Russian TV Host Says 'Demonstration' Nuclear Blast Needed to Warn Europe

Moscow should show that it is serious about stopping Ukraine from using Western-supplied weapons to strike at Russian territory by conducting a demonstration nuclear explosion, a prominent Russian television presenter has said.

Dmitry Suslov, who hosts the program Bolshaya Igra (Big Game) on Russia's First Channel, weighed in on the debate surrounding whether Kyiv should be allowed to use American-supplied weapons to hit targets within Russia. Newsweek has emailed the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.

The U.S. has stipulated Ukraine not use long-range missile systems such as ATACAMS (Army Tactical Missile System) on Russian territory for fear of escalation. However, Kyiv has said that this leaves it vulnerable, especially in light of a Russian offensive launched on May 10 in the Kharkiv region.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is among world figures who have said that Ukraine should be able to use the weapons, with others backing the move, including lawmakers in Lithuanian, Germany and the U.S. itself.

Meanwhile, Cezary Tomczyk, Poland's deputy defense secretary, told Polish radio that Warsaw has given Ukraine the green light to use its weapons to strike targets inside Russia and "does not apply any restrictions."

Suslov, a member of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy (SVOP), considered Russia's leading foreign-policy think tank, wrote an op-ed for Russian publication Profile. It said that, to show Russia was serious about its readiness to escalate, "it is worth thinking about conducting a demonstration (that is, not combat) nuclear explosion."

In his published piece, Suslov listed those in the Western foreign-policy establishment supporting Ukraine using their weapons within Russia, including Stoltenberg, and reportedly U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In Suslov's view, such a move would "bring the conflict to a fundamentally different level," erasing one of the main "red lines" that have existed since the start of the war, and meaning "the direct entry of the United States and NATO into the war against Russia."

As such, Moscow should conduct exercises not only on the use of tactical nuclear weapons, but also on the use of strategic nuclear forces, said Suslov. He is also a deputy director at Moscow's Higher School of Economics (HSE).

"The political and psychological effect of a mushroom cloud shown live on all global TV channels would I hope focus the minds of Western politicians back to what was the only thing that prevented wars between the great powers after 1945 which they have lost—the fear of nuclear war," said Suslov.

Since the start of Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has sent mixed messages about nuclear weapons. These have ranged from outright denial that nonconventional weapons would be used, to Kremlin propagandists routinely blustering about Moscow's ability to launch missiles into those Western countries that back Kyiv.

In his annual state-of-the-nation address in Moscow on February 29, Putin said that his "strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness," while Russia's military has begun drills this month involving tactical nuclear weapons.

Another prominent figure in the SVOP, Sergei Karaganov, wrote an article for state agency RIA Novosti titled, "There is no choice: Russia will have to launch a nuclear strike on Europe." However, it prompted a backlash from other SVOP members, who published a statement condemning rhetoric pushed in Russia about nuclear weapons as "the height of irresponsibility."

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