Zelensky says Russia is “preparing its society” for a possible nuclear conflict

President Volodymyr Zelensky denied calling for any strikes inside Russian territory, saying a translation of what he said at an online event on Thursday had been misinterpreted.

“We have to continue preventive measures,” Zelensky said in an interview this evening. BBC.

In recent weeks, the Ukrainian army has recaptured nearly 2,500 km² of territory since the start of the last counteroffensive, forcing Russia to abandon positions it occupied at the start of the invasion, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday.

“This week alone, our soldiers have liberated 776 km² of territory in the east of our country and 29 cities, including six in Luhansk province,” he said.

According to the BBC, the territories annexed by Russia have raised fears of a possible escalation in the seven-month-old war. President Putin and other senior Russian officials have suggested that nuclear weapons – perhaps small tactical weapons – could be used to defend the newly annexed territories, although allied forces say Moscow has no evidence of doing so.

In the interview, Zelensky said that Russians “began to prepare their society” for a possible escalation of the conflict. “They are not ready to do it, to use (nuclear weapons), but they have already started talking about it. I think it is dangerous to talk about it,” the Ukrainian president said.

“What we see is that those in power in Russia want to live, so the risk of using nuclear weapons is not as definite as the experts say. Because they know that if they use them, they can’t go back.”

Zelensky’s comments on Thursday provoked reactions in the Kremlin. It was “an invitation to start another world war,” said spokesman Dimity Peskov. Lavrov said the Ukrainian president’s comments prove that Russia was right when it launched a special military operation in Ukraine.

“Zelensky asked NATO to launch a nuclear attack against Russia. This is another proof to the world of the threat of the Kiev regime,” Lavrov said.

The BBC interview came hours after Joe Biden called Russia’s nuclear threat “Armageddon”. The US president quoted the television as saying that the world is facing a nuclear crisis similar to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

(News updated at 11:20 p.m.)

* With agencies