'This could go nuclear': Bleak Ukraine prediction as Putin 'goes for broke'
With more Russian troops bearing down on Ukraine, a former NATO chief says Vladimir Putin is "going for broke" and the possibility of Europe seeing nuclear war is growing by the day.
A huge blast was filmed outside a regional government building in the city of Kharkiv overnight with reports it was nearly struck by a Russian missile. The city has seen cars and buildings destroyed by shelling on Tuesday (local time) as Vladimir Putin again ramps up his assault across multiple cities.
At least five people have been killed and five others injured in a suspected missile attack on Kyiv's TV tower, according to Ukraine's civil defence authority.
Video released by Ukraine's UNIAN news agency showed a dark cloud of smoke rising from the scene after the steel-lattice tower was apparently struck by two missiles during Russia's siege of the city.
The attack briefly caused disruptions to broadcasts but transmissions have been fully restored.
Meanwhile a Russian missile has reportedly struck a holocaust memorial in Ukraine, prompting a haunting plea from the country's jewish president.
"To the world: what is the point of saying 'never again' for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar?" Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted, referring to the memorial.
"At least 5 killed. History repeating…"
Former NATO chief makes chilling admission
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has cited NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) and the potential for Ukraine to join the Western alliance as part of his motivation for launching the invasion.
The man who used to help lead Europe's NATO alliance, has outlined a bleak scenario that could see a nuclear confrontation unfold on the continent.
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General Sir Richard Shirreff, former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, says it is clear Putin is "going for broke" as more Russian military equipment heads for Ukraine.
While he said the Russian invasion has been fairly "incompetent" thus far, "we should expect the Russians to learn from this ... and we can expect them to lash out," he said in an extraordinary interview with ABC radio on Wednesday morning.
"We can expect to see much greater use of indiscriminate artillery and shellfire," he added.
The consequences of the likely path ahead lead to one very worrying scenario.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has been calling on the US and NATO to implement a no-fly-zone over Ukraine – a request the West has staunchly refused as it would require allied forces to shoot down Russian planes, ensuring it was dragged into conflict.
"NATO is not prepared to do that," Sir Shirreff told RN Breakfast, but he believes it should prepare for conflict.
"NATO is starting to get prepared, it has deployed the so-called NATO response force to eastern Europe, but essentially NATO has got to establish a very clear message to Putin that the red line – and it is a hard red line, this isn't a red line that can be crossed and we say 'oh well, that's ok' – is any Russian soldier, any form of Russian incursion, one boot across the NATO frontier in an aggressive posture and NATO is prepared to go to war.
"And that means ramping up significantly military capability on NATO's eastern flank. It means preparing for war on a scale that we haven't seen since the Second World War"
That flank lies east of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, stretching from Estonia, through Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
While he doesn't think a war of that nature is inevitable he said it will take a new "generational commitment" of deterrence from NATO to avoid it.
"The reality is we are in a new world."
The scenario that could lead to nuclear conflict
"If Putin was tempted to make a grab for the baltic states to drive a corridor through Lithuania to (the Russian city of) Kaliningrad, that would precipitate war with NATO," Sir Shirreff warned.
"If he does try it on, and NATO is at war with Russia, there is absolutely a possibility that this could go nuclear. Because Putin, the Russians, integrate nuclear thinking into every aspect of their military doctrine."
He pointed to Russian military drills in the Baltic region where Russia has recently practiced grabbing territory while using Kaliningrad as their base.
If that were to unfold in real life, Europe would face "nuclear blackmail" with Russian missiles capable of hitting cities such as Stockholm and Berlin.
"That is the absolute nightmare scenario, I don't wan't to be alarmist about it. But the way to avoid it is by projecting strength now."
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