Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the Kremlin has sought to play the nuclear card – both to frighten Ukraine and to deter the West from assisting. Kyiv and its partners cannot ignore Moscow’s nuclear threats, but they should understand that the Russian leadership does not want a nuclear war. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to cast a nuclear shadow over Russia’s full-scale invasion from the beginning. Three days after Russian troops crossed Ukraine’s borders in

At the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia is moving to undo its ratification of the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) that prohibits all nuclear weapons tests. This represents another step in the Kremlin’s effort to try to punish the United States and the West for their support of Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. It will achieve little besides demonstrating Putin’s growing pique and frustration at the failure of the Russian military to

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. In a March 25 interview, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus for use by the Belarusian military. He compared this to U.S. "nuclear-sharing" with its NATO allies. While Belarusian actions foreshadowed such a step, Putin's announcement still attracted considerable attention. Ukrainian, Polish