Putin’s nuclear threat came on the 1,000th day of Russia’s offensive on Ukraine and after the United States gave Kyiv permission to use long-range missiles to strike military targets inside Russia.
Russia’s new policy states that they will consider using nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state if they are supported by nuclear powers.
“Aggression by a non-nuclear state with the participation of a nuclear state is considered as a joint attack,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a clear reference to Ukraine and its Western backers.
Russian Vice President of Security and former president Dmitri Medvedev also confirmed that “Russia could retaliate with weapons of mass destruction against Kyiv and the main NATO facilities”.
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Global leaders from the UK’s Keir Starmer to outgoing US President Joe Biden have labelled Putin’s nuclear announcement as “irresponsible”.
For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga has urged Ukraine’s Western allies to remain “clear-eyed and not give into fear”, labelling Putin’s actions as “sabre-rattling”.
Nonetheless there is a marked escalation in the conflict, so which countries could be most under threat and does Spain need to worry about being one of Putin’s nuclear targets?
The truth is we don’t know exactly what Putin’s plans are or his feelings towards Spain and Sánchez’s support for Ukraine.
According to Spain’s RTVE news, Russian State TV have been more aggressive and speaking more openly about using nuclear weapons, adding that it’s the last warning for the EU and US, whilst the Russian government itself is being more constrained.
In July 2024, Russia’s state-run Rossiya 1 TV channel ran a simulation highlighting the country’s potential targets in Europe.
🇷🇺☢️🇬🇧 La televisión estatal rusa mostró los países de Europa que serán atacados con armas nucleares si la guerra se intensifica:
“Basta con tres misiles y la civilización británica se derrumbará”. pic.twitter.com/8TkWoqKFKy
— (@DOGDEGA) November 19, 2024
The video pointed to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Germany, Austria, France, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania as targets of this response, which all included US bases.
“Almost all European capitals will be under threat if our missiles are stationed in Kaliningrad: Berlin, Warsaw, all the Baltic states, Paris, Bucharest, Prague, and of course, the American bases in Germany,” TV host and State Duma lawmaker Yevgeny Popov reported alongside it.
Britain was also mentioned as a potential threat, with the presenter saying it would only “take three missiles to provoke the collapse of British civilization”.
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Spain, however, was not highlighted on the video. Does that mean it’s safe from a potential missile attack? As mentioned earlier, what Russian TV pundits say to their viewers isn’t necessarily what the Kremlin will carry out, and it’s not the first time they talk openly about ‘nuking’ European countries (they did so again back in March).
Solovyov and all their military experts agree that Russia can nuke whoever they want in a first strike against any NATO country.
Just another day on Kremlin State TV where they casually talk about killing hundreds of millions of people.@JuliaDavisNews pic.twitter.com/q5pNsho5yv
— Jake Broe (@RealJakeBroe) March 12, 2024
In early 2024, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said in an interview with La Vanguardia newspaper: “Nowadays, a ballistic missile can absolutely reach Spain from Russia”.
“Europe has to acknowledge that danger is very near, it’s not hypothetical, it’s a reality. The countries bordering Russia understand this very well. Maybe those of us who live in the south don’t quite understand that” Robles added.
In that same month, Spanish news site El Periódico wrote a report on which of Putin’s missiles would be capable of travelling the 3,000 kilometres that separate Russia from Spain.
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They reported that at least four of Russia’s missiles were indeed able reach Spain. This included Sarmat or Satán II, able to target places twice the distance mentioned. According to various media outlets, this device is up to 2,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.
The second is the Burevestnik missile, nicknamed ‘Skyfall’ by the US army. Its range almost global, with an estimated distance of between 10,000 and 20,000 kilometres, which it can travel in just a couple of seconds.
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The last two are Avangard and Poseidon. Avangard is described as a “weapon of the future” by the leader of the Russian army himself and has advanced technology allowing it to bypass current anti-missile defence systems. While Poseidon is the largest torpedo in the world and its range is 10,000 kilometres.
Whether or not Putin would actually use them to attack the EU or not is another matter.
What’s clear though is that the Spanish government is is increasingly aware of the threat and has recently joined Germany, France, Italy and Poland in giving its backing to a proposal on joint European defence bonds, which aim to bolster the EU’s defence industry.
Spain closed its embassy in Kyiv today on Wednesday November 20th, with a strong response to Ukraine’s missile attack on Russia expected imminently.
