Putin's war on Ukraine has lasted longer than the Soviet Union’s fight against Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945
Ethan Blackshaw Social News Content Editor and Carrington Walker GAU Writer
10:08, 15 Jan 2026
Sergey Karaganov has claimed Putin would use nuclear weapons against European on one condition(Image: Getty)
A senior Kremlin strategist has urged Vladimir Putin to unleash nuclear weapons and to “punish the UK severely” for its support of Ukraine.
Sergey Karaganov, who chairs Russia’s Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, warned that if Western backing enabled a Ukrainian victory, Putin “would use nuclear weapons and Europe would be finished physically.” In an interview with US commentator Tucker Carlson, Mr Karaganov also broke ranks with the Kremlin, accusing his own government of being “too patient” with European nations.
“I am criticising my government for being too prudent and too patient with them,” he said. “But sooner or later, if they continue to support this war, sacrificing numerous Ukrainians and others, we’ll have to punish them severely.”
Putin's aid said Europe’s political leadership suffers from “intellectual incapacity”(Image: Bloomberg, Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Karaganov dismissed any prospect of a Russian defeat as a “fantastic illusion”, claiming Europe’s political leadership suffers from “intellectual incapacity.”
“Everybody in the world now laughs at Europe, which used to be one of the core centres of world power,” he said. “Now it’s a joke. And of course, I am not speaking of all Europe. We know that there are decent Europeans. There are smart Europeans.”
What Putin initially described as a three‑day “special military operation” has now stretched to nearly four years, with Russian casualties estimated at more than a million. As of Monday (January 12), the conflict has lasted longer than the Soviet Union’s fight against Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945, the deadliest campaign of the 20th century, reports the Mirror.
Karaganov argued that European leaders “cannot fully understand what is happening,” claiming the continent has been in “intellectual decline” since 1968.
Putin's war on Ukraine is soon to drag into its fourth year(Image: )
“They believe that war will never come to their territory. They forgot about the war and that it’s terrible. Now, one of the tasks of Russia, in addition to all others, is to bring them to [their] senses hopefully without using nuclear weapons.”
Recently, the UK confirmed it will upgrade its military presence in the Arctic and High North, deploying around 1,500 Royal Marines to the region, though this has been seen as a deterrent to Donald Trump as much as it is to Putin.
The U.S. President continues to suggest that a looming American invasion of Greenland is approaching, despite repeatedly being rebuffed by officials from both the ice sheet and Denmark, which controls it.
Denmark’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said on Wednesday the joint operation in the Arctic would involve several allied countries, warning that “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow”.
British Royal Marines will ramp up UK presence in the Arctic region(Image: )
Downing Street confirmed one UK military officer had been deployed at Denmark’s request to join a reconnaissance group ahead of a planned Arctic Endurance exercise.
“We share President Trump’s concern about the security of the High North. And you see this as part of Nato and JEF nations stepping up to reinforce security in the High North,” a spokesperson said. “Stepping up with stronger exercising, to deter the Russian aggression and the Chinese activity.”
Germany, Sweden, Norway, and France confirmed they would send personnel to the joint mission, which aims to map out further cooperation to bolster regional security and “strengthen our ability to operate in the area,” Denmark’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
As a part of NATO-member Denmark, Greenland is already covered by the defence alliance's Article 5 protections, which state that an attack on any one of its members must be considered an attack on them all. Despite this, Trump claims Russia or China could soon gain control of the territory, without confirmation from either nation that this is an objective.
The Trump administration's continued threats to use force to annex Greenland have prompted concerns of a NATO civil war scenario and the future of the transatlantic alliance.