Ukraine has crossed Putin’s ‘nuclear’ red line – Newsweek

On Wednesday, January 17, Ukraine possibly crossed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear red line by attacking a radar station (RLS) in Mordovia once again.

This is reported by Newsweek.

Russian aggressors have been talking about the threat of nuclear escalation in any format — the use of nuclear weapons, a disaster at one of the numerous civilian nuclear power plants — since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, according to the American publication, in this rhetoric of the Russians, there are red lines that may indicate Moscow’s potential use of nuclear weapons in accordance with Kremlin’s doctrinal directives.

As experts note, the discussion is about the repeated attack of Ukrainian drones on Wednesday, April 17, targeting a separate radio engineering center of military unit 84680, located in the city of Kovylkino, Republic of Mordovia. It is here, according to intelligence agencies, that the over-the-horizon radar system 29B6 “Container” is located — a very important component of the Russian reconnaissance network. It is used by the Russians to warn of air and space attacks, including ballistic missiles.

At the time of publication of the news, the results of the attack are still unknown, however, according to reports from some Ukrainian media citing insider sources, the command post building of this military unit was damaged during a previous attack on April 11.

Newsweek contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment on the situation. There has been no response yet.

Judging by the content of documents defining the criteria for the use of nuclear weapons, damaging the “Container” radar system could correspond to such a possibility from Russia, as provided for by Putin’s decree in 2020.

Other conditions of Russian doctrines recognize “the impact on critical state and military facilities of the Russian Federation” with the use of conventional weapons, but if the existence of the state is under threat. That is, if these facilities are disabled, it could lead to retaliatory actions by nuclear forces.