- Putin escalated his war on Ukraine, announcing the partial mobilization of his country's reservists.
- He also threatened nuclear retaliation, saying ominously that "this is not a bluff."
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened the use of nuclear weapons as he ramped up his invasion of Ukraine.
Putin announced the partial mobilization of his country's reservists in a speech on Wednesday, when he also baselessly accused the West of threatening to use nuclear weapons and gestured to Russia's own nuclear arsenal.
Putin accused the West of "nuclear blackmail," saying Western nations had encouraged Ukraine to shell the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Ukraine said Russia was responsible for the Zaporizhzhia shelling.
He also said that officials in NATO countries had spoken "about the possibility and admissibility of using weapons of mass destruction against Russia — nuclear weapons."
NATO officials have not threatened Russia with nuclear weapons. Nonetheless, Putin offered a scenario in which he would launch a nuclear strike.
"To those who allow themselves to make such statements about Russia, I would like to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction, and for some components more modern than those of the NATO countries," he said.
"And if the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff."
Putin's reference to "territorial integrity" came alongside efforts from the Kremlin to organize referendums to formally annex the parts of Ukraine its military has captured.
That process — which Western officials have denounced as illegitimate — could give Putin a pretext to claim a more expansive definition of "Russian" territory including these parts of Ukraine.
As Insider's John Haltiwanger, Jake Epstein, and Dhany Osman reported, Putin's speech represented a broad ramping up of Russia's war effort after weeks of setbacks where Ukraine unexpectedly reclaimed vast swaths of territory
Some Russian public figures have repeatedly threatened nuclear attacks as the conflict in Ukraine continued. Putin himself raised the prospect of nuclear escalation on the first day of the invasion of Ukraine in February.
But several experts previously told Insider that Russia was unlikely to use nuclear weapons, even if it made the threat.