Putin threatens to go nuclear on ISIS?
Vladimir Putin
has warned that a new underwater missile system deployed by Russian
submarines in the war against ISIS in Syria could be equipped with
nuclear warheads.
The
Russian president said that although using nuclear weapons was a
possibility, he hoped that they would 'never be needed' in the fight
against terrorism.
His warning came as Russia stepped
up its barrage on Syrian rebels with its first submarine-launched
cruise missile strikes combined with bombing raids from the air.
Speaking on
Russian state television today, Putin claimed his military had struck
'300 targets of different kinds' in the past three days and helped
Syrian special forces recover the black box of a Russian warplane downed
by Turkey last month.
President
Putin said the cruise missiles, launched from the submarine in the
Caspian Sea, could be equipped with nuclear warheads but said he hoped
they would 'never be needed in the fight against terrorism'.
'With regard
to strikes from a submarine: we certainly need to analyse everything
that is happening on the battlefield, how the weapons work. Both
the [Kalibr] missiles and the Kh-101 rockets are generally showing very
good results. We now see that these are new, modern and highly
effective high-precision weapons that can be equipped either with
conventional or special nuclear warheads.'
'Naturally,
we do not need that in fighting terrorists, and I hope we will never
need it. But overall, this speaks to our significant progress in terms
of improving weaponry and equipment being supplied to the Russian army
and navy.'
Source: Mail Online
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