Russia-Ukraine War: Minister of Defense of Estonia, We are Facebook, spoke to the magazine “Newsweek” and stated that “the Crimean peninsula is a human line for Russian President Putin.” The region occupies a very important place in Putin’s national myth, since its conquest in 2014, in such a rapid manner, symbolizes for the high command “the renewal of Moscow’s confidence and capacity.” He also emphasized that Ukraine should not be prevented from carrying out an attack in the Crimean Peninsula, and that there is no need to fear Moscow’s nuclear weapons.
According to him, the NATO member states have the usual channels through which the Kremlin can be warned against the use of nuclear weapons, and that the weapons should not undermine the West’s support for Ukraine. From what the Kremlin will do,” he added. However, foreign sources have expressed concern that Kiev is indeed striving to regain control of the Crimean peninsula, which may escalate the war in Ukraine. At the same time, the same sources assessed that there are no indications that Putin is considering the use of nuclear weapons.
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Russia’s floating nuclear reactor (Photo: Reuters)
Fabkor also said that “Ukraine needs to regain all the territories occupied by Moscow. Based on the information we have, Crimea is definitely a red line for Putin, but we don’t know yet what that means in practice. We don’t know at this point either.” Is Ukraine ready to occupy Crimea, and what will be the state of the Russian army, maybe there will be no one to fight against, and maybe there will even be an avalanche in Moscow. In any case, this is a long conflict, we will know in a few months.”
The Estonian defense minister is among those who want to watch the upcoming Ukrainian “counterattack” very carefully. According to him, “This attack will be very important, we all understand that, but let’s not put too much pressure on the Ukrainians. We have trained Ukrainian soldiers in Europe, we are sending military aid to Ukraine, we should hope that everything will be as successful as possible. But it is important to remember, the front line is deep of 800 to 900 km, when there are between 12 and 13 divisions of the Russian army in the area, it is more than 300 thousand Russians. Therefore, I believe that we should lower the enthusiasm for the attack, and let the Ukrainians work quietly.”
Russian soldiers stationed in Ukraine (Photo: Vertical)
Russian soldiers stationed in Ukraine (Photo: OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images)
As we know, Russia’s nuclear weapons arsenal is the largest in the world, according to foreign reports. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) reported in 2022 that Moscow possesses 5,977 nuclear warheads, while the US has 5,428. Together, the two countries possess about 90% of all nuclear warheads in the world. According to the Federation, a large part of Russia’s nuclear arsenal Developed in the days of the Soviet Union, approximately 1,500 of these warheads are estimated to be incomplete, but likely usable. The rest of the arsenal includes 2,889 warheads stored and designated as reserves, and an additional 1,588 strategic warheads deployed throughout Russia.
A senior military official who once oversaw the US nuclear arsenal warned in 2021 that Russia was upgrading its old nuclear weapons. Admiral Charles Richard said during a congressional hearing.
