(DCWatchdog.com) – A Russian freight train reportedly belonging to Moscow’s nuclear forces is on the move, which could signal that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is preparing to use nuclear weapons in his failing war to conquer Ukraine.
The movement of the train, which carries military equipment of the 12th Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense, was noticed by Rybar, a pro-Russian channel on the Telegram messaging app, reported The Daily Mail, as cited by Newsmax.
A clip on the app shows the train transporting a detachment of special armored personnel carriers through Central Russia.
The armored vehicles are of the BPM-97 type, an upgrade of the typical Russian personnel carriers, which feature stronger armor, additional turrets, and an air purification system.
The 12th Main Directorate of Russia’s Defense Ministry specializes in storing, maintaining, and providing weapons. It is associated with a branch of the Russian military controlling nuclear missiles, the Strategic Rocket Forces.
According to Poland-based military analyst Konrad Musyka, deploying the newly noticed units could mean that the Putin regime is preparing to hold large-scale nuclear weapon drills. Alternatively, it could be getting ready to escalate the war in Ukraine, including by detonating nukes.
At the same time, the analyst warned that the latter is not necessarily Moscow’s intention as Russia’s ruler may only be seeking to send an “escalation” message to the United States and its allies from the 30-member NATO alliance.
The report about moving Moscow’s nuclear-related hardware comes shortly after the NATO headquarters warned the allied nations that the Russian nuclear submarine Belgorod had departed from its base in the White Sea.
The NATO warning said the K-329 Belgorod submarine might be headed to the Kara Sea to perform drills for the testing of an underwater nuclear drone called Poseidon.
Over the weekend, Ramzan Kadyrov, the warlord of the Russian republic of Chechnya dubbed “Putin’s spiritual son,” called for reversing Russia’s losses in the Ukraine war by striking the Ukrainians with tactical “low-yield” nuclear weapons.
“We’re in a situation in which superiority in resources and conventional weaponry is on the side of the West. But Russia’s power is based on its nuclear arsenal,” commented Vasily Kashin, a military and political analyst at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
In an ABC News interview on Sunday, retired US Gen. David Petreus, a former head of the CIA and former top commander of the US forces in Iraq, gave Moscow a stern warning.
He stated that if Russia uses nukes against Ukraine, the United States and NATO will obliterate Russian land and naval units “anywhere they see them.”
A freight train moving military equipment associated with a nuclear arms division of Russia's Defense Ministry is reportedly on the move, stoking fears of a possible escalation of President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. https://t.co/gkxBjwGB1W
— Newsmax (@newsmax) October 3, 2022
