On Sunday, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin told his defense chiefs to put the country’s nuclear “deterrence forces” on “special alert.”
While addressing his defense chiefs, he also mentioned that it was because of “aggressive statements” and “unfriendly” steps by the west against Russia.
“Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members have made aggressive statements regarding our country,” the Russian president said in televised comments.
Earlier, Putin had warned that “whoever tries to hinder us”, would see consequences “you have not seen in your history.”
Therefore, the recent order was widely interpreted as raising the fear that the situation could boil over into nuclear warfare.
Furthermore, soon after this announcement made by Putin, a new set of sanctions was announced by the European Union against the Russian Federation.
Supporting and financing weapons for Ukraine, a complete ban on Russian planes for using European Union airspace as well as barring the state media outlets from EU territory, are the new set of sanctions along with already imposed sanctions by the west.
Though the current “special alert” status makes it easier to launch weapons, it does not mean the nation intends to use them for military purposes.
“This is a psychological ploy to try to increase his leverage, as he decides how far he wants to go in Ukraine,” the former US ambassador to NATO, Robert Hunter, told Al Jazeera.
He further elaborates by stating that according to him it’s a psychological tactic, and there is not severe fear of such a minacious escalation as “Russians would have just as much to lose, if not more.”