NATO nations could be “destroyed” by Russia within half an hour in the event of a nuclear war, the head of the Russian space agency said in a provocative statement.
Dmitry Rogozin, the 50-year-old head of Roscosmos, is known for shocking statements.
In his latest comments in a number of Russian-language publications on his Telegram channel on Sunday, he did not specify whether he was talking about individual NATO countries or all of them.
Mr Rogozin also accused NATO of waging war against Russia and chose to develop his own definition of Russia’s “special military operation”, a term used by President Vladimir Putin to describe the invasion of Ukraine.
“In a nuclear war, NATO countries will be destroyed by us in half an hour,” he said. “But we must not allow it, because the consequences of the exchange of nuclear strikes will affect the state of our Earth.
Therefore, he said, Russia will have to “defeat this economically and militarily more powerful enemy” with conventional weapons.
“NATO is waging war against us,” Mr Rogozin told another Telegram post. “They did not announce it, but it does not change anything. Now it’s obvious to everyone. “
“This is a war for the truth and Russia’s right to exist as a united and independent state,” Mr Rogozin said.
“The very existence of a Ukraine separate from Russia will inevitably turn it into anti-Russia and a springboard for Western aggression against our people. That is why what we call a special military operation goes far beyond its original meaning and geography, “he added.
In another statement, Mr Rogozin attacked technology mogul Elon Musk for “involvement in supplying fascist forces in Ukraine with military communications equipment” and said he would be held accountable as an adult.
Mr Musk, in a mysterious tweet, spoke of “dying in mysterious circumstances” just hours before Mr Rogozin’s remarks.
Earlier, he said Roscosmos would leave the International Space Station and criticized the sanctions imposed on Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a commemorative ceremony marking Victory Day in Moscow
(Reuters)
His comments on NATO countries come a day before Moscow’s military equipment marched through Red Square in the city for the annual Victory Day military parade, when Russia celebrates a holiday to commemorate the Soviet Union’s role in defeating the Nazis in 1945.
Watching the parade, Mr Putin attacked NATO countries for taking control of Russia’s neighbors. He also claims that the West is preparing to invade Russian “lands” and that “enemies” have tried to use “terrorists” against them.
“We have seen an expansion of military infrastructure, hundreds of military advisers and regular supplies of modern weapons from NATO. “The (level of) danger was increasing every day,” Putin said.
“Russia has given a preventive response to aggression” in what he described as “a forced, timely and only correct decision of a sovereign, powerful and independent country”.
Russia is currently focusing on operations in Ukraine’s eastern industrial center, Donbass, where Moscow-backed rebels have been battling Ukrainian government forces since 2014, when Ukraine’s annexed Crimea was annexed.
The Russian military rearmed and procured its forces after withdrawing them from areas near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country’s northeast and relocating them to Donbass.
This is seen as an obvious attempt to encircle and destroy the most capable and experienced Ukrainian troops stationed there.
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