Concern about deployment in Ukraine
Report: USA fears Russian nuclear strike in 2022
March 9, 2024, 10:13 p.m
In the summer of 2022, Russian troops in the Kherson region threatened to be cut off. Alarm bells were ringing in Washington at the time, reports CNN. Accordingly, the Biden administration grew concerned about Moscow using tactical nuclear weapons.
According to a media report, the USA has prepared for a possible Russian nuclear strike in Ukraine in 2022. Like the broadcaster CNN Citing U.S. officials, the National Security Council held a series of meetings from late summer to fall to develop contingency plans. At that time, Ukraine conducted successful counterattacks in the Kherson region and later in the Kharkiv region.
What led the Biden administration to make this assessment was not a single factor, but a combination of developments, analyzes and highly sensitive intelligence information. The fear that Russia might detonate a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine “was not just hypothetical – it was also based on some information we had picked up,” one of the officials told CNN. “We had to plan so that we were in the best possible position if this inevitable event did occur.”
Fake news about a “dirty bomb”
In late summer 2022, Russian troops in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson found themselves in a critical situation. The advance of Kiev’s troops threatened to cut off Moscow’s units on the western side of the Dnipro River. According to CNN, there was a view in Washington that such a major Kremlin defeat could be a “potential trigger” for the use of nuclear weapons.
At that time, Russia’s propaganda launched a disinformation campaign about a possible “dirty bomb” in the hands of Ukraine. US officials then feared that the false news could be a pretext for a Russian nuclear attack.
“We have had a series of quiet discussions with key allies to go through our considerations,” one of the US officials said. “This is a hallmark of our entire approach – that we are better and stronger at this task when we fully stand with our allies.”
In addition, the USA also tried to enlist the help of China and India. “One of our actions was not only to notify them (Russia) directly, but also to strongly request, urge and encourage other countries to which they may have given more attention to do the same,” said one of the insiders.
“I think the fact that we know that China got involved, India got involved and others got involved might have had some influence on their (Russia’s) thinking,” one of the officials was quoted as saying by CNN. “I can’t prove that conclusively, but I think that’s our assessment.”