A former adviser to Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned that "millions of innocent people would perish" in a nuclear war, as Russia again cautioned NATO about a "very short" nuclear conflict.
Sergei Karaganov, dubbed "Professor Doomsday," said Russia is prepared to use nuclear weapons if the West deploys troops to Ukraine or threatens the Kremlin's Baltic Sea outpost of Kaliningrad or other Russian territory.
Russia's nuclear warning
Karaganov stated: "I hope it does not come to that, but Russia would be forced to launch a nuclear strike if NATO countries deployed troops to Ukrainian territory or if there were a direct threat to Russian territory."
He added: "Fortunately, both the foreign minister [Sergei Lavrov] and the president [Vladimir Putin] himself have stated that if the situation escalates - for instance, if NATO were to act directly on our soil, specifically in Kaliningrad - the war would be short."
With a chilling smile, he said: "It is absolutely clear that such a war would be nuclear."
'Millions of innocent people would perish'
Karaganov claimed: "I do not want that, and I am actively working to prevent such a scenario." Yet he boasted: "A nuclear war in Europe could easily be won. But it would inflict terrible moral damage on us, and millions of innocent people would perish." The deaths, he implied, would be in Europe.
He did not mention the prospect of a reprisal strike by NATO. When an interviewer reminded him he had earlier proposed "launching a pre-emptive nuclear strike," Karaganov replied: "It's not too late. It's never too late."
Background of the adviser
He added: "I hope things won't come to that, but I am very pleased that both the Russian president and the foreign minister have started saying that if a war were to break out, it would be very short. And that means exactly what I was saying."
Karaganov was an adviser to the Kremlin for 12 years and is the academic supervisor of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at Moscow's Higher School of Economics (HSE), and of its Institute for Global Military Economics and Strategy. He is also chairman of the editorial board of Russia in Global Affairs.
