Russian military train towards Ukraine arouses fears of nuclear weapons – experts calmed down
Created: 10/04/2022 11:15 am
By: Stephanie Munk
A Russian military transport fuels fears: is Putin preparing to use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war?
Other scenarios are also conceivable.
Moscow - Videos and photos on social networks on the Internet show a long Russian freight train loaded with armored vehicles and weapons.
Apparently, the train is on the way from central Russia to the Ukrainian border.
And: It raises fears of an imminent use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Ukraine-News: Long freight train bound for Ukraine is associated with nuclear weapons department
British media such as the
Daily Mail
and
Times
report that the train is linked to a branch in the Russian army responsible for providing nuclear weapons.
In the face of repeated threats by the Kremlin not to shy away from using nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war, this is raising new concerns: Is President Vladimir Putin already preparing a concrete nuclear deployment in Ukraine?
According to defense analyst Konrad Musyka, to whom the British media also refer in their reports, this is conceivable but unlikely.
The Polish expert addresses the Russian military train in several posts on Twitter.
According to them, the freight train actually transports equipment assigned to the 12th Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
This directorate is responsible for the storage, provision and transport of nuclear weapons to the Russian troops.
Ukraine-News: Expert puts concerns about the use of nuclear weapons into perspective - "Other, probable explanations"
Nevertheless, the expert reassured: The freight train would "not really" indicate an impending nuclear operation in Ukraine.
There are "other, probable explanations": The videos circulating on the Internet could therefore be another method by Russia to "signal to the West that Moscow is escalating".
The analyst wrote on Twitter: "Believe me, such videos never appear by accident." In fact, the video showing the moving military train was apparently originally published on Telegram by the pro-Russian broadcaster Rybar.
Ukraine News: Russian military train possibly intended for exercises
According to the expert Konrad Muzyka, it is also possible that the train is transporting equipment for military exercises.
Russian Strategic Missile Forces usually held such exercises in the fall.
The defense expert writes that it is possible that nuclear deterrence exercises will be held in October.
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After the annexations: what Russia now intends to do with the Ukrainian territories
Recently, Russia had repeatedly threatened to indirectly or openly use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war.
In his speech on Friday (September 30) on the annexation of Ukrainian territories, Putin reiterated that Russia will defend its territory “with all the means at our disposal”.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, qualified the threats on the same day.
However, American experts consider Russia's use of nuclear weapons to be quite realistic.
You can read everything about the military developments in the Ukraine war in the news ticker.
(smu)