Understanding Putin's Nuclear Threats

The Ghost of Harry Truman

The United States and some European countries have allowed Ukraine to strike into Russia with the weapons they provided. This has caused the Russian government to react and threaten the use of nuclear weapons (again). These comments and “policy changes” set social media ablaze. Even popular podcasters like Joe Rogan are saying, "Fuck Zelensky" and "Fuck you people." In this short article, I'll quickly explain why Russia is doing what it’s doing.

Sasha Mordovets / Getty

Context

The biggest problem with the Ukraine war is that people only pay attention to it when something big happens. This means they’re often jumping in in the middle of the story with no understanding of the context. A good example is a police officer responding to a shooting and finds you shooting toward a group of people, so he fires at you. Little does he know you’re defending yourself against five bandits who tried to rob you—context is everything.

Recently, Russia invited North Korean troops into the war. It’s alleged that Putin is offering the North Koreans energy and technology in exchange for troops. The North Korean troops are mostly fighting in the Kursk region of Russia. Kursk was invaded by Ukraine in August. This is a very important front in this war; if a negotiation happens, Ukraine would have a lot of leverage. For the sake of optics, Putin cannot lose a Russian region. He wants to be seen by his people and historically as a great man. Imagine what the history books would say: “Putin invaded Ukraine and lost Russian land to Ukraine.” He can’t allow this. Russia has sent some of its best soldiers, like the 76th and 106th Air Assault Brigades, to fight in Kursk. Russia claims they have 50,000 troops in that small region, including the North Koreans.

Due to superior Russian numbers, Ukraine started to lose ground. In response, the US, UK, and France changed their weapon restrictions and allowed Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory with the weapon systems they provided.

Old Weapon Restrictions

This move forces Russia to move their staging locations and logistics backward. Russia moving back gives the Ukrainian troops some room to breathe.