US Increases Intelligence, Surveillance in Response to Putin’s Nuclear Threats

According to several current and former U.S. officials, the U.S. and allied intelligence agencies are stepping up efforts to detect any Russian military actions that might signal that Vladimir Putin has ordered the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

The move is in response to threats by Putin to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

“We’re watching it more closely,” said a U.S. government inside source with access to intelligence on Moscow’s nuclear forces.

He underlined that the chilling warning was “not a bluff” and that it has raised red flags in Western capitals. There are worries that the Russian president could use nuclear weapons as his army continued to lose the war in Ukraine and suffer heavy casualties.

Washington will allocate more funds to use its air, space, and cyberspace functionality to track down any questionable Russian military communications or movements that might indicate Putin might carry out his threat.

In addition to regular rocket and missile launchers, the majority of warplanes at Russia’s disposal are equipped to carry nuclear weapons. Since there wouldn’t be any clear indicators, Putin and his commanding officers would be able to switch out conventional weapons for atomic bombs on aircraft without being spotted.

In a statement to the news outlet Politico, five current and former American officials, including a source in Joe Biden’s administration with knowledge of Russia’s nuclear arsenal, said the U.S. is increasingly monitoring any potential Russian movement.

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Western leaders have widely denounced Putin’s televised speech from last week, in which he said he would use nuclear weapons in Ukraine if he deemed it necessary.

The warning was deemed “quite concerning” by British Foreign Office Minister Gillian Keegan. She clarified that, despite this, the government would still support Kyiv.

“We’re still unwavering in our support for Ukraine,” she told British reporters,

Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser at the White House, expressed similar sentiments. He said Putin’s threat is “a matter that we have to take deadly seriously.”

Sullivan claimed the Biden administration had “communicated directly, privately at very high levels to the Kremlin that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia, that the United States and our allies will respond decisively, and we have been clear and specific about what that will entail.”