Russia has “no need” to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, its defence minister said; describing media speculation that Moscow might deploy nuclear or chemical weapons in the conflict as “absolute lies”.
“From a military point of view, there is no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine to achieve set goals. The main purpose of Russian nuclear weapons is to deter a nuclear attack,”
“The media are spreading speculation about the alleged use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons; in the course of the special military operation, or about the readiness to use chemical weapons. All these informational attacks are absolute lies.”
Shoigu also alleged Ukrainian military operations were being planned by the United States and Britain; and that NATO had increased its troop deployment in eastern and central Europe “several times over”.