On Thursday, a senior member of a prominent Russian think tank proposed that Moscow consider a "demonstrative" nuclear explosion. The aim of this proposal is to intimidate Western nations and discourage them from allowing Ukraine to deploy its weapons against Russian targets.

The proposal was put forward by Dmitry Suslov, a member of the Moscow-based Council for Foreign and Defence Policy. This came just a day after President Vladimir Putin cautioned the West, stating that NATO's European members were risking a dangerous escalation by considering allowing Kyiv to employ Western weaponry for strikes deep within Russia. Putin warned that such actions could potentially ignite a global conflict.

Ukraine's leadership argues that it requires the capability to target Russian military forces and installations within Russia using long-range Western missiles to defend itself effectively and thwart potential air, missile, and drone attacks. This perspective has garnered some backing from certain Western nations, although it has not yet gained traction in Washington.

Russia, which possesses the world's largest nuclear arsenal, has warned it would view such a step as a grave escalation that would pull NATO and the countries concerned into a direct conflict with Moscow, increasing the risk of nuclear war.

Suslov, a member of the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, a think tank endorsed by Putin, and acknowledged for its influence on policy decisions, stressed that Russia must take action to deter the West from crossing a critical boundary.

"To confirm the seriousness of Russia's intentions and to convince our opponents of Moscow's readiness to escalate, it is worth considering a demonstrative (i.e. non-combat) nuclear explosion," Suslov wrote in business magazine Profil.

"The political and psychological effect of a nuclear mushroom cloud, which will be shown live on all TV channels around the world, will hopefully remind Western politicians of the one thing that has prevented wars between the great powers since 1945 and that they have now largely lost - fear of nuclear war."

Suslov joins the ranks of Russian security experts and lawmakers advocating for Moscow to consider conducting a nuclear test as a means of intimidation amidst the conflict in Ukraine. This stance has raised concerns among Western security analysts, who fear that Russia may be moving closer to such a provocative action.

Such a move, if it did happen, could usher in a new era of big power nuclear testing.

Suslov proposed that Russia should additionally commence strategic nuclear drills and issue warnings to any nation whose armaments are utilised by Kyiv in attacks against Russia, asserting Moscow's prerogative to target that country's assets globally. Furthermore, he suggested cautioning that Russia might resort to nuclear weapons if the said nation retaliates with conventional means.

In November, Putin approved a law withdrawing Russia's ratification of the global treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons tests. He framed this action as aligning Russia with the United States, which signed but never ratified the treaty. Russian diplomats clarified that Russia, having refrained from nuclear testing since the Soviet era, would not resume such tests unless prompted by Washington's actions.

The Soviet Union last tested in 1990 and the United States in 1992. Only North Korea has conducted a test involving a nuclear explosion this century.

Russia warned Britain this month that it could strike British military installations and equipment both inside Ukraine and elsewhere if British weapons were used by Ukraine - with London's blessing - to strike Russian territory.

The warning was issued in response to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron's statement affirming Kyiv's entitlement to employ weapons supplied by the UK to target locations within Russia.

Image source: Reuters