US Russia Nuclear Threat USAGM
Metadata
- US Russia Nuclear Threat USAGM
- October 5, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: US-Russia Nuclear Threat HEADLINE: Is Russia Moving Nuclear Weapons Toward Ukraine? TEASER: Experts say Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goal is to “terrorize” Ukraine and the West with his threats of using nuclear weapons. PUBLISHED AT: 10/5/2022 at BYLINE: Cindy Saine CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: VIDEOGRAPHER: PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: Jepsen, MAS VIDEO SOURCE (S): Saine Zoom interviews, Reuters, AP, AFP, VOA archive, Russian Defense Ministry PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __ TRT: VID APPROVED BY: TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO:)) [[Amid unconfirmed reports that a train operated by Russia's nuclear division was spotted heading toward Ukraine, the White House says that it has no indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Nuclear weapons experts tell VOA if Russia is moving nuclear weapons toward the Ukrainian border, the United States will know. VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.]] ((Video: https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2018%3Anewsml_VA855RL1J&share=true: Putin speaking in a conference hall with a big screen behind him showing new nuclear missiles and rockets firing)) ((NARRATOR)) Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world and experts say it holds 10 times more tactical nuclear weapons than the United States. In March 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled an array of new weapons, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and not be intercepted. Now that Putin is suffering military losses in Ukraine, he has threatened to use “any means at his disposal” to defend Russia. ((Video: MRT White House Media Briefing Oct. 4: 14;09;15;01 MRT JEAN-PIERRE russias nuclear saber rattling)) On Tuesday, the White House responded to unconfirmed reports that Russia may be moving nuclear weapons toward the border with Ukraine. ((FOR RADO: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre)) ((Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary)) “We take any nuclear weapons or nuclear saber-rattling very seriously here, but I do want to say that we have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor do we have indication that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons.” ((Video: AFP V000_32KL9D2 SLUG RAW - RUSSIA - UKRAINE - CONFLICT - DRILLS - MOBILISATION Creation date 10/3/2022: 11. Wide shot reservists entering a military plane 12. Mid shot reservists entering a military plane 13. Wide shot a Russian military plane taking off)) ((COURTESY: Russian Defense Ministry)) ((for VIDEO: anything with burned Russian Military symbol in upper left or right hand corner)) ((NARRATOR)) In the face of military losses, Russia announced a mobilization that has caused hundreds of thousands of Russians to flee the country. ((Video: Wallerstein talking for set-up and SOT: https://app.frame.io/player/f32f5699-283e-4fb2-838e-82222d88026a TC: 00:00:36 - 00:01:25)) National Security Expert Mitchel Wallerstein says if Putin were to use nuclear weapons, he would break a longtime taboo. ((FOR RADIO: He spoke to VOA via Zoom)) ((Mitchel Wallerstein, Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs)) ((Zoom Courtesy)) “This would be crossing a red line that no country has crossed since World War Two, and the concern is that, as he is increasingly cornered and finds that he has limited options, that he might try to use a small tactical nuclear weapon, much smaller probably than the ones that were used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to basically either to try to decapitate the Ukrainian regime in Kyiv or to simply to say, ‘Look this is what I can do.’” ((Video: James Acton talking set-up SOT 1: https://app.frame.io/player/c087bb72-13ea-4657-8ba6-f523b2c43a3a TC: 00:00:45 - 00:01:21)) ((COURTESY: Russian Defense Ministry)) ((for VIDEO: anything with burned Russian Military symbol in upper left or right hand corner)) ((NARRATOR)) Other experts are also concerned. James Acton is co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ((FOR RADIO: He spoke to VOA via Zoom)) ((James Acton, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)) ((Zoom Courtesy)) “I think if this war goes in a very bad direction for Putin, I think if he is faced with a catastrophic military defeat, if his hold on power looks in jeopardy, if the Russian economy looks on the brink of collapse, then I can't rule out the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons. I don't think it's that likely, but I think it's more likely now than at any time since the end of the Cold War for sure.” ((Video: AFP V000_32KE892 SLUG RAW - RUSSIA - UKRAINE - CONFLICT - REFERENDUM - POLITICS Creation date 9/30/2022 City/Country MOSCOW, RUSSIA CreditCHANNEL ONE / AFP Special Instructions RUSSIE OUT: 1. Wide shot Russians wave flags at an annexation concert in Moscow's Red Square 2. Aerial shot crowds watch an annexation concert in Moscow's Red Square, Putin singing, Putin speaking to the crowd)) ((NARRATOR)) Acton says he believes that, despite his bravado, Putin does not think he can use nuclear weapons to win the war against Ukraine. ((Video: James Acton SOT 2: https://app.frame.io/player/c087bb72-13ea-4657-8ba6-f523b2c43a3a)): TC: 00:03:00 - 00:03:54)) ((James Acton, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)) ((Zoom Courtesy)) “The goal is to terrify Ukraine, its Western backers, the United States in particular, that the threat of further escalation, the threat of an even worse, all-out nuclear war could terrify them into backing down, into suing for peace, into making concessions, into giving Putin a face-saving way out.” ((Video: AFP V000_32KQ2ZX SLUG 1ST - IMAGES - UKRAINE - RUSSIA - CONFLICT - ZELENSKY Creation date 10/4/2022 City/Country KYIV, UKRAINE: President Zelenskyy speaking)) ((NARRATOR)) Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his forces are making rapid gains, retaking dozens of villages in eastern and southern Ukraine. ((Video: V000_32KQ97P SLUG RAW - UKRAINE - RUSSIA - CONFLICT - MAP Creation date 10/5/2022: 1. Mid shot Igor Konashenkov, Spokesperson for Russian Defence ministry 2. Animated map map of Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv and Luhansk shows Russian army's withdrawal)) Russia’s defense ministry has conceded that Russian forces have retreated in the face of Ukraine’s counter-offensive. ((Video: more B-roll of Russian nuclear weapons gathered by the video library)) ((COURTESY: Russian Defense Ministry)) ((for VIDEO: anything with burned Russian Military symbol in upper left or right hand corner)) Nuclear experts tell VOA that were Putin to move nuclear weapons closer to Ukraine, the U.S. would know about it. Cindy Saine, VOA News
- NewsML Media Topics Conflict, War and Peace, Politics
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date October 5, 2022 18:02 EDT
- Byline Cindy Saine
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America, Voice of America - English