Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday that “hundreds of missiles” would be launched in response to aggression against Russia.
“I assure you, after the early warning system receives a signal of a missile attack, hundreds of our missiles are in the air. It is impossible to stop them,” Putin warned at a summit in Kyrgyzstan according to Fox News.
“There will be nothing left of the enemy, because it is impossible to intercept a hundred missiles. This, of course, is a deterrent — a serious deterrent,” Putin added.
WATCH: #BNNRussia Reports
Putin: “From our side, hundreds of our missiles will be in the air.”
“It is impossible to stop them.”
“But these are still retaliatory missiles.” “What does this mean?” pic.twitter.com/JCXhWRV5pw
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) December 9, 2022
His comments come after three separate drone attacks, two of which hit Russia’s Engels airbase hundreds of miles within Russian territory, were carried out this week, Fox News reported. Although Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken implied Kyiv was behind the attacks Tuesday.
“We have neither encouraged nor enabled the Ukrainians to strike inside of Russia. But the important thing is to understand what Ukrainians are living through every day with the ongoing Russian aggression against their country,” Blinken stated according to Fox News.
Since Engels airbase houses “strategic assets” such as nuclear-capable bombers, current Russian doctrine states Russia can respond to the threat with nuclear strikes, explained Rebekah Koffler, former Defense Intelligence Agency intelligence officer for Russian Doctrine & Strategy per Fox News.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin accused Russia of engaging in “deeply irresponsible nuclear saber-rattling” as it continues its “cruel and unprovoked” war in Ukraine, according to Reuters. (RELATED: ‘Armageddon’: Biden Compares Nuclear Tensions With Putin To Cuban Missile Crisis)
Koffler accused both sides of playing a proverbial game of chicken. “There’s no question that Russia and the U.S. are climbing an escalatory ladder in Ukraine, which may end up in Putin’s use of nuclear weapons. Neither side wants to end up in a direct conflict, but they are climbing this ladder unintentionally due to the misunderstanding of each other’s posture. Both sides are betting that the other one will blink first,” she told Fox News.
NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg warned against escalating the “terrible war” in Ukraine. In an interview Friday , he stated that it could become a “full-fledged war” between NATO and Russia and emphasized that things could go “horribly wrong.”