Russia threatens future nuclear retaliation as assault on Ukraine carries on

KYIV, Ukraine - Mere hours after the United States announced they plan to send an additional $375 million in military aid to Ukraine, Russia launched an overnight aerial attack on multiple cities in Ukraine, including the capital Kviv, Starokostiantyniv and Zaporizhzhia.

This brings the total amount of money allocated by the U.S. towards the war effort in Ukraine to $175 billion according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

“There is more work to do. That is why, today, I am announcing a surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to help Ukraine win this war,” President Biden said in a White House press release.

On Sept. 26, former President Trump met with President Zelenskyy and said “We both want to see this end, and we both want to see a fair deal made,” referring to his aligned support with President Biden on support for Ukraine.

This marks an apparent shift in Trump’s campaign, as just two days prior at a North Carolina rally he criticized the spending of the current administration towards military aid for Ukraine, stating “Those cities are gone, they’re gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelenskyy.”

“There was no deal that he could have made that wouldn’t have been better than the situation you have right now. You have a country that has been obliterated, not possible to be rebuilt.”

Zelenskyy feels different, as he articulated in a recent United Nations address: “Just imagine, please, your country, with 80 percent of its energy system gone. … What kind of life would that be?” Zelenskyy said.

“If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders.”

As Russia nears the third year of its military campaign in Ukraine, they have knocked out a substantial amount of Ukraine’s energy production industry and general infrastructure, due to their proclivity for the use of long range missiles targeting power plants, dams and the like.

The upcoming Winter is shaping up to be a difficult one for the people of Ukraine as Russia shows no signs of slowing down their siege, and peace talks are at this point non-existent.

The Kremlin has also issued a clarification on its nuclear policy, with President Putin stating: “The conditions for Russia’s transition to the use of nuclear weapons are also clearly fixed.”

Putin also warned that any attack on its homeland that is sponsored or supported by a nuclear-armed entity would be considered a “joint attack on the Russian Federation,” and would warrant a nuclear response.

Russia and the U.S. currently stand as the two strongest nuclear powers on the globe.

Trip Tagle is a second-year majoring in digital and print journalism. To contact them, please email tnt5403@psu.edu.