Dead Drop: March 15

TALK OF RUSSIA USING NUKES IS MUSHROOMING: This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview on state TV that he is ready to use nuclear weapons if he perceives a threat to the existence of Russia. But so far, he says “there has never been such a need.” And a new book by CNN anchor Jim Sciutto, The Return of Great Powers (reviewed in The Cipher Brief) reports that in late summer and early fall of 2022, U.S. leaders were far more concerned about the possibility of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine than was previously known. American officials initially dismissed rumors of possible use of tactical nukes ordered by the Kremlin as very unlikely – and Sciutto reports that at no time did the U.S. collect intelligence that Russia was actually mobilizing forces to conduct such an attack. But officials were troubled by concerns that they might not pick up such warnings until it was too late and if Moscow felt it was losing too much territory – there was no predicting what Putin might do. Russian officials and lackeys seem to savor the uncertainty. Last Friday, Putin pal and Russian TV talking head Vladimir Solovyov said on his broadcast that Western cities should be among the first targeted with nuclear strikes – and he compiled a list. According to the video captured by Moscow Media Monitor Julia Davis, among Solovyov’s top choices were: Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Hamburg, Munich or Garmisch-Partenkirchen or just about anywhere in the USA. We get Paris and the USA…but Garmisch-Partenkirchen? Solovyov must have had a bad experience on the ski slopes there once or something.

MY HEAVENS:  But don’t worry about that – we are advised that Russia is getting good oversight.  In another video captured recently, Vladimir Putin appeared on TV and told an audience that “Russia is a country that is directly governed by God.”