Putin will escalate his nuclear threats if Ukraine continues to beat back his military: Pentagon report

On Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that a new Pentagon assessment warns Vladimir Putin is likely to escalate his use of nuclear threats against the West if he continues to face opposition in Ukraine to his military objectives.

"'Protracted occupation of parts of Ukrainian territory threatens to sap Russian military manpower and reduce their modernized weapons arsenal, while consequent economic sanctions will probably throw Russia into prolonged economic depression and diplomatic isolation," wrote the report's author Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The report went on to state that Ukrainian defiance combined with Western sanctions would reduce Russia's "ability to produce modern precision-guided munitions."

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This does not mean all is well, however, because Berrier assesses that "as this war and its consequences slowly weaken Russian conventional strength, Russia likely will increasingly rely on its nuclear deterrent to signal the West and project strength to its internal and external audiences."

In late February, Putin already ordered his nuclear weapons to be put on high alert — which doesn't necessarily mean he has any intention of actually conducting a nuclear strike, but that his military is on the highest level of standby to carry out such an order.

The threat has already triggered nervousness and preparation in nearby countries, with some European countries seeing a surge in demand for iodine tablets — a treatment used to push radioactive material out of the thyroid gland in the event of radiation exposure.

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