Vladimir Putin propagandist issues chilling threat to the US on national TV, here's what he said

A Russian propagandist has warned that the U.S. could be the target of a Russian missile attack. Igor Korotchenko, editor of the newspaper National Defense, regularly appears on the Russia 1 channel. He is not the first to have called for Russia to use nuclear weapons against western powers who continue to support Ukraine.

In this particular video, a clip of which was shared by the Ukrainian internal affairs adviser Anton Gerashchenko on X, Korotchenko defended Russia and the way the country’s actions have been criticised and threatened by the U.S. during the war against Ukraine.

What the Putin propagandist said

Korotchenko took issue with comments made by NATO senior member for logistics, Ben Hodges.

Russia is being warned and threatened that if we misbehave, or if in Ben Hodges' opinion, we exceed what he considers to be the necessary permissible lines for the use of all types of Russian weapons, he threatens us with more than just strikes on the Crimean bridge.

As Newsweek explains, Hodges has repeatedly called for Ukraine to be given support in their efforts to retake Crimea, the peninsula that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. This includes providing Ukraine with weapons, such as Army Tactical Missile Systems which would allow Ukraine to carry out accurate long-range strikes in this occupied area.

Korotchenko said that Hodges believes the U.S. could be considering strikes on the bases of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and troops in Crimea, along with Russian naval bases in Syria. He claimed these comments are ‘not just statements of a retired hawk’, but are rather part of a calculated information campaign ‘designed to influence both us and a Western audience’.

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How is the U.S. reacting to these threats?

Korotchenko made his opinion very clear: the Putin propagandist stated that there should be a conversation about ‘the use and permissibility of tactical nuclear weapons what goals and what tactics we will use.’

Korotchenko did explain that Russia ‘will not wage war with [the Americans] in Europe’:

In response to your attacks on Russian military or civilian facilities, the first strike will be a preventative limited strike against targets on the territory of the United States of America.

Hodges has reacted to the video, explaining to Newsweek that the U.S. is ‘finally realizing that the likelihood of Russia using a nuclear weapon is extremely small.’

That being said, Russia announced last week that its Sarmat strategic missile system, which has a long enough range to reach the U.S., has been put on combat duty.

Hodges explains that he does not disregard these threats because he knows how ruthless the Russians are when it comes to conflict:

I take them seriously because Russia has thousands of nuclear weapons and because they clearly don't care how many innocent people may die…But I think they realize that their nukes are actually most effective when they don't use them. They see how we self-deter.

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Sources used:

Newsweek: Russian State TV Threatens Nuclear Strike on US

Express: Putin's propagandists threaten nuclear strikes on US territory in chilling WW3 warning