Does West actually take Putin’s nuclear weapons threat seriously?

[Lily7050]

I was surprised to come across this article in FT: www.ft.com/content/e12976cf-59be-414e-b90f-56875df79753

There is no information anywhere in media or at work about what to do in case of a nuclear attack. At work it is still all about Covid and masks in the office.

There isn't actually a facility to warn the UK public about an incoming nuclear strike now - all the apparatus was dismantled in 1991. You would be relying on the government text message thing, which I'm sure would work perfectly in 4-7 minutes the UK has after Flyindgales has detected a launch against us!

@WheelieBinPrincess

Well, I was in two kings whether to crack open a bottle of wine tonight but think I will now

Think I'll join you. This must be today's 'we're all doomed' thread.

These are quotes off BBC news this afternoon - if it makes anyone feel any better.

'Russian foreign minister claims Russia will not deploy nuclear weapons'

'Russian foreign minister accuses western politicians of stoking fears of nuclear war'

'Lavrov says thoughts of nuclear war are not in the heads of Russians'

So unless they're bullshitting, which personally I don't think they are (on this occasion) then I don't think there will be a nuclear apocalypse.

Well they usually do the opposite of what they say... They all swore blind that Russia has no intention of invading Ukraine, they were just completing military drills 🤔

If you listen to Ben Wallace (the one in the FO that knows what he's doing) and he's very clear in his words around not even considering a 'no-fly' zone around Ukraine. They are taking this threat very seriously.

For those with the flippant 'we'll all be dead' posters, Russia have nuclear weapons that will destroy cities without destroying the world.

Yes it’s being taken seriously as pp it’s why we’re not implementing no fly zone

I was alive during the Cuban Missile Crisis….I’m very old.
Back then it was seriously thought to be a very real, imminent possibility. There were radio & TV bulletins telling you to get under the stairs & surround yourself with pillows
We were told to expect a four minute warning!

There’s a very funny Mike Harding tape ……
“ So what are you going to do with your four minutes?……..Yeah! Me too ….only problem is how do I get it to last four minutes?.”

I’m willing to bet that it’s being taken very seriously - but they’re hardly likely to make that public, are they? Look at what happened when there were rumours of loo roll shortages fgs - it was ridiculous. If they said ‘yes, this is serious’ people would go mad panic buying food, storing water, draining petrol stations dry, stockpiling medicine and so on and on. There would be chaos.

Ah 4 minutes, I was trying to remember the other day how much warning we'd get. You would still be gasping like fish at 3 mins, stand up to put the kettle on in 1 minute then .. toast if you're lucky

I think he is that sick that he would tell us we will be hit 'sometime this week'
Leave us all worrying and panicking

Great. Just what I need. Another training video to watch for work. Wonder if there will be a quiz at the end like the other ones we have?

On the plus side, if there’s a nuclear war at least I won’t need to worry about my performance review at the end of the month.

My friends joke that if we had a four minute warning they'd spend 3 minutes taking their dog for a walk before running for the bunker

@SquishySquirmy

Depends where you work, but what are you expecting most workplaces to provide in terms of nuclear attack information? It's not really within our HSE guy's remit!

For most workplaces and most people, there is not a lot we can do to prepare (and I don't think it is at all likely anyway).

At least to give information where people can go, e.g. basement etc. How come the offices have been doing fire drills regularly but now the nuclear threat is quite real no information is given?

@Cyw2018

Much of London is owned by Russian oligarchs, so I doubt London will get nuked.

Most of oligarchs are those who run away from Putin. So why not?

@SirChenjins

Oh god - I’m the control book holder for my dept. Does this mean I have to do another bloody risk assessment?

If the worst was to happen then we’ll all be heading home to be with our loved ones.

Heading home may not be an option. I mean nurseries, schools should not what to do to give maximum protection to children.

'Let's hope the Russians love their children too'

@Squiff70

Sorry to state the bleeding obvious but a deranged psychopath dictator has access to the nuclear button and has threatened to use it but that SHOULDN'T be taken seriously???

It's not so much that, as to whether he intends to or not makes a significant difference to relevant actions to take.

Put at the most basic level:

• Insane dictator means nuclear threats = we must not allow this man to overtake Ukraine
• Insane dictator doesn't mean his nuclear threats = we must not allow this man's threats to prevent us in supporting Ukraine

I've actually been subject to someone who had a very similar "I'll nuke you" mentality in business. Nothing was going to change the fact that he was unreasonable, bullying and determined to destroy us rather than negotiate. There were no sunshine and roses outcomes from the moment he began his campaign against our business. We could only steadily mitigate the impact on ourselves until his own unreasonableness undid him. It was painful, but entirely instigated by the man in question. You have to remember that these bullies are immune to reasonable outcomes, and only their own visualised outcomes are seen as valid. But that doesn't mean you cave and accept their vision of themselves.

(in essence, the man I was dealing with thought that he was entitled to take - TAKE - our entire customer base under his company - fundamentally ignoring the fact that a) they might not want to, b) there was no legal mechanism for doing so and c) he didn't have the operational capacity to do so - all the mistakes that Putin is making)

"In case of a nuclear attack, you will all die." is probably not the kind of Health & Safety notice that any company wants to draft.

Typo in previous message "nurseries, schools should know what to do to give maximum protection to children."

Map shows how much of UK could be destroyed if Russia launched nuclear bomb on London:
www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/map-shows-how-much-uk-26305112

@Lily7050 What do you expect schools to do? If a nuclear strike came out of the blue we are stuffed (it is unlikely there would be a warning for the general public in the UK). If the international situation collapses so badly that war is expected then education would have closed anyway (this was the case in the cold war, education establishments closed in the "transition to war" and (unrealistic) plans about using school as rest and feeding centres)

"WOULD have closed..."

Russia will use chemical weapons. Not nuclear or biological. Chemical.

@GallopingHighRoad

Russia will use chemical weapons. Not nuclear or biological. Chemical.

They already have. Salisbury was only a few months after Theresa May warned Putin she knew what they were up to.

@Lily7050 it's more than just money from Putin's enemies. Lebedev's father was a KGB agent..

What a sensible thread.