Putin threatens West with nuclear weapons if troops come to Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Thursday to use nuclear weapons if Western allies come to Ukraine’s aid, in his annual state of the nation speech.

In the address to Russia’s Federal Assembly, Putin boasted of his country’s nuclear arsenal, including the deployment of new hypersonic missiles. He then referenced a controversial idea stirred up by French President Emmanuel Macron to send troops to Ukraine, which was swiftly rejected by the U.S. and other members of the Western alliance NATO.

But, Putin doubled down on his threats against any NATO action, saying “potential aggressors will face far graver consequences” if they enter Russian territory.

“They must grasp that we also have weapons capable of striking targets on their territory,” Putin said. “Everything they are inventing now, spooking the world with the threat of a conflict involving nuclear weapons, which potentially means the end of civilization — don’t they realize this?”

The Russian leader has threatened to use nuclear weapons throughout the war in Ukraine, part of a campaign to keep them in the minds of Western leaders. He has suspended participation in a nuclear arms limitation treaty with the U.S. and moved tactical nuclear weapons to ally Belarus.

Putin, in his Thursday message, said “strategic nuclear forces are on full combat alert and the ability to use them is assured.”

He also again denied that Russia was preparing to deploy a nuclear weapon in space, which the U.S. said Moscow could potentially launch in a major new threat to global communications and networks.

“Such fake narratives — and this story is unequivocally false — are designed to involve us in negotiations on their conditions, which will only benefit the United States,” Putin said.

In his speech, the Russian leader also accused the West of fomenting hysteria and a new arms race.

Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has entered its third year, has shifted into Putin’s favor as the U.S. continues to debate whether to send struggling Ukrainian soldiers more military aid.

Russian forces this month took the city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, giving them an important foothold in the Donetsk region, and Moscow is pressuring the Ukrainians elsewhere across the 600-mile front line with U.S. aid on hold.

Putin also offered an upbeat tone in the status of the war, saying Russian troops have “acquired a lot of experience” and were “mastering the latest tactics and methods of war.”

“Our units have seized the initiative and will not surrender it,” he said. “They are confidently advancing in several operational theaters and liberating more territories.”

Still, Russia has suffered around 315,000 casualties in the war, according to U.S. intelligence, and Moscow has struggled to gain any significant ground or perform tactical maneuvers, instead throwing waves of troops at Ukrainian defenses for high losses.

“We are aware of the challenges we face. They do exist,” Putin admitted. “That being said, we also know what needs to be done to address them.”

“There is an ongoing and unrelenting effort unfolding both along the front lines and in the rear in this regard in order to improve the striking power of the army and the fleet, to make them more tech-savvy and effective,” he added.