In the twilight of 2022, the United States commenced a meticulous readiness for a potential nuclear onslaught by Russia on Ukraine – an event unseen since the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki nearly eight decades ago.
The Biden administration harbored grave concerns over the looming specter of Russia unleashing a tactical or battlefield nuclear strike, as per a report from CNN, citing sources within the administration.
It was not a solitary cue but a particular combination of unfolding events, analytical insights, and notably, extraordinarily sensitive intelligence inputs that underpinned the administration’s disquieting evaluation.
As the summer of 2022 waned, Ukrainian troops surged towards the Russian-held bastion of Kherson, menacing the occupation forces. The imminent prospect of Kherson slipping away was envisaged as a critical juncture that might compel Russia to entertain the dire option of nuclear armament, considering the apocalyptic stakes.
During the late-summer to autumn transition of 2022, the National Security Council meticulously crafted contingency plans aimed at discerning unmistakable cues of an impending nuclear assault or responding to an actualized strike.
Concurrently, Russia’s propaganda machinery spun a deceptive yarn around a purported Ukrainian dirty bomb, sowing seeds of apprehension among American officials that this fabrication could furnish the pretext for a Russian nuclear attack, as revealed by CNN.
Come October 2022, Russia’s Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, engaged in a succession of telephonic dialogues with defense authorities from the U.S., U.K., France, and Turkey, articulating the Kremlin’s trepidation regarding probable provocations by Kyiv involving the deployment of a dirty bomb.
Nevertheless, American and other Western officials categorically rebuffed the Russian alerts, brushing aside the legitimacy of their forewarnings.