Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed his thoughts on using nuclear weapons against Ukraine as he approaches his 25th year in power.
The dictator said Moscow has the strength and the means to bring the brutal conflict to a ‘logical conclusion,’ adding that the need to use nuclear weapons has not arisen, and he hopes it will not.
Putin’s comments were aired on Sunday in a film by Russian state television about his quarter of a century as leader.
Responding to a question about Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory, he said: ‘There has been no need to use those (nuclear) weapons … and I hope they will not be required.’
‘We have enough strength and means to bring what was started in 2022 to a logical conclusion with the outcome Russia requires,’ he added.
Putin signed a revamped version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine in November, spelling out the circumstances that would allow him to use the world’s largest atomic arsenal.
The document gave that option in response even to a conventional attack backed by a nuclear power.
In the film, Putin also said Russia did not launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine – what he called a ‘special military operation’ – in 2014, when it illegally annexed Crimea, because it was ‘practically unrealistic’.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed his thoughts on using nuclear weapons against Ukraine as he approaches his 25th year in power. Putin’s comments aired on Sunday in a film by Russian state television about his quarter of a century as leader
The dictator said that Moscow has the strength and the means to bring the brutal conflict to a ‘logical conclusion’, adding that the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine has not arisen and he hopes it will not. Pictured: Russia testing its new hypersonic 208-ton 15,880 ‘Satan-2’ intercontinental ballistic missile
Responding to a question about Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory, he said: ‘There has been no need to use those (nuclear) weapons … and I hope they will not be required.’ Pictured: The Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile
Pictured: Russia’s only intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test site explodes during Sarmat missile maintenance
‘We have enough strength and means to bring what was started in 2022 to a logical conclusion with the outcome Russia requires,’ he added. Pictured: Rescuers extinguishing a fire after drone attack in Kyiv on May 4
Russia and Ukraine are at odds over competing ceasefire proposals. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a ceasefire is possible ‘even from today’ if Moscow is serious about ending the war. Pictured: People gather at the site of a Russian drone strike on the Obolonskyi district on May 4
‘The country was not ready for such a frontal confrontation with the entire collective West,’ he said.
He also claimed that Russia ‘sincerely sought to solve the problem of Donbas by peaceful means’. Putin said reconciliation with Ukraine is ‘inevitable’.
Russia and Ukraine are at odds over competing ceasefire proposals.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a ceasefire is possible ‘even from today’ if Moscow is serious about ending the war.
Speaking on Sunday at a joint news conference with Czech President Petr Pavel, Zelensky noted that Russia has ignored a US proposal for a full ceasefire for 54 days and thanked the Czech Republic for backing Ukraine’s call for a 30-day ceasefire.
‘Putin is very eager to show off his tanks at the (Victory Day) parade,’ Zelensky said, ‘but he should think about ending his war.’
Zelensky again expressed deep scepticism over Russia’s proposal of a 72-hour ceasefire in Ukraine to mark Victory Day in the Second World War, saying Moscow continues to launch hundreds of assaults despite publicly signalling interest in a partial truce.
‘Even during Easter, despite promises – including to the United States – Russia carried out more than a hundred assaults,’ Zelensky said, referring to Russian attacks during the 30-hour Easter ceasefire unilaterally declared by Putin.
Putin signed a revamped version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine in November, spelling out the circumstances that would allow him to use the world’s largest atomic arsenal. Pictured: Young members of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade take part in a tactical field training exercise
Zelensky has repeatedly called for a more substantial 30-day pause in hostilities, as the US had initially proposed
Speaking on Sunday at a joint news conference with Czech President Petr Pavel, Zelensky noted that Russia has ignored a US proposal for a full ceasefire for 54 days and thanked the Czech Republic for backing Ukraine’s call for a 30-day ceasefire. Pictured: A boy, walking with his father past the site of a Russian drone strike in Kyiv on May 4
Zelensky has repeatedly called for a more substantial 30-day pause in hostilities, as the US had initially proposed.
The Kremlin said the Victory Day truce, ordered on ‘humanitarian grounds’, will run from the start of May 8 and run until the end of May 10 to mark Moscow’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 – Russia’s biggest secular holiday.
Zelensky thanked Pavel for his country’s military support and said Ukraine hopes to receive 1.8 million artillery shells in 2025 as part of a Czech-led initiative to supply military aid to Kyiv.
The initiative, launched in 2024 and supported by Nato allies, supplied Ukraine with 1.5 million artillery rounds last year.
Zelensky also said he had discussed with Pavel ‘the next steps in the development of our aviation coalition’, namely the creation of an F-16 training school. He said that such a base could not be opened in Ukraine because of Russian attacks.
A Russian drone attack overnight on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, wounded 11 people, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Sunday. Two children were among the wounded.
Zelensky thanked Pavel for his country’s military support and said Ukraine hopes to receive 1.8 million artillery shells in 2025 as part of a Czech-led initiative to supply military aid to Kyiv. Pictured: Fire breaks out after Russia conduct shelling on residential buildings in Druzhkivka city of Donetsk Oblast on May 3
Zelensky also said he had discussed with Pavel ‘the next steps in the development of our aviation coalition’, namely the creation of an F-16 training school. He said that such a base could not be opened in Ukraine because of Russian attacks. Pictured: A young member of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade takes part in a tactical training exercise
A Russian drone attack overnight on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, wounded 11 people, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Sunday. Pictured: A woman talks on the phone while standing at the entrance to the Dream Town shopping mall in the Obolonskyi district damaged by a Russian drone strike on May 4
Meanwhile, two people were killed by Russian guided bombs on Sunday, one each in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions, local officials said.
Elsewhere, 11 people were wounded in a Russian drone attack overnight on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Sunday.
Two children were among the wounded.
Russia fired a total of 165 exploding drones and decoys overnight, Ukraine’s air force said.
Of those, 69 were intercepted and 80 were lost, having probably been electronically jammed. Russia also launched two ballistic missiles.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 13 Ukrainian drones overnight.
It comes after last month Putin launched a large scale drone attack on Kyiv that has killed at least nine people and injured another 70, including six children, Ukrainian officials say.
Russia’s overnight combined missile and drone attack triggered fires, smashed buildings and buried residents under rubble in the Ukrainian capital.
‘There has been destruction. The search is continuing for people under rubble,’ the State Emergency Service wrote on the Telegram messaging app shortly after the attack on April 23.
The attacks came at a critical moment in the war, as both Kyiv and Moscow are under pressure from the United States to show progress towards a peace deal.