Russian official Konstantin Sivkov suggested during a recent appearance on state-run media that the country greatly expand its military arsenal and deploy a larger number of "heavy duty" nuclear weapons.
The specter of Russia launching nuclear strikes has loomed large for the majority of its recent armed conflict with Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as numerous other Kremlin officials and allies, have frequently hinted at such a possibility since the start of the invasion, typically while attempting to convey strength. In turn, Western leaders have strongly and consistently urged Russia not to deploy nuclear weapons, warning that such actions could bring about unprecedented consequences.
On Friday night, Russian Media Monitor, a watchdog group that translates and reports on Russian state-run news programs, shared a clip of Sivkov, a retired colonel and now the deputy president of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, calling for the country to strengthen its nuclear arsenal significantly. He also went so far as to suggest "blowing up the North Pole if that's what it takes to teach the West a lesson," as Julia Davis, creator of the Russian Media Monitor, noted on Twitter.
"Personally, I am in favor of us starting an extensive, massive development of strategic nuclear weapons," Sivkov said. "These weapons will provide an all-around protection from practically any attacks against our country...Also, we should move on to non-traditional ways of using nuclear weapons, including heavy duty nuclear warheads capable of causing serious geophysical repercussions."
Sivkov was cagey when pressed about whether or not he was suggesting that Russia "use" these nuclear weapons, saying rather that Russia should, somehow, deploy them in such a manner that makes their existence known.
"There can be different ways," he continued. "If things reach a particularly acute state, we could demonstrate it at the North Pole. Blow it up, like we did with our 58-megaton one on Novaya Zemlya, everything was normal, it went well. It had a good educational impact."
Meanwhile in Russia: appearing on state TV, retired Colonel Konstantin Sivkov, Deputy President of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, suggested blowing up the North Pole if that's what it takes to teach the West a lesson. https://t.co/5t2aGrybNZ
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) July 22, 2023
Speaking to Newsweek on Saturday, Daniel Davis, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, said that while Sivkov has a high level of experience, he cannot speak for a plurality of the Russian people or for what Putin might be thinking.
"Sivkov is a highly experienced and influential speaker/writer in Russia, and represents the hardliner, nationalistic element in Russia," Davis wrote. "He does not, however, represent a large percentage of the Russian population and even less does he know the mind of the only man in Russia who matters on such nuclear matters - Vladimir Putin. Nevertheless, with the comments Putin has made this year on nuclear weapons use, and that of former president Dmitry Medvedev, there is a growing willingness on the part of Russians to be free with talk of using nuclear weapons. On the U.S. side, too, there is a growing ease with talking about nukes, as former Gen. Ben Hodges, for example, who routinely pushes off all Russian talk on nukes as bluster to be ignored."
He continued: "The net-net is that the easier it is to talk about using nuclear weapons, the lower is the threshold to their eventual use. It should scare the hell out of everyone, on both sides of the equation, as to any potential of using a nuclear arsenal, whether the so-called 'tactical' nukes or even a test near the North Pole, as Sivkov suggested here. The Ukraine war has, to date, been a terrible tragedy. If it ever escalates to nuclear usage, it could be catastrophic for mankind. That is how high the stakes truly are."
Recently, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled Russian businessman and opposition activist, said that Putin would not deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, as doing so would massively impede his ability to continue the fight there.
"Putin is nearing a limit which it is not beneficial to go beyond," Khodorkovsky said in a video shared on Twitter last month. "What does it mean to use nuclear weapons there, in Ukraine? He immediately loses the possibility of parallel imports. Without parallel imports, his ability to make ammunition ends within a few months."
"Parallel imports" refers to Russia's exploitation of import loopholes to continue receiving Western materials despite heavy sanctions from Western countries themselves.
Updated 07/22/2023, 5:55 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from Davis.
