Putin explained the reasons why Russia would usage atomic weapons to defend Kaliningrad from NATO.

• Andrew Korybko 24 October 2026.uncutnews-ch/putin-erklaerte-russlands-beweggruende-sich-bei-der-verteidigung-kaliningrads-gegen-die-nato-auf-atomwaffe-zu-verlassen

The military possible of European NATO far outweighs Russia's conventional forces.

During the Question Session and responses after his speech at the Welsh Club conference in early October, Putin was asked to comment on Statement by the Ministry of abroad Affairs That Russia would go for atomic weapons in the event of an attack on Kaliningrad. He explained: “We would gotta deal with an opponent whose population is twice ours. It has large economical and military potential. In fact, we would not have had so many forces and resources to face specified a threat. In this fight we would gotta trust on our competitive advantages."

Regarding these competitive advantages, Putin reminded everyone that "no 1 else has the offensive capacity that Russia presently has", adding: "We're not threatening anyone. We simply state that we do not have many means of self-defense." His message may shock many sympathizers from outside Russia, who believe Russia would crush NATO – as any of its opponents hysterically present it as a terrifying scenario.

Firstly, the EU has about 3 times as many inhabitants as Russia, not just twice as many. Secondly, National Defence Strategy Trumpa 2.0 states that"European NATO far exceeds Russia in terms of economical size, population and hence hidden military potential"; You just gotta arrange them properly. Finally, the NATO 3.0 concept, which Trump 2.0 is actively implementing, means that the United States will oversee Russia's detention by European NATO. This includes the optimisation of the interaction of the abovementioned factors.

Western wing of the fresh “ Sanitary cordon ” which Trump 2.0 created around Russia is the most advanced, as it connects NATO allies in the Arctic-Baltic, Central European and Black Sea regions. The first 2 geographical regions include Viking block under the leadership of Sweden , Germany and Poland Of which all 3 could attack Kaliningrad alone or together. For the record, First abroad military base Germany has since planet War II opened in the spring of last year in Lithuania, bordering Kaliningrad.

This Russian enclave is only somewhat larger than Connecticut and has just over a million inhabitants. This makes it comparatively easy to control as a consequence of coordinated air, sea and land attacks. That's why Russia had to declare it would go for atomic weapons as a deterrent in self-defense.. In addition, Kaliningrad has its office the Russian Baltic Fleet; Russia is besides believed to have deployed any of its atomic weapons there. The demolition or seizure of this region would so seriously endanger Russia's national security.

These facts, the position of Kaliningrad as an exclave, the presence of regional military command and the possible deployment of atomic weapons, explain why Russia would flee to atomic weapons in the event of serious aggression against the region and declare this intention for dissuasive purposes, while she did not do the same for Kursk Kursk was attacked only by Ukraine; its armed forces were incapable to destruct or capture it. Moreover, the situation in continental Russia facilitated the launch of the counteroffensive. Moreover, there was neither regional military command nor atomic weapons.

Now that the differences between the 2 cases have been clarified – explaining why Russia has announced its intention to defend Kaliningrad with atomic weapons alternatively than Kursk – the question is whether this is adequate to deter European NATO.

Despite the harsh words of their leaders, based on interior policy considerations, These politicians are inactive people with self-preservation instincts. They could so not commit suicide by authorizing serious aggression on Kaliningrad, knowing the consequences.

Source: Putin explained why Russia relies on atomic weapons to defend Kaliningrad from NATO