Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov urged Moscow on Saturday to consider deploying low-yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine after Russian troops withdrew from the city of Lyman.
In a post shared on Telegram, Kadyrov said he believes “more drastic steps need to be taken, ranging from declaring martial law in border areas and using low-yield nuclear weapons.” .
Kadyrov is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who appointed him to rule rebellious Chechnya in 2007.
The comment comes after Russia lost its eastern stronghold of Lyman in a major offensive from Ukraine.
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Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, including low-yield tactical nuclear weapons designed for use against hostile forces.
Other Putin allies, including former President Dmitry Medvedev, have floated the idea that Russia might need to use nuclear weapons, but Kadyrov’s proposal was the most obvious.
Putin said last week he was not bluffing when he vowed to use “all available means” to defend Russia’s “territorial integrity.” The United States has said it would be firm against any use of nuclear weapons and has threatened “catastrophic consequences” if Russia deploys them.
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Kadyrov is a vocal supporter of the war against Ukraine, and the Chechen army forms part of the vanguard of Russian forces in the region.
The Chechen leader said in his post that the commander of the Russian forces fighting in Lyman, Colonel Alexander Lapin, was “mediocre”. Kadyrov suggested that the commander should be demoted to private and his decorations stripped.
“Due to the lack of basic military supplies, today we have abandoned several settlements and large territories,” Kadyrov said.
Kadyrov said he warned Russia’s Chief of General Staff Gerasimov about a possible defeat at Lyman two weeks ago, but Gerasimov dismissed the idea.
Reuters contributed to this report.