{"id":110562,"date":"2022-03-16T07:00:01","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=110562"},"modified":"2022-03-16T11:57:27","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T15:57:27","slug":"w-post-why-putins-nuclear-threat-could-be-more-than-bluster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=110562","title":{"rendered":"(W Post) Anthony Faiola–Why Putin\u2019s nuclear threat could be more than bluster"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The scariest site on the Internet isn\u2019t lurking on the dark web, but hiding in plain sight at <\/b>nuclearsecrecy.com<\/b><\/a>. \u201cNukemap\u201d lets you pick the size of a nuclear bomb, plunk it anywhere in the world and see the extent of the possible destruction. Drop a pin near Kyiv and you\u2019ll see the plausibility of the Russian invasion of Ukraine going nuclear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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Not because of the vast devastation of such a device \u2014 but because of just how limited the damage could be in certain scenarios.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The advent of tactical nuclear weapons \u2014 a term generally applied to lower-yield devices designed for battlefield use, which can have a fraction of the strength of the Hiroshima bomb \u2014 reduced their lethality, limiting the extent of absolute destruction and deadly radiation fields. That\u2019s also made their use less unthinkable, raising the specter that the Russians could opt to use a smaller device without leveling an entire city. Detonate a one kiloton weapon on one side of Kyiv\u2019s Zhuliany airport, for instance, and Russian President Vladimir Putin sends a next-level message<\/a> with a fireball, shock waves and deadly radiation. But the blast radius wouldn\u2019t reach the end of the runway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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My thoughts in @washingtonpost<\/a> w\/ @Anthony_Faiola<\/a> \u201cI find it hard to imagine Putin accepting a military defeat without him trying to use nuclear weapons first,\u201d Kroenig said. \u201cI think he sees limited nuclear use as more attractive than defeat.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/iLc4BKR7tl<\/a><\/p>\n

— Matthew Kroenig (@MatthewKroenig) March 15, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n