Media: Russians discussed a nuclear strike on Germany before the war with Ukraine
A few weeks before the attack on Ukraine, the Russian army discussed scenarios for a nuclear strike on Germany, reports Spiegel, citing intelligence data. Western intelligence agencies allegedly intercepted Russian Navy radio communications during its drills in the Baltic Sea at the end of last year.
The intercepted conversations focused on three targets for possible strikes: Berlin, the U.S. air base at Ramstein and Büchel Air Base, where the U.S. army stores nuclear weapons.
Security experts have different opinions about this radio interception, the newspaper notes. Some analysts point out that planning nuclear attacks is a common practice in exercises, and the development NATO carried out similar analysis during its maneuvers. Such discussions are not posing any risk.
Other experts believe that the Russians, knowing they were being wiretapped, deliberately named the targets to intimidate the West before the war.
At the very beginning of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin brought the country's nuclear forces into a state of special alert.
According to the results of the Spiegel/Civey poll, 51% of Germans are concerned about the possibility of a nuclear war, 57% fear a Russian nuclear strike on Ukraine, and 37% on Germany.
United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that if Russia uses nuclear weapons, it will receive a serious international response.
According to US President Joseph Biden, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, denies the possibility of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but continues to talk about it.