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Cars in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, catch fire during the Russian invasion. President Vladimir Putin apparently deployed several ballistic missile submarines to the North Atlantic when his nuclear weapons were on high alert. Photo/Press Service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/REUTERS
The British Navy has detected the Russian submarines without specifying the number.
The British Navy commander believes Russia’s decision to deploy several submarines, each capable of carrying 16 ballistic missiles, was an act of “acting out” rather than an all-out threat.
Although the submarines had returned to Russia shortly after, Western intelligence agencies have been on constant alert for the Kremlin’s nuclear arsenal — believed to be the world’s largest with 4,477 warheads.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said he had not seen any indication that Russia was preparing to use nuclear weapons, but that did little to reassure nervous world leaders, particularly in the West, after Putin used a “fire and brimstone” speech when he declared war. against Ukraine to make a disguised nuclear threat.
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Analysts believe the use of Russian nuclear weapons found on submarines is “unthinkable” but some believe the use of short-range tactical missiles, meant to destroy specific targets rather than entire cities, is possible.
“The majority of Russian conventional weapons can be installed with low yield nuclear capabilities. It is more complex than ‘plug and play’ but the Russians are quite innovative in terms of what they put in front of bombs and missiles,” a Navy source told The Timeswhich was launched on Saturday (26/3/2022).
Western officials have cited Putin’s original statement when he sent troops to Ukraine, that he wanted to free it rather than destroy it, as evidence that he had no plans to use nuclear weapons.
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