US took serious measures to prepare for possible Russian nuclear strike in Ukraine in late 2022 – CNN
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At the end of 2022, the USA began preparing for the possibility that Russia could launch a nuclear attack on Ukraine. The US administration's fears were based on intelligence.
CNN reported this.
"We had to plan so that we were in the best possible position in case this no‑longer unthinkable event actually took place," one of the high-ranking officials of the US administration told CNN.
According to another US official, the US National Security Council convened a series of meetings between late summer and autumn 2022 to develop contingency plans, particularly in the event of either obvious signs of a nuclear strike being prepared or the strike itself.
"How we would respond, how we would try to preempt it or deter it," the official explained.
The United States believed that the loss of Kherson could provoke Russia to launch a nuclear attack on Ukraine, as Moscow could see it as an "existential threat," said an unnamed American official. The Kremlin could also see a nuclear strike as a tool to deter Ukraine from further liberating territories or a potential attack on the Russian Federation.
At that time, Russian propaganda was actively spreading rumors about a "dirty bomb" that Ukraine was allegedly planning to detonate to blame it on the Russian Federation. Later, Western intelligence learned of discussions among Russian officials about a nuclear strike. However, the US did not record the preparations of the Russian nuclear forces for the strike, although Washington was not sure that they would be able to learn about the transfer of tactical weapons to the Russian Federation because it is difficult to track them.
Against the background of the threat, the US worked with allies to develop response plans and, through them, tried to send Russia a warning of the consequences. Washington also tried to enlist the support of India and China.
Today, American officials, as noted by CNN, believe that the danger of a nuclear strike has decreased.
For reference:
At the end of May, the defense ministers of the Russian Federation and Belarus signed an agreement on the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Moscow transferred to Minsk the Iskander-M missile complexes, which are capable of launching missiles with a nuclear warhead.
It is worth noting that at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, Russian aviation repeatedly attacked the border regions of Ukraine with planes coming from the territory of Belarus.
The Russian army closely cooperates with the dictatorial regime of Lukashenko and actively conducts military propaganda on its territory, involving its terrorist units in joint "training" that has been going on for more than 87 weeks.
In November, it was reported that Russia continued to relocate components of tactical nuclear weapons to the territory of Belarus in mid-September. According to railway officials, the occupiers overturned two trains, which included more than 26 wagons.
