[AzCal Retred]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-ukraine-counteroffensive-drone-strikes-putin-b2403066.html

Ukraine-Russia – live: Putin puts ‘Satan II’ nuclear missile ‘on combat duty’ as Kyiv launches drone strikes
Intercontinental ballistic missiles are capable of carrying more than 10 nuclear warheads

The missiles are capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Sarmat missiles would be deployed for combat duty “soon”.
It comes as a Ukrainian drone attacked a town in western Russia, home to one of the country’s biggest nuclear power stations, as Russian air defences intercepted drones heading toward three western regions.

[Leofric]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-ukraine-counteroffensive-drone-strikes-putin-b2403066.html

Ukraine-Russia – live: Putin puts ‘Satan II’ nuclear missile ‘on combat duty’ as Kyiv launches drone strikes
Intercontinental ballistic missiles are capable of carrying more than 10 nuclear warheads

The missiles are capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Sarmat missiles would be deployed for combat duty “soon”.
It comes as a Ukrainian drone attacked a town in western Russia, home to one of the country’s biggest nuclear power stations, as Russian air defences intercepted drones heading toward three western regions.

Is this an 'it won't be long now' situation?!

[Racer57]

No way in hell will he deploy nukes. He is bluffing and the world knows it because they know that he knows if he did, he would no longer have any friends. It would be the world vs Russia.

[AzCal Retred]

Well, the "world" vs. Russia, China, Iran, Syria & maybe Saudi Arabia. Possibly parts of Africa. Maybe India & Brazil too, they are big BRICS trading partners.

Nice write up:
https://thebulletin.org/2023/06/how-the-united-states-and-nato-can-deal-with-russian-nuclear-coercion-in-ukraine/

This Petraeus article sounds tough, but we'll see what really happens. The Russians have a lot of subs & missiles. China may be depending on us attriting ourselves against Russia to achieve their goals. Their new "10 Part Line" glommed onto Taiwan, Russian held Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island and parts of India. If we or the Russians lose a lot of hardware and men in an exchange, China's job gets easier. Wheels within wheels.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/02/us-russia-putin-ukraine-war-david-petraeus

https://breakingdefense.com/2023/09/new-chinese-10-dash-map-sparks-furor-across-indo-pacific-vietnam-india-philippines-malaysia/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRICS

[Leofric]

If the nuclear missiles start flying it won't matter who sides with whom !

[GlennF]

If Putin nukes Ukraine it will be because he believes the West will not respond.

[Leofric]

If Putin nukes Ukraine it will be because he believes the West will not respond.

Or because he didn't care because he knew he was finished anyway !

[AzCal Retred]

Romania is a NATO member since 2004...

Ukraine says Russian drones crashed in Romania; 04 September 2023
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66712477
Ukraine has alleged that Russian drones landed on Romanian territory during a series of strikes on a neighbouring Ukrainian city.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters after a news conference in Kyiv that Ukraine had photographic evidence supporting its claim.
However, Romania has rejected Kyiv's version of events and BBC Verify says it cannot authenticate the image.
The row came as the Russian and Turkish leaders held talks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had travelled to the Russian city of Sochi in an attempt to persuade President Vladimir Putin to revive the deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea.
Mr Putin said the deal, which Moscow abandoned in July, would not be reinstated until the West met his demands for sanctions to be lifted on Russian agricultural produce.

Mr Kuleba, sounding angry, said it was "absolutely obvious" what had happened. He suggested that some of Ukraine's partners were, in effect, turning a blind eye in order to avoid being involved in the conflict.
If a Russian drone did land on Romanian territory, without it being the result of an interception, then this would mark the first time Russia has directly, if accidentally, hit a Nato member state.

[AzCal Retred]

Ukraine war: Romania reveals Russian drone parts hit its territory

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66727788

Romania's defence minister has said that remains of a drone used in a Russian attack on a Ukrainian port have been found on Romanian territory.
His comments follow two days of him and other senior officials "categorically" denying any cross-border incident.
Ukraine had insisted it had evidence of the explosion.
Romania's president says the attack, which the defence ministry is investigating, would be a serious violation of Romania's sovereignty.
An attack on Romania, which is a member of Nato, would be "completely inadmissible", Klaus Iohannis said.
On Monday, Ukraine's foreign ministry had reported that Shahed drones "fell and detonated" in Romania on Sunday night after the latest Russian attack on the Ukrainian port of Izmail.
It called the incident further proof of the "huge threat" posed by Moscow to Ukraine's neighbours.
Now Romania's Defence Minister, Angel Tilvar, has visited the Danube Delta region close to the border with Ukraine and announced that several pieces of a drone had been found.
An investigation is now under way and the fragments are being analysed to determine whether they come from a Russian weapon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HESA_Shahed_136
The HESA Shahed 136 (Persian: شاهد ۱۳۶, literally "Witness-136"), or Geran-2 (Russian: Герань-2, literally "Geranium-2") in Russian service,[8] is an Iranian loitering munition in the form of an autonomous pusher-prop drone. It is designed and manufactured by Shahed Aviation Industries.[2][better source needed]
The munition is designed to attack ground targets from a distance, fired in multiples from a launch rack (in batches of five upwards) to overwhelm air defenses by consuming their resources during the attack. The first public footage of the drone was released in December 2021.[4]

[AzCal Retred]

Starting to get puckery. Cruise missile usage is a "ramping up" event, these are real weapons. The UK is probably at "Defcon 1" this morning.

British cruise missiles were used in significant Ukrainian attack on Russian submarine
The UK gave Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine's armed forces earlier in the year. They are able to be fired by Ukrainian aircraft, with a range of more than 150 miles.
Deborah Haynes
Security and Defence Editor @haynesdeborah
Wednesday 13 September 2023 16:40, UK

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-strikes-russian-submarine-and-landing-ship-in-audacious-assault-on-crimea-naval-base-12960336

[Richard230]

If that was a nuclear submarine the Russians are really not going to be happy - especially if the reactor was damaged and is leaking radiation. 

[GlennF]

If that was a nuclear submarine the Russians are really not going to be happy - especially if the reactor was damaged and is leaking radiation. 

Diesel Submarine.

The submarine is a legitimate target for Ukraine for two reasons.

1) the submarines at Sevastopol load up with missiles and head out into the black sea to fire them at Ukrainian cities like Odessa and Kherson
2) Sevastopol is by international law a Ukrainian city and the submarine is part of the occupying forces

[Leofric]

Not certain they were UK missiles !

[GlennF]

Something quite big.

This blog video shows satellite images of the damage ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7ESH2MVCYU

[AzCal Retred]

Next stop, POLYARNY! 

If the cruise missile blast made it through the pressure hull those could have been secondary explosions.

Where was the Russian air cover? No S-400 online? Their Beriev A-100 is equivalent to an AWACS. Surely they had one in the air. A Vympel R-77 vectored in from a MIG-35 or Su-30 would have saved them a diesel sub.

Not a good look for Russia when there's no response from the "home team". Maybe North Korea will send them some weaponry & soldiers.