Leading Russian politician threatens nuclear bomb attack on Strasbourg after vote in European Parliament – ​​Euractiv

A close ally of President Vladimir Putin warned Western governments on Thursday (September 19) that nuclear war would ensue if they gave Ukraine the green light to attack targets deep inside Russia with long-range Western weapons.

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house and a member of Putin's Security Council, was responding to a vote in the European Parliament calling on EU countries to give Kiev such consent.

The resolution, adopted on Thursday by 425 votes to 131, with 63 abstentions, said that without lifting the current restrictions, Ukraine would not be able to fully exercise its right to self-defence and would continue to face attacks on its population and infrastructure.

“The demands of the European Parliament will lead to a world war with nuclear weapons,” Volodin wrote on Telegram.

He said Europeans should be aware that Russia's RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, known in the West as Satan II, would take just 3 minutes and 20 seconds to hit Strasbourg, the meeting place of the European Parliament.

His message was titled “For those who didn't get it the first time” – an apparent reference to a warning from Putin last week that the West would fight Russia directly if it allowed Ukraine to fire long-range missiles at Russian territory.

The Ukraine war has triggered the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. At that time, the two Cold War superpowers came closest to a targeted nuclear war.

In a non-binding resolution adopted on Thursday, the European Parliament called on EU countries to “immediately lift restrictions on the use of Western weapons systems supplied to Ukraine against legitimate military targets on Russian territory.”

The European Parliament stresses that insufficient ammunition deliveries and restrictions on their use risk nullifying the impact of efforts made so far. MEPs reiterate their call on member states to fulfil their March 2023 commitment to deliver one million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine and to speed up the delivery of weapons, air defence systems and ammunition, including TAURUS missiles.

Volodin wrote: “If something like this happens, Russia will react harshly, using more powerful weapons. No one should have any illusions about this.” He said Moscow had the impression that the West had forgotten the enormous sacrifices made by the Soviet Union in World War II.

Outgoing NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told the Times this week that the Kremlin chief had previously drawn “many red lines” but did not escalate the conflict with the West when they were crossed. Putin's spokesman said his comment was dangerous and provocative.

(Edited by Georgi Gotev)

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