Ukraine: Ex-RAF chief says use of nuclear weapons is possible

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Air Marshal Edward Stringer CBE said the scenario of attacks with nuclear weapons is a “weight on the minds” of world leaders as they get on with negotiations. He told LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: “It’s no longer unthinkable and it will clearly be weighing on the minds of those who are making all the political calculations at the moment.

“Hence the very straight and consistent line from Biden and all the other senior heads of state recently.”

The military head added a nuclear war “is in the realms of possibility and that’s what people have to get their heads around”.

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Shocking footage released by Russia on Monday showed Vladimir Putin unleashing a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile from a warship.

He was showing off menacing military force in images of an “unstoppable” Zircon [Tsirkon] nuclear-capable Mach 9 hypersonic missile, being launched from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate warship.

Tsirkon, known by NATO as SS-N-33, is a vertically launched manoeuvring anti-ship weapon able to reach eight times the speed of sound, or 9,800 km/h.

It comes as Germany plans to buy F-35 fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons, in a move towards a defence spending spree amid the Russian aggression.

At the same time, Putin’s troops are expected to continue attacks on major Ukrainian cities, a Ukrainian MP told Express.co.uk.

Inna Sovsun said she doesn’t care what is motivating Putin, since he has gone “completely crazy”.

Air Marshal Stringer said: “You can sketch a plausible chain of events that may lead to nuclear war.”

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He warned: “It is only a few steps to get from where we are now to a confrontation that could see the use of nuclear weapons, which I think is a pretty terrifying prospect for anybody sensible.”

The Air Marshal said that was the reason leaders had been reluctant to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

He went on to explain: “That is why when there were are calls for no-fly zones, the political leadership was quick to point out that NATO is a defensive alliance and NATO is not being attacked.”

And concluded: “NATO is not constructed to go onto the offensive, if it did it would be taking on another nuclear power – Russia.”

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