Is Putin bluffing about nukes?

The notion that 300,000 reservists and technical specialists of various sorts can be turned into a useful fighting force in a couple of weeks, or even a couple of months, is bizarre.

The Russian generals might support one nuke, especially if President Vladimir Putin could persuade them that it was a reasonably safe diplomatic ploy aimed at forcing the Ukrainians or even NATO to the negotiating table, writes Gwynne Dyer.Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Opinion

BY GWYNNE DYER

September 26, 2022

LONDON, U.K.—Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desperation was plain in the emergency measures he declared last week: immediate mobilization of at least 300,000 more troops, the sudden decision to use fake referendums to turn all the occupied parts of Ukraine into Russian territory, and threats...

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