Putin out of control? Growing risk: He is about to push the "red button"

Putin out of control? Growing risk: He is about to push the "red button"

U.S. Research Center Heritage Foundation expressed this warning, amid growing concern over the "hysterical rhetoric" of the Kremlin.

A new report published by a think tank highlights the growing risk that the Russian president will "make one of the most fateful decisions of the century" in the face of his "failed invasion of Ukraine".

It also states that the Kremlin has driven itself "into a state of near hysteria" over the "ridiculous" assessment that NATO poses a military threat to the country.

Ever since Putin invaded Ukraine, his propagandists have continued to threaten the UK with a nuclear holocaust – and the rhetoric has continued to escalate in recent months.

The study, titled "US and Allies Must Understand and Respond to Russia's Nuclear Threats," examines the real likelihood that Putin will turn to weapons of mass destruction.

Russian generals are understood to have discussed the use of tactical nuclear weapons in November, but were said to be cautious about using long-range weapons.

However, Russia "increasingly portrays the West as an enemy and now appears to accept tactical strategic nuclear weapons as an option to deter further escalation of fighting."

The country is believed to have between 1.000 and 2.000 nuclear weapons of various sizes.

Western countries see the use of such weapons as a last resort, but the report said Russia could turn to tactical nuclear weapons "early in the exercise or in the middle".

The report outlines four situations in which Putin would turn to nuclear weapons; preventing attacks on Russia; use against Russia; a threat, such as a cyber attack on Russian command and control systems; and the existential threat to Russia from conventional or nuclear weapons.

The U.S. and its allies must monitor Russian nuclear activity and deter Putin from using chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.

Faced with its own stagnant invasion, Russia has focused on shelling Ukraine's electricity and water supplies. However, Putin is said to have a "higher tolerance threshold" for both civilian and military casualties than Western countries amid reports of Russian mercenaries taking part in suicide attacks in the Battle of Bakhmut. It comes as Moscow has launched a massive winter offensive involving hundreds of thousands of newly called-up reservists and convicts recruited from prison as mercenaries, who have formed human-wave attacks in an attempt to overwhelm the city's defenders. Small groups of soldiers push forward towards Ukrainian positions, many of them mowed down by machine guns as they approach. Those killed are simply replaced by others who are also considered expendable. This tactic is known as human wave attacks, with reports suggesting they were introduced to Ukraine by the Wagner mercenary group, which at its peak had 50,000 soldiers – many convicts – to storm Ukrainian positions.

The report also found that Russia is increasingly likely to use nuclear or chemical weapons as it seeks to attack Ukraine's morale.

It says: "Russia has failed to defeat the Ukrainian military and is now focusing on forcing the capitulation of the civilian population by attacking electricity and water supplies."

"Therefore, it is likely that Russia will not only threaten to use, but actually use, weapons of mass destruction to target civilian resistance in Ukraine," the report said.

"Russia is focusing on destroying Ukraine's energy infrastructure and given that the nuclear industry now produces about 60 percent of pre-war energy, a Russian attack on nuclear power plants to cut power and create an impromptu nuclear incident is a real prospect," the report added.

It also warned that the use of chemical weapons against metro stations in eastern Ukraine would be "devastating".

The report cites the use of chemical weapons in Syria as evidence of Russia's readiness. Russia's efforts to "weaponize refugees" and create massive flows of people to Western countries to the extent that they become "overwhelmed" are also highlighted.

The study concerns the flow of Syrian refugees to Turkey and on to Europe, with Russia aiming to create a second wave of Ukrainian nationals that is straining the resources of neighboring countries such as Hungary, Moldova and Poland.

Despite constant threats from Moscow, Ukrainians have continued to resist the invasion, and the fighting is intensifying as it continues. But the study warned that the risk of humiliation in a military failure increases the risk of Putin using nuclear weapons.

The report added: "Putin's concept of a great Russia, with Ukraine and Belarus in Russia's sphere of influence, is truly under mortal attack: Ukrainians collectively want to break free from Russian control. The greater the threat from Moscow, the greater Ukraine's desire to be free. With or without the support of the West, Ukrainians will fight."

"Putin's dream of Russia as an anti-Western, quasi-Soviet, illiberal state faces humiliation and defeat. In Putin's view, this crisis may have become existential, which, according to Russian doctrine, would justify the use of any weapon."

It also highlights Putin's "martyr complex" and previous comments about the "glory of dying for one's country" creating a fetishized idea linking Russian Orthodox Christianity and nuclear weapons.