In a recent state television broadcast, Russian propagandist Sergey Mardan, a known associate of President Vladimir Putin, deliberated on the possibility of nuclear strikes on Ukraine amidst the ongoing conflict.
Mardan's comments were in response to a poll revealing that one-third of Russians would not object to a nuclear attack on Ukraine.
As reported by Newsweek, these discussions are taking place against the backdrop of Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Ryabkov, reiterating that the Ukrainian conflict could lead Moscow to revise its nuclear doctrine. The current doctrine permits the use of nuclear weapons only if Russia perceives a threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
President Putin has previously stated that he does not require nuclear weapons to accomplish his objectives in Ukraine, a country he invaded in February 2022. However, he has also cautioned that Ukraine's use of longer-range weapons supplied by the U.S. and other Western nations could trigger a nuclear escalation.
Julia Davis, the founder of the Russia Media Monitor watchdog, posted a clip of Mardan's comments on X, formerly known as Twitter. Davis noted that Mardan disagreed with the poll results, not out of humanitarian concerns, but due to his "genocidal, imperial belief that Ukraine does not exist and is part of Russia."
In the video, Mardan expressed his surprise at the high number of Russians who would not oppose a nuclear strike, while also acknowledging the widespread fear of nuclear war. "For the sake of fairness, it should be said that en masse Russian people haven't lost their sanity and I believe they won't lose it," Mardan stated, according to the Russian Media Monitor's translation.
Mardan further elaborated on the thought process of the respondents, stating, "People think before giving their answer. People think about the meaning of a question they are being asked. Of course, there is also a built-up collective inoculation, the fear of nuclear war in any shape or form."
Mardan admitted to understanding the reasoning behind the support for a nuclear strike, stating, "I understand the reasoning of these people very well, including those on the internet, and in their comments they send me, where they say, 'Yes of course, why should we sacrifice our guys, when we can simply blow up a nuclear bomb?'"
However, he questioned the specifics of such an attack, asking, "But then a question arises: whom should we nuke, specifically? Where should we carry out a massive nuclear strike?"
Mardan argued against bombing Ukraine, asserting that it "is a part of Russia," and questioned whether people would support nuclear strikes on Russian cities if violence erupted there. He stated, "The territory of Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv Chernihiv, all of it is Russia."
In a rhetorical flourish, Mardan asked, "In a fit of delirium, would you propose that if tomorrow there is unrest, if extremists do something crazy in Yaroslavl or Kostroma, you wouldn't propose using tactical nukes against Yaroslavl or Kostroma, right? That's right! But what about this? This is different. No, my dears, this is not different."
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