And Vladimir Putin is playing games with them.

He has them, and he says he’s ready and willing to use them, if . . .

“If” what? Well, for example, if Ukraine were to strike Russian territory with U.K.-supplied weapons, Russia might retaliate with strikes on British military facilities and equipment on Ukrainian soil or elsewhere. And in preparation for such an eventuality, Russia will soon be holding drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons. The British and French Ambassadors in Moscow have been so advised . . . and so have we all.

What has brought this about, according to the Kremlin, are some recent comments by senior Western officials indicating possible increased involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, “The drills are a response to ‘provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation.’” [Associated Press, May 6, 2024.]

Yeah, sure . . . it’s all our fault. It’s always someone else’s fault. Russia isn’t responsible for having invaded Ukraine; the West invited trouble by considering admission to NATO of a country that — according to Putin & Company — is being governed by Nazis who are committing violent crimes against Ukrainians the Russian government claims are actually Russian citizens as a result of Russia’s illegal annexing of areas of Ukraine in 2014 and since 2022. Got that?

Gibberish! Jabberwocky! Balderdash!

Bullshit!

But so said Tsar Putin, and on the very eve of his fifth inauguration (today, in fact) as President of the Russian Federation. So it must be taken as gospel.

Unfortunately, French President Emmanuel Macron keeps yapping about the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine; and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron has indeed said that British long-range weapons would be able to strike targets inside Russia. And these were all the provocation Putin needed to escalate his rhetoric. So he sent his mouthpiece — my favorite stand-up comic, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov — to take front and center. But Dmitry wasn’t feeling the humor this day when — referring to Western officials’ comments — he said:

“It’s a new round of escalation. It’s unprecedented and requires special attention and special measures.” [AP, id.]

And, being summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, the British Ambassador to Russia was told “to think about the inevitable catastrophic consequences of such hostile steps from London.” [AP, id.]

Finally — never to be outdone, or to pass up an opportunity to spew a bit of venom at the world — Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council — “said in his typically hawkish fashion that the comments by Macron and Cameron risked pushing the nuclear-armed world toward a ‘global catastrophe.’” [AP, id.]

But in the midst of all of this furious, threatening hyperbole from Putin, Peskov, Medvedev, and the Foreign and Defense Ministries, what was most obviously missing was any mention of who started this whole mess back in February of 2022 and has been blasting the daylights out of sovereign Ukraine for more than two years. How convenient is Russia’s selective memory! But the world knows . . . and blame has been squarely laid at Russia’s feet. Further, “NATO countries said last week they are deeply concerned by a campaign of hybrid activities on the military alliance’s soil, accusing Moscow of being behind them and saying they represent a security threat.” To which Dmitry Peskov dismissively responded, without so much as cracking a smile, that such claims are simply “new, unfounded accusations leveled at our country.” [AP, id.]

Deny, deny, deny. It’s what they always do. It’s also what a three-year-old does when caught with a hand in the cookie jar. That, and threaten to hold his breath until he turns blue if he doesn’t get his own way. We’re dealing with three-year-olds here!

But they’re three-year-olds with weapons of mass destruction.

So is this just one more case of posturing and saber-rattling on Vladimir Putin’s part? Or is he actually prepared to commit suicide by making good on his threats? According to Andrii Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Agency, “Nuclear blackmail is a usual practice of Putin’s regime; it does not constitute major news.” [AP, id.]

I sincerely hope you’re right, sir.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/7/24