America will retaliate with ‘a
devastating strike’ against Russia’s military if Vladimir Putin uses nuclear
weapons in Ukraine, the United States Army’s former European commander has
warned.
Retired Lieutenant General Ben
Hodges today said any response by America ‘may not be nuclear’ but warned that
if Putin were to use nukes in Ukraine that the US could look to ‘destroy the
Black Sea Fleet or destroy Russian bases in Crimea’.
His comments come after the
Russian premier sent shockwaves around the world, as he announced the ‘partial
mobilization’ of his reserve military forces to continue his murderous invasion
of Ukraine.
And in a chilling warning
directed squarely at Western and Nato leaders, desperate despot Putin
insisted he would use ‘all means’ necessary to defend swathes of territory
seized or set to be annexed by Kremlin forces before threatening to use nuclear
weapons.
‘If there is a threat to the
territorial integrity of our country, and in protecting our people we will
certainly use all means to us – and I’m not bluffing,’ he then added during his
televised address to the Russian people on Wednesday morning.
Gen Hodges, who commanded the
US Army in Europe between 2014 and 2018, stressed the ‘possibility’ of Putin
ordering a nuclear strike on Ukraine was ‘very unlikely’.
But he said the use of any
strategic weapons of mass destruction would be met with a swift and severe
reaction from President Joe Biden.
‘He [Putin] knows the US will
have to respond if Russia uses a nuclear weapon,’ Gen Hodges told
MailOnline.
‘The US response may not be
nuclear…but could very well be a devastating strike that could, for example,
destroy the Black Sea Fleet or destroy Russian bases in Crimea.
‘So, I think President Putin
and those around him will be reluctant to draw the US into the conflict
directly.’
