Russian TV Guest Floats Russian Nuclear Strike on Own Kursk

A guest on Russian state TV has floated the idea of a nuclear strike on Russia's Kursk region amid a cross-border raid by Ukraine that has so far seen its forces occupy at least 11 settlements since Tuesday.

The remarks were made by propagandist Sergey Mardan on the show Solovyov Live. A portion of the broadcast was posted to social media by Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine's Interior Ministry.

"Russian propagandist Mardan threatens a tactical nuclear strike on AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] soldiers in Kursk region," wrote Gerashchenko. "That's because Kursk region is 'an indigenous historical Russian core', he explains. Apparently different regions of Russia have different value for him."

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Thousands of Kursk residents have been evacuated and a state of emergency has been declared in the area that borders Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region. Ukraine on Tuesday deployed troops and armored vehicles into Kursk, and Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Defense Ministry has since sought to downplay the scale of Ukrainian advances in the region.

"Those warheads that could possibly be attached to some Russian missiles are capable of doing a little bit more damage," said Mardan on state TV.

He added that he believes the world would be "upset" if Russia uses nuclear weapons in response to the Kursk offensive, but that the public would eventually understand that it was a logical decision.

"And as for all the opinions that have been discussed over the last two years about the impossibility of a nuclear strike by Russia, what could be the consequences, what could be the reaction of the West and the global South in particular... well, in this situation, I am personally absolutely convinced that the reaction will be... Well, everyone will be upset, of course, a little bit. But in general they will say: OK. It's logical," Mardan said.

"What did you expect? The fighting is not just on Russian territory. Kursk region is such a Russia that... I don't even know what to compare it to; such an indigenous historical core, the Russian core. And there's fighting going on there right now," Mardan said.

"Therefore, a scenario in which a strike is launched against AFU military facilities with the use of nuclear warheads ceases to be theoretical, ceases to be unlikely."

Since launching an incursion on Tuesday, Ukrainian forces are reported to have taken control of at least 11 settlements, and the Sudzha gas-measuring facility, which facilitates the flow of Russian gas to Europe.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based independent think tank, said in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine on Wednesday that geolocated imagery shows that Kyiv's forces captured over 40 Russian prisoners of war at the Sudzha checkpoint. The U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Russia service shared satellite photos that show heavy damage to buildings at the Sudzha checkpoint.

Putin broke his silence on Wednesday on the armored assaults, calling the operation a "large-scale provocation."

"We have to start with the events in the Kursk region," Putin said at an emergency meeting of his Security Council. "As you know, the Kyiv regime has carried out another large-scale provocation, firing indiscriminately with various types of weapons, including missiles, at civilian buildings, residential buildings, and ambulances."

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, told reporters on Wednesday that Washington was "going to reach out to the Ukrainian military to learn more about their objectives."

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