this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2024
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Sergei Lavrov accuses west of using Ukraine ‘to defeat’ Russia days after Putin shifts Moscow’s nuclear posture

Russia’s top diplomat warned on Saturday against “trying to fight to victory with a nuclear power”, delivering a UN general assembly speech packed with condemnations of what Russia sees as western machinations in Ukraine and elsewhere – including inside the United Nations itself.

Three days after Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, aired a shift in his country’s nuclear doctrine, his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, accused the west of using Ukraine – which Russia invaded in February 2022 – as a tool to try “to defeat” Moscow strategically, and “preparing Europe for it to also throw itself into this suicidal escapade”.

“I’m not going to talk here about the senselessness and the danger of the very idea of trying to fight to victory with a nuclear power, which is what Russia is,” he said.

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[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 39 points 9 months ago (2 children)

a nuclear power, which is what Russia is

if you have to clarify like that, buddy, I have some bad news for you

[–] robocall@lemmy.world 36 points 9 months ago (2 children)

The more that Russia threatens nuclear war, the less I believe they are going to do it.

[–] AtomicHotSauce@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It’s likely their shit doesn’t work anymore anyway. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[–] ms_lane@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Unknown if their warheads work.

Known that their ICBM's don't work and the ICBM's they got from Iran were blown to high hell a few days ago.

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

It's like your neighbor making empty threats every weekend about your dog pooping on his lawn. Except, you don't have a dog. And this neighbor has three.

[–] ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world 28 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I’m sure they have a lot of nukes but how many have been stripped for parts (by them or for the black market or by spies)? I’m not saying they have zero or that their stockpile isn’t 2nd or 3rd in the world. But the more they mention them, the more I wonder why.

[–] cynar@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's less being stripped, and more a lack of maintenance. Nukes have a shelf life. The elements inside then can decay, this means they need replacing. This is a highly specialist job. It's also expensive, and can only really be cross checked by the same people who do the work (or detonating it).

[–] ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Uranium isn’t subject to export sanctions because the United States buys a lot from Russia and France gets all theirs from the Sahel region Russia is somehow making worse than a European colony.

I’m pretty sure they have fissile material. I’m not sure they have copper wiring left. It’d be small time theft.

[–] cynar@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

A modern nuke is FAR from the "bang 2 rocks together" designs that were first designed. For a start, most are fusion devices. Fairly exotic reactions are used to make a small amount of fusion material to go critical. This creates a shaped charge on a fusion core. The compression wave sets fusion happening, which releases 95% of the energy. Most of Russia's arsenal is of this sort.

The downsides of these is the use of exotic elements. They often have a short half life, e.g. tritium, with 12.5 years. This means they decay. Even worse, some of the byproducts will actually poison the reaction. E.g. Rather than producing a flood of neutrons, they absorb them.

If any of this chain fails, then your fusion nuke becomes, at best, a low yield fission nuke. More likely, it becomes a dirty bomb. It's still nasty, but not the city destroying terror weapon it would be intended as.

[–] stupidcasey@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

More than any other country on earth, and the only thing of value is the core, so probably not many have been stripped.

[–] Vilian@lemmy.ca 21 points 9 months ago

as a tool to try “to defeat” Moscow strategically

It was you who invaded them dumbass

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 16 points 9 months ago
[–] Windex007@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago
[–] AlphaOmega@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Remember when Gorbachev said he would bury us?

Well he's dead, I'm alive and my fear of Russia using nukes is non existent after hearing them drone on about it for literal decades.

[–] InverseParallax@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

Was krushchev. But he's dead too, same principle applies.

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

Krushchev, and the idiom was a bit lost in translation. As I understand, the meaning was closer to "We will outlast you."

Not that that worked out either, but it's less aggressive and more defiant.

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Gorbachev said he would bury us?

I don't subscribe to that point of view.

It would be such an ignorant thing to do, if the Russians love their children too.

[–] ClanOfTheOcho@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Seems like people don't know their Sting like they used to.

Not enough Englishmen in New York.

[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago
[–] TipRing@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

If nuclear extortion is permitted to work, it will inspire proliferation like we have never seen before.

[–] jimmy90@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

can we get some kind of UN resolution telling russia that if they launch a nuke we will all kick their ass?

[–] SaltySalamander@fedia.io 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Not sure a UN resolution is needed for that. Russia already knows.

[–] jimmy90@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

i imagine that's what Biden has been doing constantly in this conflict

[–] el_bhm@lemm.ee 10 points 9 months ago

Old man scared for his position is fearmongering.

[–] billiam0202@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

Okay, we won't.

...wait, you meant Russia!?

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

Trump’s buddy!

So does that mean they no longer have nuclear capabilities?