While Moscow projects a more conciliatory image in the negotiations, on the domestic front the discourse is very different. An influential Kremlin adviser has published a manifesto in which openly proposes attacks against European capitals —and even the “limited” use of nuclear weapons—as part of a deterrence strategy.
The author is Sergei Karaganov, veteran advisor to and honorary president of the Foreign and Defense Policy Council, an influential body in Russian strategic design. In a text published in the magazine Russia in Global Politics, Karaganov maintains that, if the conflict is not resolved on Moscow’s terms, Russia must be prepared for the “most difficult scenario.” In that context, the “most difficult scenario” means resorting to nuclear weapons against Western Europe.
Attack “the centers of the elite”
Karaganov proposes a phased escalation. First, high-precision strikes with conventional weapons against “command centers, critical infrastructure, military bases and, especially, places where the ruling elite congregate” in European countries that support Ukraine.
As an example, he explicitly mentions a and —both with nuclear arsenals— as strategic objectives to provoke a “disenchantment” in their political elites.
If that pressure were not enough, he proposes the “limited use of nuclear weapons” and suggests reviewing the Russian doctrine that maintains that a nuclear war cannot have winners. In his opinion, this idea has “ideologically disarmed” Moscow.
In the text he goes so far as to state that “we need to consider whether France and Britain should be stripped of their access to nuclear weapons. After starting the war against Russia, they lost the moral and political right to possess them.”
Patriotism as internal fuel
Far from presenting the war as a burden, Karaganov maintains that the “special military operation has generated internal dividends: more patriotism, greater national pride, and economic and scientific revitalization.
Furthermore, in a previous statement reported by international media, he stated that “they should know that we are smarter, stronger and more determined than the Europeans. And excellent fighters.”
