that the West should conduct “rapid retaliation nuclear strikes to destroy the nuclear launch facilities in Russia” if Russia “even thinks about” launching a nuclear attack. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president, concluded the warnings by pledging that Moscow was prepared to use “any Russian weaponry, including strategic nuclear weapons,” in addition to deploying Russian troops, to defend the four regions of Ukraine it intended to annexe as early as next week.
The Nuclear Threat is a Horror
I recognize the need on the part of all parties to project a tough persona, and I am well aware of Kiev’s animosity toward Russia and want to expel Putin’s troops from Ukrainian land. But I worry that we have moved too far past August 1945 and have forgotten our legitimate apprehension about the potential damage a single contemporary nuclear weapon could cause. The destructive potential of nuclear weapons now is hundreds of times greater than that of the bombs dropped on Japan in 1945, notably those in Russia and the United States. No matter how or who launched a nuclear exchange, the situation surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war could be more disastrous than anyone could have imagined.
