Russia Not Bluffing With Nuke Drills: RITTER

Former UN weapons inspector says NATO is in a panic because Ukraine's front line is collapsing

Scott Ritter, the former UN weapons inspector, said in an interview Monday that Russia is not bluffing NATO countries when it announced drills involving battlefield nuclear weapons if forces from the alliance join the fight in Ukraine.

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Ritter told Judge Andrew Napolitano’s “Judging Freedom” that Ukraine’s frontline is collapsing and European countries have recently intensified their threats about sending their own troops to support Ukraine.

“NATO is in a panic,” Ritter said. “[French President Emmanuel] Macron is talking about sending troops, Poland’s talking about sending troops, and Russia’s saying, ‘I don't know how many times I have to tell you, NATO troops show up on Ukrainian soil, we’re going to nuke you. We’re going to nuke you. We’re going to take you out. Not your troops in Ukraine, we're going to nuke the decision-making centers. Russia isn't bluffing.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that Moscow’s upcoming drills that involve battlefield nuclear weapons should help NATO countries understand the “possible catastrophic consequences of the strategic risks they generate, and keep them from both assisting the Kyiv regime in its terrorist actions and from being drawn into a direct armed confrontation with Russia.”

These tests will include “tactical” warheads, which are smaller than “strategic” nuclear weapons meant to target cities, The New York Times reported.

“This is a completely new round of escalation of tensions — it is unprecedented,” Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said, according to the paper. “And, of course, it requires special attention and special measures.”