Immediate Sanctions Needed Against Russia's Nuclear Sector

Why should sanctions against Russia's nuclear sector be imposed immediately?

On 25 April, Medvedev said he would use nuclear weapons if Russia was threatened. The former Kremlin president, with no subtlety has again blackmailed the civilised West. The incident did not take place accidentally on the eve of the day of the Chernobyl tragedy - Russia deliberately voices such threats, timing them to coincide with memorable dates. The Kremlin's nuclear blackmail is a crime against humanity and a direct threat to the West.

Putin is using the "nuclear cudgel" as a tool to pressure the Western community to cut off their aid to Ukraine. It is not just a question of threatening to use nuclear weapons. Russia is systematically shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNP), the largest nuclear power station in Europe, in an attempt to shift the blame for this onto Ukraine. This is being done deliberately in order to put pressure on the West and force negotiations with the Kremlin.

Putin desperately needs a tactical pause, so Kremlin-induced nuclear terror has become commonplace, but it does not make it any less dangerous. The Russian troops are not only firing artillery at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, but have also totally mined its vicinity in order to complicate the counter-offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It should be noted that Russian troops also occupied and de-energised the Chernobyl NPP on the first day of the invasion - it was later returned to Ukrainian control following the de-occupation of the Kyiv region. The Russians held personnel hostage and deployed huge quantities of weapons near the site - their actions could have led to a repeat of the 1986 tragedy.

The Kremlin's nuclear blackmail is a crime against humanity and an existential threat to the West. The entire civilised world must unite and do whatever is necessary to systematically weaken the Russian nuclear sector, Maximum sanctions can be a prologue to weakening it, and when Russia is finally defeated, its nuclear arsenal then brought under international control - only in this way can the nuclear threat posed by the Kremlin be eliminated.