President Joe Biden is reported to have authorized Ukraine to use US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS [11]) for strikes deep inside Russia. In interviews with both the UK's Times Radio [12] and the BBC news program The World At One [13] on Nov. 18, former Putin advisor and semi-official mouthpiece Sergei Markov [14] responded to the move by warning of an imminent Russian nuclear strike—not just on Ukraine but on the United States and Britain. "In the worst scenario, the nuclear war happens before Christmas of this year," he told the BBC. "Probably you will not be able to say 'Merry Christmas' because you will stay in the hole trying to hide away [your] family from the nuclear catastrophe. It can develop very, very quickly."
That same day, Russian lawmaker Maria Butina [17] told Reuters [18]: "Biden's administration is trying to escalate the situation to the maximum while they still have power and are still in office. I have a great hope that Trump will overcome this decision if this has been made because they are seriously risking the start of World War III, which is not in anybody's interest."
The sentiment was echoed by Donald Trump Jr., who tweeted [19] Nov. 17: "The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives... Imbeciles!" (BBC News [20], WaPo [21], Express [22], DW [23])
As Russian nuclear threats [24] escalate, so do air-strikes on Ukrainian cities. On the same day Markov and Butina spoke, Russian missiles struck residential buildings in Odessa, killing at least 10 people and injuring 18. (Kyiv Post [25])
