NECN, March 2022
Biden left the White House for a four-day trip to Europe, where he is meeting with key allies to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Harvard scholar Oleh Kotsyuba and Northeastern University professors Mai’a Cross and Pablo Calderon explained Wednesday how likely it is that Putin will use chemical or nuclear weapons on NBC10 Boston’s weekly series, “Russia-Ukraine Q&A.” The threat of nuclear annihilation last reached its peak during the Cold War, and experts say the current situation could present a similar conflict. This is a major concern with Russia having the most nuclear weapons stockpiled.
“As the war gets increasingly difficult for Russian troops to sustain on the ground, the likelihood of the use of chemical or nuclear weapons goes up,” Cross said. “And so we are seeing the troops struggling further and not having supplies, which is very concerning.” Cross pointed to Russia’s purported use of hypersonic missiles in Ukraine in recent days, which she said represents a type of escalation in the same way that chemical, biological and nuclear weapons would. The missiles are being seen as a sign that its military could be resorting to using more destructive weaponry.
