Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament and a member of Putin’s Security Council, warned Western governments on Thursday, Sept. 19, that if they allow Kyiv to use Western-supplied long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia, it could lead to a nuclear war.
Volodin was responding to a vote in the European Parliament urging EU countries to give Kyiv such approval. EU lawmakers approved the resolution with 425 votes in favor, 131 against, and 63 abstentions during a plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday.
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The text “calls on the member states to immediately lift restrictions on the use of Western weapons systems delivered to Ukraine against legitimate military targets on Russian territory.”
Echoing an earlier warning by President Vladimir Putin, Volodin, condemned the vote, saying that Russia would give a “tough response” if the resolution were acted upon.
“If this happens, Russia will give a tough response using more powerful weapons. No one should have any illusions about this. The State Duma insists on this,” he wrote on Telegram.
He warned that Russia's RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, known in the West as “Satan II,” could reach Strasbourg, one of the locations where the European Parliament sits, in just 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
The missile is a fifth-generation intercontinental ballistic missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads at a range of up to 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) and designed to bypass modern air defense systems.
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Sarmat was reportedly tested on Feb. 21, 2023, during US President Joe Biden's visit to Kyiv, although that test is believed to have failed.
In his message, Volodin questioned whether European lawmakers had consulted with their citizens before making such decisions and if they were prepared for the potential consequences of war coming to their homes.
“The European Parliament's actions are leading us toward a world war with nuclear weapons,” he wrote.
Kyiv has been pleading with its allies to allow it to use donated long-range weapons to strike legitimate military targets deep inside Russian territory, such as the air bases used by Russian aircraft in their relentless bombardment of Ukraine.
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