Russia’s Nuclear Weapons A Threat? ICBM Launched In Response To Ukraine

Are Russia’s nuclear weapons a threat to the United States and the world? In an apparent response to Ukraine, Russia has test-fired its ICBM arsenal as a display of military muscle.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, the Russian Black Sea fleet commander supposedly issued a war ultimatum, although Moscow and Putin officially denied the threat was ever made. But freelance journalists at the scene reported they heard the threat being issued from megaphones on several Russian warships in the Crimea.

In response to all the saber rattling from Putin, John Kerry is traveling to Ukraine to combat the rising tensions. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations also vows that they will succeed in their fight against Russia. Several days ago, Svoboda party MP Mikhail Golovko said Ukraine’s nuclear weapons could be built in response to Russia’s encroachments on its soil:

“We’ll regain our status as a nuclear power and that’ll change the conversation. Ukraine has all the technological means needed to create a nuclear arsenal – which would take us about three to six months.”

In response, Putin has said the United States and other UN nations in the west are supporting an “unconstitutional coup” in Ukraine. Some people claim the new Ukrainian government is composed of “Nazis… with nuclear ambitions, who are looking to destabilize the region, and whose sole goal is the destruction of Russia.” Putin says that Russia reserves the right to use its military to “protect Russians” but he also claimed his action were to protect Ukraine:

“We are not going to fight with the Ukrainian people. I want you to understand me clearly. If we make such a decision, it will only be for the protection of Ukrainian citizens. And God forbid if any of the servicemen tries to shoot their own people, we will be standing behind them – not in front, but behind. Let them try to shoot women and children!”

Now Putin is upping the ante once again by putting Russia’s nuclear weapons in the headlines. The ICBM they launched was an RS-12M Topol missile and the “dummy warhead hit its target at a proving ground in Kazakhstan.” Putin also blamed President Obama for Russia’s actions in Ukraine, saying the White House was interfering “from across the pond in America as if they were sitting in a laboratory and running experiments on rats, without any understanding of the consequences.”

[Photo via jonkeegan]