Zelenskyy asks world to 'prepare for possibility' of Russian nuke attack amid Ukraine war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on April 15, Friday warned “all countries of the world” to prepare for the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons in course of the ongoing Russia Ukraine war. Speaking to American broadcaster CNN’s Jake Tapper in the English language, the Ukrainian president said that Moscow could “easily use either nuclear or chemical weapons, as Putin does not value the lives of Ukrainian citizens.”

He then cautioned, “We should think, not be afraid, be ready. But that is not a question, only for Ukraine but for all the world, I think so.” Zelenskyy further added, “They [Russians] could do it, for them the life of the people [means] nothing.” 

“Not only me — I think all of the world, all the countries, have to be worried, because it can be not real information, but it can be truth,” Zelenskyy said in a televised interview on April 15, Friday. 

The Ukrainian president’s recent warning shifted drastically over the period of weeks of intense battle put up by the troops of his country against the invading forces. The embattled leader, that witnessed war atrocities against the civilian in the towns of Bucha and Irpin, had earlier downplayed such a prospect back in March, saying that the threat of nuclear war is a “bluff.” “It’s one thing to be a murderer. It’s another to commit suicide. Every use of nuclear weapons means the end for all sides, not just for the person using them,” Zelenskyy had said when asked about Moscow’s warnings about the possible use of the nukes.

On Friday, though, Ukraine’s President made a blatant statement, affirming for the first time, that Russia’s stern warning to the rest of the world about the specter of the use of nuclear armament must be heeded “seriously.”

Putin warned world of 'consequences greater than any you have faced in history'

Just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin had launched an all-out offensive in Ukraine, he had, in a hardened tone, shot a stern warning to the world about Moscow’s nuclear arsenal. He had also ordered his deterrent forces, including nuclear weapons, on high alert. In a message from his Duma, he conveyed that any country which interfered would, quote, "face consequences greater than any you have faced in history.” 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a press call with state-affiliated news agencies also said that Russia would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons should its very existence were threatened, repeating the need for security guarantees from defensive Alliance NATO that Russia lambasted for “bringing the military to its doorstep.”

“We have a concept of domestic security, and it’s public. You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used,” Peskov during one other briefing said. On February 28 Russia placed its nuclear missile forces and northern and Pacific fleets on enhanced combat duty. Just days later it launched its Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missile capable of striking any target on the surface of the Earth within one hour.

A United Nations report suggests that Russian armed forces have used cluster munitions in populated areas of Ukraine “at least two dozen (24) times.” Three investigators who are to carry out the work of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, which the forum voted to establish on 4 March— Erik Møse of Norway, Jasminka Džumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Pablo de Greiff of Colombia— are conducting a full probe into the use of banned weapons.