Risk of Nuclear Weapons Being Used Greater Than Ever; Support Growing in Russia As Ukraine War Continues

By Makiko Yanada and Shinji Abe / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondents

7:00 JST, December 12, 2024

ZURICH/OSLO — Next year will mark 80 years since atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the risk of nuclear weapons being used again is greater than ever — despite the wishes of A-bomb survivors and others who continue to call for their abolition.

Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Victims Organization) received the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize at an award ceremony in Oslo on Tuesday. At a press conference in the city the day before, cochair Terumi Tanaka, 92, was asked to deliver a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons.

“I don’t think President Putin has ever thought about or truly understood what nuclear weapons mean for human beings,” Tanaka said.

Since the start of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has repeatedly mentioned the use of nuclear weapons.

In his address to the nation in February, Putin touted Russia’s nuclear capabilities, which can reach the United States and Europe.

“[Western nations] must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory,” Putin warned. “All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that?”

In November, Putin lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons from a threat to the “existence of the state” to a “critical threat” to the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Russia.

Momentum is slowly growing in Russia for accepting the use of nuclear weapons.

In a public opinion poll conducted in November by the Levada Center, an independent polling organization not affiliated with the government, 39% of Russians said the use of nuclear weapons by Russia in its aggression against Ukraine could be “justified.”

This was an increase from 29% in April 2023 and 34% in June this year.

There are also concerns that Russia will transfer nuclear-related technology to Iran and North Korea, which provides support to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Mark Rutte said at a press conference on Dec. 4 that Russia supports North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs in exchange for weapons and soldiers Pyongyang provides for its war against Ukraine.