(OPINION) New threats of a nuclear strike were made on Russian state TV, as the head of state-controlled Russia Today (RT) Margarita Simonyan said on air that the war in Ukraine will either end with Russia’s victory or a catastrophe for all humanity.
“They all believe we’ll definitely lose, and the West will definitely win,” Simonyan said. “They say this, not understanding that it’s impossible. It’s just not possible, it will not happen. Either this ends badly for all humanity or we win. There’s no third option.”
It’s not the first time Simonyan made a nuclear threat on air. In late April, the RT editor-in-chief said that British support of Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil is leaving Moscow short of options besides the “complete destruction” of Ukraine and “a nuclear strike.”
On that occasion, there was no evidence that the Kremlin supported the threat made by the journalist on state TV. But the most recent comment by Simonyan comes as the head of Russia’s space agency has announced that Moscow will soon have 50 new nuclear missiles.
“The Anglo-Saxons are publicly calling on Ukraine to take the combat activity into Russian territory. And giving them the ammo to carry out that plan,” she said. “What choice are you leaving us, idiots? Complete destruction of what remains of Ukraine? A nuclear strike?”
There is no evidence that the Kremlin shares the same views as Simonyan on a nuclear attack, although it’s sure that Moscow is equally as annoyed with Britain for its recent statements in support of Ukraine.
Talking to BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Tuesday—a day after a fire reportedly broke out at a Bryansk oil depot—British armed forces minister James Heappey said that the U.K. believed it was “completely legitimate for Ukraine to be targeting in Russia’s depth in order to disrupt the logistics that if they weren’t disrupted would directly contribute to death and carnage on Ukrainian soil.”
