Nationalist circles in Russia are pushing for an escalation of war in Ukraine, reigniting the debate over nuclear weapons.
The tension surrounding Moscow’s strategy in the war in Ukraine seems to be shifting more and more toward the domestic political arena, as nationalist and hardline circles are exerting increasing pressure on the leadership to adopt a more aggressive stance following the latest Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian territory. According to analyses and statements recorded in the public discourse, some of these voices are now openly raising issues of military escalation, broadening the range of options being discussed in public discourse, including extreme scenarios such as the use of nuclear weapons as a theoretical deterrent or operational option. The Kremlin, although it continues to maintain control over the official line and seeks to strike a balance between diplomacy and military pressure, is facing an environment where the rhetoric of escalation is gaining ground, influencing the public atmosphere and heightening expectations for more decisive actions in the realm of conflict.
To abandon diplomacy and proceed with escalation Russian hardliners are calling on Vladimir Putin, expressing in this way their outrage over the dozens of Ukrainian drone strikes —even in Moscow— —in recent weeks, and believing that the U.S. promise to mediate to end the war on favorable terms has failed.
The reports
These calls for tougher measures are not new. As Reuters points out, nationalist voices have long been calling for full mobilization, the destruction of government centers in Kyiv, the assassination of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and strikes on European drone manufacturing plants. Some have even gone so far as to call on the Kremlin to consider the use of conventional nuclear weapons.
However, Ukraine’s recent attacks deep into Russian territory this month—targeting Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Crimea, as well as two deadly attacks on passenger buses— as Russia claims—have reinforced and intensified these demands.
Analysts note that the increasingly aggressive rhetoric reflects growing concern about the range and impact of Ukrainian drone attacks, as well as a broader debate about how Russia—with its vast territory—can defend itself while continuing the war it launched in 2022.
“What else needs to happen before we really start fighting? War means victory at any cost. The Ukrainians are at war, so they’re fighting with whatever they have,” Konstantin Malofeyev, a nationalist businessman, told Reuters following a Ukrainian strike that set an oil refinery in Moscow ablaze last week. “Why don’t we use nuclear weapons, which our ancestors developed and stockpiled precisely for this purpose?” he asked.
Calls to abandon peace talks
Some nationalist commentators are calling on Moscow to adopt Iran’s “effective military and diplomatic tactics” against the United States. The blog “Obsessed by War,” with more than 650,000 followers, has called for major Ukrainian cities to be rendered uninhabitable through bombing. Others believe that the time has come to abandon the U.S.-mediated talks and seek the complete destruction of the Ukrainian state.
“The launch of systematic air raids on Moscow by the (Ukrainian) junta would not have been possible without Washington’s green light. And why did Trump give Zelensky such a green light? The answer is simple—Iran had Trump in a tight spot and forced him to sign a humiliating agreement,” said nationalist blogger Yuri Baranchik. “Now he has to take it out on someone… So we have no other choice—either we’ll get the better of Trump, or he’ll get the better of us,” he wrote on Telegram.
Sources close to the Kremlin report that Putin may tolerate this kind of rhetoric, as his political power rests on a strictly controlled system he has built over 26 years, with nationalist bloggers required to comply with specific unwritten rules.
However, analysts believe that such statements can influence public sentiment and complicate decision-making, raising expectations for a more extensive military campaign, even as Moscow continues to want to keep the door open for a diplomatic solution.
The Kremlin is resisting pressure from hardliners
So far, the Kremlin has rejected calls from hardliners to abandon negotiations, although three senior government officials stated this week that talks with the U.S. have not yielded results and accused Washington of failing to honor the peace proposals discussed at the Putin-Trump summit last August in Alaska.
Putin is also avoiding also avoids adopting the most extreme proposals put forward by nationalists, although in April the Defense Ministry published, by way of example, the addresses of factories in European countries that, it claimed, produce drones for Ukraine, as a warning that they could be targeted.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had also foreshadowed an escalation last month, stating that Moscow intends to launch “systematic strikes” against military targets in Kyiv. This was followed by more intense bombardments, including a strike that damaged the 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery.
For now, Putin appears confident in his strategy. In a speech to military academy graduates on Tuesday, he stated that Russia is close to capturing the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine (an important stronghold of Kyiv), as part of the effort to gain control of the Donbas.
He also added that political forces in Europe that are hostile toward Russia appear to be being sidelined by more “realistic” political forces.
“Those who want to restore normal relations with us and put an end to this endless attempt to strategically defeat Russia are gaining strength,” Putin said. “In the end, everything will turn out well.”
