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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow is prepared to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence is threatened, warning the U.S. again that if it sends troops to fight in Ukraine it would be considered a major escalation of the conflict.
Putin said in an interview with state television that there has been no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Russia's two-year invasion of Ukraine and that he does not think the world is headed to a nuclear confrontation. He described U.S. President Joe Biden as a veteran politician who understands the danger of nuclear warfare.
But Putin's remarks appeared to be one of his recurring messages to the West that it intends to protect its territorial gains in Ukraine and was ready to use nuclear weapons in case of a threat to "the existence of the Russian state, our sovereignty and independence."
"All that is written in our strategy, we haven't changed it," he said.
In an apparent reference to NATO allies that support Kyiv, Putin also declared that "the nations that say they have no red lines regarding Russia should realize that Russia won't have any red lines regarding them either."
But he also said that in the U.S. "there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint. Therefore, I don't think that here everything is rushing to (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready" for this."
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said "Russia's nuclear rhetoric has been reckless and irresponsible throughout this conflict. It is Russia that brutally invaded Ukraine without provocation or justification, and we will continue to support Ukraine as they defend their people and their sovereign territory from Russian aggression."
A senior White House official said, "As we understand it, Mr. Putin was restating Russia's nuclear doctrine that they will use nuclear weapons if their sovereignty is threatened so this isn't a new stance for them. We have not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture, nor any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine."
Biden has repeatedly said the U.S. has no intention of sending U.S. troops to fight alongside Kyiv's forces, although French President Emmanuel Macron recently declined to rule out the possibility of Western troops joining the stalemated conflict that has no end in sight.
Western countries have, however, continued to arm Ukraine, with the U.S. this week cobbling together $300 million worth of ammunition, anti-aircraft missiles, artillery rounds and "some anti-armor systems" from its military stockpiles in a new tranche of aid to help Kyiv's forces. But a much broader $60 billion aid package that Biden supports is stalled in Congress.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior Ukrainian presidential official, told Reuters in a statement he viewed Putin's nuclear warning as propaganda designed to intimidate the West.
"Realizing that things are going the wrong way, Putin continues to use classic nuclear rhetoric. With the old Soviet hope - 'be scared and retreat!'," said Podolyak, who said he believed such talk showed Putin was afraid of losing the war.
On the battlefield, Ukraine's military used drones to target Russian oil refineries Wednesday, damaging a site in the Ryazan region.
Pavel Malkov, regional governor in Ryazan, said an attack at an oil refinery there caused a fire and some injuries, according to preliminary reports.
Officials in the Leningrad region said Russian air defenses shot down a Ukrainian drone as it approached a refinery and that there was no damage.
The attacks were part of a wave of Ukrainian drones launched into Russian territory for the second consecutive day.
Alexander Gusev, governor of the Voronezh region that borders Ukraine, said Wednesday that air defenses shot down more than 30 Ukrainian drones overnight.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian drones damaged two Russian fuel sites.
Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile hit a residential building in the central city of Kryvyi Rih Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring at least 38 others.
Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the Kryvyi Rih's military administration, said the strike on the building was one of three missiles that hit the city, which is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a frequent target of Russian attacks.
Zelenskyy expressed condolences on social media and thanked rescuers for providing assistance.
"Every day, our cities and villages suffer similar strikes. Every day, Ukraine loses people to Russian evil," he wrote. "There can be no pause, not for a day, a week, let alone a month, in support for simply defending lives, for saving people from terror."
VOA White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report. Some information was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters .
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.