OPINION: Putin Wants to Use Nuclear Weapons. How to Stop Him?

Putin is threatening Ukraine and the world with a nuclear strike. At the same time, he is preparing an excuse for such actions. What can stop the failed “emperor of the world”?

He is truly itching for such an opportunity. After all, the fate of the world was already in his hands. He himself considered his army to be invincible, pumping it with billions of oil and gas dollars. Putin considered his plan ideal. A massive attack on Ukraine, a three-day march of armored columns, which would be greeted with flowers by “Ukrainians freed from American captivity.” Later they would be renamed “Little Russians” and all mention of Ukraine would be deleted from Russian textbooks. The entirety of Ukraine would be occupied, and Ukrainian patriots would be executed to the music of the celebratory concert of the “liberators.” Everything would come together, like a puzzle.

I have no doubts that Putin planned more than just the seizure of Ukrainian assets: one of the most powerful agricultural sectors in the world, as well as its nuclear facilities and power plants. Putin also planned to restore his empire’s military potential by mobilizing Ukrainians into the Russian army. And through his resources, Putin also planned to strike Europe, which he hates, despises and fears at the same time. Yes, he is afraid of it. Afraid of the freedom, ideas, and values that threaten his empire. And in this model of the new world order, Russians would hold millions of Ukrainians at gunpoint, along with Dagestanis, Chechens, Buryats, and other peoples of today’s Russia, to serve as cannon fodder for a new world war.

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In fact, the mobilization into the Russian army of locals in the captured Ukrainian territories confirms exactly these intentions. The Russian dictator made his plans clear to the West when he effectively ordered NATO to demilitarize to the level and borders of 1997. Indeed, he has long been irritated by the “hegemony” of the Euro-Atlanticists.

Putin is not used to any resistance to his orders. In principle, Putin is not used to resistance. When his troops entered Ukraine, he was almost a living god, whom the Russians have canonized during his lifetime, like a living Führer during the rise of the Third Reich. The actions of this living god are not subject to discussion.

But Putin was wrong. He slipped on the very first point of his global plan. The Ukrainians turned his “awesome” army into an awful sight. The being who was a living god and nearly the emperor of all he surveyed, was turned into a loser, forced to wait before TV cameras by those whom he treated, before the attack on Ukraine, with contempt. As for the microbes he was previously terrified of, they were not worth his attention. Now the Russian dictator resembles a rat trapped in a bunker, who will never see the laurel wreath of great emperors conquering nation after nation. But he still does not understand this. He still thinks he can make the world bow down to him and kneel in fear of his nuclear weapons.

Yet despite the fact that Putin may desire to use nuclear weapons, he is afraid. The latest special information operation, voiced by his subordinates accusing Ukraine  of preparing to use a “dirty” atomic bomb, confirms this. Putin is threatening Ukraine and the world with a nuclear strike while simultaneously preparing an excuse for such actions.

So what can stop the “emperor of the world”? He has already lost a good part of his army (the most qualified and best-trained) and is now patching it up with men dragooned from the streets of Russian cities and primitive Iranian drones with moped engines. A demoralized and confused Putin will be stopped by the realization that his use of nuclear weapons in any form, including tactical nuclear missiles, will lead to the destruction of the Russian military and Russia itself.

By intimidating the world, what Putin really hopes for is to see fear in everyone’s eyes. This fear must be overcome. The nature of this fear probably dates back to World War II. Back then millions of Ukrainians laid down their lives, bringing the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition closer; and now Russian historians have rewritten history to suit the needs of Russian propaganda. In 2010, Putin said that Russia would have won World War II without Ukraine. Of course, this is rubbish – a hypothetical statement, the truth of which no one can verify. But even in these words one can detect the Russian dictator’s uncertainty . It indicates that the opinion he voices torments him – what would happen to Russia if there were no Ukraine?

Today, history is giving the civilized world a chance to stop an empire that has decided to enslave independent peoples by force of arms. Ukraine and the civilized world must protect not only their values; they must also protect their right to exist. They must show the Russian Führer that he will suffer a blow that will bring his regime to an end. The civilized world has all the means for doing this – diplomatic, informational and military. But it must let go of its fear – Russia has lost many wars, which it later rewrote as victories. Without Ukraine and its resources, Putin’s regime can never defeat civilization.

The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.