Putin puppet issues dire WW3 warning with chilling nuclear threat to W | World | News
A Kremlin-loyal political analyst claimed on state television that most Russians would support nuclear strikes on Europe and Ukraine if a referendum was held, issuing a dire World War III warning that intensified global alarm at a time when U.S.-brokered peace talks were making tentative progress. Sergey Mikheyev, a frequent guest on Vladimir Solovyov’s Russia-1 program and widely seen as a “Putin puppet” for his uncompromising rhetoric, declared in a broadcast this week that such a vote would “leave both Europe and Ukraine smoking with radioactive ash.”
While he stated that this extreme stance reflected the “majority view”, he called for efforts to instil fear of a “catastrophe” to break up the European Union. These words, translated by Russian Media Monitor, emerged at a time when diplomatic efforts intensified after the President. Donald TrumpCeremony welcoming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday.
While Zelensky described the revised 20-point peace framework as “90% ready”, Mikheyev’s rhetoric signals a defiant stance from the Kremlin’s media apparatus, insisting that Ukraine will remain a “military target” as long as it is compatible with Western interests.
Mikheyev’s statements fit a pattern of nuclear weapons-related rumblings in Russian state media.
Recent assessments indicate that Moscow is advancing the deployment of nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic missiles in Belarus, adding to the tactical nuclear weapons already deployed there.
President Vladimir Putin oversaw exercises highlighting these systems and signaled reduced thresholds for potential use.
Western and Ukrainian officials quickly condemned the comments as propaganda aimed at intimidation during sensitive diplomacy.
European leaders expressed renewed concern over reckless nuclear references, while security analysts noted that the broadcasts attempted to deter further aid to Kiev and extract concessions from the West by convincing it that further escalation would lead to a global “catastrophe”.
But independent polls sharply contradict Mikheyev’s claims.
A December Levada Center poll found that only 25% of Russians favored continuation of the war (the lowest level since 2022) and 66% supported peace negotiations, the highest level in history.
Public justifications for nuclear use have also diminished significantly.
Despite the data, Mikheyev argued that the West was under an “illusion” that a large-scale war could be contained.
Experts argue that this discourse serves internal mobilization and external pressure as war fatigue increases in Russia. Solovyov expressed his complete approval before moving on to commercials.
As talks move towards January sessions involving European partners, Mikheyev’s chilling threat revives fears of nuclear miscalculation in the nearly four-year conflict and underscores the catastrophic risks still looming over the potential for further escalation.
