The Times: Putin orders nuclear military train to Ukraine

President Putin is set to demonstrate his willingness to use weapons of mass destruction with a nuclear test on Ukraine’s borders, Nato is believed to have warned its members.

The Kremlin has been signalling its readiness for a significant escalation as Russia loses ground on the battlefield. Fears over Putin’s earlier hints that he might resort to such tactics heightened on October 2, with claims that a train operated by the secretive nuclear division was destined for Ukraine, The Times reported on October 3.

Konrad Muzyka, a Poland-based defence analyst, said the train, spotted in central Russia, was linked to the 12th main directorate of the Russian ministry of defence and that it was “responsible for nuclear munitions, their storage, maintenance, transport, and issuance to units”.

International analysts suggest, however, that a more likely demonstration of Putin’s readiness to use nuclear weapons could come in the Black Sea. A senior defence source said that he faced a significant risk if he chose to deploy a nuclear weapon in the battlefield, as it could go wrong. “They could misfire and accidentally hit a Russian city close to the Ukrainian border such as Belgorod,” the source said. “Then he would have to escalate.”

Sources said Nato had sent an intelligence report to its members and allies alerting them to the fact that Russia is expected to test its nuclear-capable torpedo drone Poseidon, possibly in the Black Sea, which it controls. As officials in Washington draw up possible scenarios for a response, Nato is thought to have reported that the nuclear submarine K-329 Belgorod is headed to the Arctic, having become operational in July.

The Poseidon torpedo, dubbed the “weapon of the apocalypse”, can be launched from the submarine. According to La Repubblica newspaper, it is about to be tested in the area of the Kara Sea, north of the Russian mainland. The Poseidon operates autonomously and is about 24m (78ft) long, with a range of at least 10,000km (6,200 miles).

Russia acknowledged today that Ukrainian forces had broken through its defences in the southern Kherson region. Igor Konashenkov, a defence ministry spokesman, told reporters that the Ukrainians had seized territory thanks to “superior tank units” and had “penetrated into the depths of our defence”.

Professor Andrew Futter, a nuclear weapons expert at the University of Leicester, said the nuclear submarine could perform various tactical functions and was far more than simply a nuclear delivery platform. He suggested that, as in the case of the train, Russia was trying to send a signal to the West that it should stop meddling in the conflict or risk further escalation.

James Rogers, director of research at the Council on Geostrategy, said that he would not rule out a Russian nuclear strike on Ukraine’s advancing forces, no matter how unlikely that seemed. “Given the quality of the decision-making in the Kremlin at the moment, nothing should be discounted. The Russians are getting desperate, but it would be a dramatic escalation and one that countries such as India and even China would surely condemn,” he said.