Since the onset and intensification of the Russian-Ukrainian War in 2022, Russian leaders have been threatening any nation they don't like with nuclear bombardment and annihilation. I wrote about this on Arutz Sheva a month ago in an article entitled " The Russian Nuclear Headache " and since then things have only gotten worse. In proportion to its increasing frustrations on the Ukrainian battlefield, Russia makes more noise and rumbles about its nuclear might and the willingness to throw its nuclear weight around. For example, Newsmax reports: " Russia: We Will Have 50 New Nukes, 'Speak To Us More Politely '" (May 24, 2022); " Report: Putin Arms Belarus With Nuke-Capable MIssiles " (May 23, 2022); " Russia Seen Moving Nuclear Missiles Toward Finnish Border " (May 16, 2022).And major publications like the New York Times and others have been running multiple stories and reports about the reality of the Russian nuclear threat such as: " C.I.A. Director Airs Concern That Putin MIght Turn To Nuclear Weapons " (April 15, 2022): " Opinion: We Must Prepare For Putin's Worst Weapon s" (May 21, 2022); " As Russia Digs In, What's The Risk Of Nuclear War? 'It's Not Zero' " (March 16, 2022) and on and on it goes as reported in all newspapers and major news outlets. The Russians brag dangerously that they are capable of wiping out their perceived enemies in seconds with nuclear weapons. I have been wondering, what kind of mentality is this? Are the Russians living on the same planet as the rest of humanity? They are obviously living in an alternate reality. Without much concentration I Googled the following Russian nuclear threats, from a wide variety of sources by now multiplied and echoed by tens of thousands of times in news reports on the Internet, by leading Russians against other countries and it hits us in the face: * "Russia reasserts right to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine" (March 26, 2022). * "Russian state TV hosts laugh as they discuss firing nuke at New York City" (April 22, 2022). * "Russian TV shows simulation of Britain and Ireland wiped out by a nuke" (May 3, 2022). * "Russia threatens to deploy nuclear weapons in the Baltic if Sweden and Finland join NATO" (April 14, 2022). * "Russia says they will use nuclear weapons on these conditions" (May 10, 2022). * "Russia could use nuclear weapons if existence threatened: Kremlin" (Mar 22, 2022). * "Russians forces simulate nuclear attack near border with Poland" (May 5, 2022) * "'Nuking' London and Paris -- Russian state-TV threatens to annihilate European cities using mighty 'Sarmat' missile" (May 2, 2022). * "Russia reportedly moves nuclear-capable missiles to Finland border" (May 17, 2022). * "How Russia has revived fears of nuclear war in Europe" ( April 26, 2022). It is mind-boggling to count the countries under the Russian nuclear gun, just look: Ukraine, Poland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, France, the Baltic countries...really now? No wonder Turkey is upgrading its relations with Israel because they too are members of NATO and fear the Russian bear crossing over to "reclaim Constantinople (Istanbul) for the lost defunct-but-now-reborn-"Byzantine Empire" to which post-Soviet, but now Orthodox-Christianized Russia aspires. If Poland, Ukraine, Finland and Britain are in Russia's nuclear cross hairs then Turkey too is surely among them and they (the Turks) know it enough to swallow their Islamic fundamentalism pride and come back to the old Turkish-Israel alliance. These headlines are frightening and meant to terrorize the world into a psychological state of fear of Russia's nuclear might by its leading cadres, the government, state-controlled media and rabid nationalists. Are they really serious about nuking all the capitals of European countries that refuse to succumb to the Russian fear-mongering? And all for what? That the Russian leadership saw fit to launch a full scale war against its weaker neighbor Ukraine for their own ends. What were they afraid of, that Ukraine was pulling ahead as a center of technology? That Ukraine was too productive as a grain exporter? That Ukraine would join with the wealthier West to become a rich nation devoid of the post-Communist ideoligical remnants and dregs that retard and drag down Russia's own development as a free and prosperous nation? And if the world does not submit to this Russian diktat then all hell will break loose and Russia will blow up the West, stretching all the way from Eastern, Central and Western Europe to America and beyond? What kind of thinking or better yet non-thinking is this, that you can blow up half the world with nuclear weapons and assume that you, the other half, will happily and safely survive? This is reminiscent of that old Jewish Mussar (ethical teachings) parable of people rowing on a boat in the ocean when suddenly one of the passengers decides to drill a hole under his own seat. The other passengers start screaming "what are you doing?" To which the culprit responds "This seat is mine, I bought it and it belongs to me and I can do whatever I like with it!" And of course the truth is he is 100% wrong and they tell him that "You do not have the right to drill holes under your seat because water can come in through the hole and eventually sink the boat and drown all of us!" This is the lesson that the Russian leadership seems to be missing. That they are part of one global humanity! Does Russia not grasp that the nuclear sword is multi-edged and that America, Britain and France could launch their own nuclear missiles and bombers to completely annihilte Russia at the very moment someone in the Kremlin is crazy enough to press a nuclear start button? And say if for some unknown reason the West does not reply tit for tat to a Russian nuclear strike, that the radiation that would eminate from exploding Russian nuclear bombs and missiles exploding would contaminate the European part of Russia at best and possibly inflict the worst radioactive catastrophe on the rest of the planet? Would Russia's current allies like Belarus and Hungary survive a Russian nuclear attack on neighboring Ukraine and Poland? They would be fried as much as their neighbor states. One gets the impression that the Russian people are not in sync with their currently bellicose and jingoistic leaders. Ordinary Russians just want to live their life in peace and enjoy the benefits of a Westernized life-style. The Russian Oligarchs are surely not happy with what is going on as they are cut off from their investments in Russia and nest eggs internationally. There are lots of videos of interviews with Russian youth who just want to be as "cool" as youngsters anywhere else in the free world. But then Russia is not free. What could have been a free and democratic Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1988-1991) was usurped by the rise of Putin and his former KGB cohorts in 2000 who had other ideas. Putin has methodically and brutally instituted his authoritarian regime to the point of him having the powers of a dictator out of sync with the longings of his own people for Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, freedom of speech, and true democratic government - which incidentally is what did happen in Ukraine, which is why Putin and his cronies must destroy the example of Ukraine's freedom before that bug bites deeply into the Russian populace who will eventually demand the true freedom they deserve. Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin is president and founder of the Jewish Professionals Institute. An alumnus of Yeshiva Chaim Berlin and Teachers College, Columbia University, he has dedicated his life to Jewish outreach and education, served for 7 years as full-time director of Sinai Heritage Centers in Manhattan and 3 as an AJOP trustee, .among many oher endeavors. izakrudomin@gmail.com
