A senior Ukrainian official hinted Monday that, despite Kremlin threats, Kyiv may have already begun using Western weapons to hit targets inside Russia.
Ukraine finally has a green light to strike inside Russia using U.S. weapons — and it may have begun doing so.
A senior Ukrainian official hinted Monday that Kyiv had hit a missile system inside Russia using Western weapons, just days after many of Ukraine’s allies, including the United States, approved their limited use.
That followed months of pressure to ignore threats from the Kremlin and lift the restrictions, which Ukraine said had hampered its defensive effort. Even as President Vladimir Putin’s officials repeated their dire warnings, Ukraine signaled that it may have fired its first shots in this new reality, leaving observers to question what it could mean for the wider war.
The problem is distinguishing between:
Russian state media bullshitting about nukes for the benefit of the Russian public.
Russian government officials like Medvedev bullshitting about nukes for the benefit of the Russian public.
Putin bullshitting about nukes for domestic benefit but not actually taking military moves that would suggest to other countries that he actually intends to go ahead.
The Kremlin bullshitting about nukes to try to influence foreign publics, but not governments, again without corresponding military moves.
The Kremlin bullshitting about nukes while intending to bluff other countries.
The Kremlin actually being serious about having a nuclear war.
I don’t think that either of the last two have actually happened, or if they have, it’s been done privately (or in nuclear posture documents or the like).