A rising number of Russians are ready to approve of Vladimir Putin using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Some 34 percent—just over one in three—would definitely or likely support the use of the ultimate weapon in the conflict.
This is five percent higher than one year ago and the highest since Putin launched his illegal war against the sovereign state of Ukraine.
The findings from the Levada Centre show that 31 percent are definitely against the use of weapons, while 21 percent are likely against it.
The upward trend shows the success of Russian propagandists seeking to gain support for nuclear use.
Putin recently ordered tactical nuclear missile drills in Russia and neighboring Belarus, which he has supplied with atomic weapons.
The Kremlin dictator is considering changing the country’s nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold for using such weapons.
Currently, he could authorize the use of tactical – or battlefield – nuclear weapons on the basis of a perceived threat to the Russian state from attack by conventional or nuclear weapons.
Russia is staging major nuclear missile drills today as Britain ushers in a new government.
On the orders of Vladimir Putin, the Yars missile crews practised deployment in two regions, Irkutsk and Ivanovo.
A video showed a mobile launcher maneuvering along forest roads and taking up position before troops covered it in camouflage netting.
‘Other missile units will hold similar exercises in the near future,’ said the Russian defence ministry.
Previous such tests were held in late June and they also coincide with Sir Keir Starmer and his Labour government taking over from the Tories in Britain.
Russia expects the incoming administration to be as supportive of Ukraine as the outgoing Rishi Sunak government.
‘Units of Yars ground mobile missile systems are implementing measures to perform marches to a distance of up to 100km [62 miles], disperse the systems at the same time changing their field positions and their engineering equipment, camouflage them and ensure their combat storage,’ said the ministry.
Vladimir Putin’s forces drilled strikes with tactical nuclear weapons on Ukraine or the West with land, air and sea-based launches on June 13.
The Russian defence ministry stressed that the launches were simulated, but troops performed everything else as they would in a genuine attack.
A naval crew was seen pressing the button on a nuclear hit from a warship believed to be in the Baltic Sea to hit a target some 220 miles away, while Tu-22M3 nuclear-capable bombers were pictured taking off from an undisclosed airstrip.
Meanwhile, a land-based mobile crew in Leningrad Military District in northwest Russia was shown loading suspected Iskander nuclear-capable mobile short-range ballistic missiles, although the warheads were blurred in the footage.
