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Putin vows to 'go to the end' in Ukraine in thinly-veiled nuke warning as Kyiv unleashes 'heaviest kamikaze drone barrage of the war'
Vladimir Putin has vowed to go 'to the end' on the battlefield in Ukraine and declared that the Kremlin may review its doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons in the face of perceived Western aggression in an alarming new interview.
Speaking at the conclusion of a pair of state visits to North Korea and Vietnam this week, the Russian President accused Kyiv's Western partners of raising tensions even further by greenlighting the use of NATO weapons against targets on Russian soil.
The bellicose Kremlin chief also accused Western countries of 'lowering the threshold' for the use of nuclear devices against Russia - a charge for which he provided no evidence.
These alleged developments led the 71-year-old autocrat to conclude Moscow must now consider updating its nuclear doctrine in preparation for atomic warfare, announcing that defeat in Ukraine would mean 'the end of Russia's statehood'.
'It means the end of the 1,000-year history of the Russian state. I think this is clear to everyone... Isn't it better to go all the way, until the end?' he asked rhetorically.
The unsettling interview came just hours before Ukraine launched one of its largest-ever drone attacks on Russia, sparking fires at a pair of oil fields and an airbase.
The Russian President accused Kyiv 's Western partners of raising tensions even further by greenlighting the use of NATO weapons against targets on Russian soil
A Russian tank explodes following a Ukrainian drone strike in this undated clip
A fireball is seen lighting up the night sky in Russia following a Ukrainian drone strike
A view of the destruction of a house on the Kostyantynivka front as the Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on June 20, 2024
1st brigade of National Guard 'Bureviy', fire a tank as they carry out a mission in a BMP-2 to shoot at russian positions in Serebryanskyy forest, in Luhansk, Ukraine on June 19, 2024
Putin, speaking just days after inking a comprehensive strategic partnership with nuclear pariah state North Korea, said the US, UK and other Western partners are 'constantly raising the stakes and escalating the situation' around Ukraine.
'They seem to think that at some point we will get scared. But at the same time, they also say they want to achieve a strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield,' he said, adding this would mean the end of the Russian Federation as it is known,
'And then the question arises: why should we be afraid? Isn't it better to go all the way, until the end? This is elementary formal logic...
'I think that those [in the West] who think this way, and even more so those who say it, are making another big mistake.'
He then launched into a rant about the West's alleged willingness to deploy tactical nuclear weapons against Russia, warning this could lead the Kremlin to re-examine its own nuclear doctrine.
That was last updated in 2020, two years before the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
The existing doctrine permits Russia's forces to deploy nuclear weapons if its enemies use weapons of mass destruction against the Federation or its allies - or if Moscow receives credible information that a strike is about to take place.
However, the doctrine also allows the Kremlin to turn to atomic weapons should an enemy 'threaten the existence of the Russian state' with the use of conventional weapons - a clause for concern given Ukraine's willingness to attack targets on Russian soil with hardware provided by NATO.
'We know that the potential adversary is working on it - related to lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons,' Putin said.
'We are thinking about what could be changed in the nuclear doctrine.'
When asked whether Ukraine's use of Western long-range weapons against Russian territory could be considered an act of aggression, the Kremlin chief responded with an unsettling remark.
'This requires additional research, but it's close.'
Putin said defeat in Ukraine would mean 'the end of Russia's statehood'
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un smile as they walk after the talks in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, foreground right, attend the official welcome ceremony in the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Wednesday, June 19, 2024
An oil depot is seen on fire in the distance after a Ukrainian airstrike in this grab from footage
Putin's interview with reporters came hours before Ukraine unleashed one of its heaviest kamikaze drone barrages of Russian targets in the war so far.
Two targets in the Krasnodar region - the Yeysk airbase and the Ilsky oil refinery - were struck by the unmanned craft, as well a major oil depot in Volgograd.
The Ilsky refinery is one of the main fuel producers in southern Russia, with a capacity to refine 6.6 million tonnes of crude (132,000 barrels per day) a year.
The head of the local district, Andrei Doroshevsky, said on the Telegram messaging app this morning that the fire was eventually brought under control.
'This night, the civilian infrastructure of our region was subjected to a massive attack by the criminal Kyiv regime,' he said, adding that a drone also damaged administrative buildings at the Ilsky oil refinery.
The plant had already been hit by drones in February.
Russian defence officials claimed Kyiv sent a total of 119 Ukrainian aerial and sea kamikaze drones.
Six of these were unmanned boats, they said, which have proved extremely effective in the conflict, having sunk several ships in Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
Separately, regional authorities said that open fires were doused at oil depots in Tambov and Rostov regions.
Kyiv has in recent months been hitting back at key Russian targets in response to incessant drone and missile strikes from Moscow's forces that have caused widespread devastation in Ukraine and crippled its energy sector.