On Sunday of this week, AlertsUSA subscribers were notified of a joint statement on support for Ukraine issued by the governments of the U.S., UK, and France, which also warned Russia against false allegations of Ukraine's possible use of a radiological dirty bomb in the conflict:
"We, the Foreign Ministers of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, reiterate our steadfast support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression. We remain committed to continue supporting Ukraine's efforts to defend its territory for as long as it takes.
Earlier today, the defense ministers of each of our countries spoke to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu at his request. Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia's transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory. The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation. We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia."
The joint statement was issued after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu spoke with his counterparts in Washington, London, Paris and Ankara, warning of “uncontrolled escalation” from the Ukrainian side.
Fears are rising that a major event on Ukrainian soil in the near future would actually be a Russian “false flag” operation. As an example, just last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told European leaders in Brussels that Russia was preparing to sabotage the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Dam in the south of the country, potentially flooding 80 towns, villages and cities, including the strategically important city of Kherson.
According to Dara Massicot, a military expert and senior policy researcher at the Washington-based RAND Corp., the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement was disconcerting.
“This reads like Russian false flag groundwork. Troubling that it’s happening at the defense minister level.”
Satellites Potentially Targeted
On Wednesday of this week, Konstantin Vorontsov of the Russian Foreign Ministry told the United Nations that US commercial satellites, if used as part of the conflict in Ukraine, could become legitimate targets for attack.
Private assets like Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet constellation, as well as Maxar and Planet Labs earth observation satellites, have proven critical in keeping Ukrainians online and effective in battle.
Nuclear Deterrent Exercises
Last week AlertsUSA Threat Journal provided an overview of NATO's nuclear deterrent exercises getting underway known as Steadfast Noon. The exercise involves 14 countries and approximately 60 aircraft of various types with the goal of training aircrews in using U.S. tactical nuclear weapons. The arrangement is known as "nuclear bomb sharing" and involves teaching the process of arming fighter jets of select non-nuclear NATO countries and training their pilots to carry out nuclear strikes. Obviously all of the weapons used in the exercise are inert. Additionally, during peacetime, the nuclear weapons remain under U.S. control. In the event of war, this sharing agreement means the weapons could very well be distributed to these trained NATO partners
This week, Russia's annual nuclear deterrent exercise known as "The Grom" also got underway. Russian state-owned news outlets have confirmed Russian forces fired nuclear-capable ICBM missiles from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, roughly 600 miles north of Moscow, along with a submarine-launched ballistic missiles from the Barents Sea. Long-range air-launched cruise missiles were also reportedly fired Wednesday.
The Pentagon confirmed that Moscow had alerted it to regularly scheduled missile tests per U.N. charter, and therefore, did not violate any international treaties.
DoD Releases 2022 Strategic Reviews
This week the Defense Department released the public versions of three strategic documents — the National Defense Strategy, the Nuclear Posture Review and the Missile Defense Review.
The 2022 NDS sets the Department’s strategic direction and priorities for the Joint Force, identifying how the U.S. military will meet growing threats to U.S. national security interests and to a stable and open international system.
According to the documents, the
scope and scale of threats to the homeland have fundamentally changed. The PRC and Russia now pose more dangerous challenges to safety and security at home, even as terrorist threats persist. Both states are already using non-kinetic means against our defense industrial base and mobilization systems, as well as deploying counterspace capabilities that can target our Global Positioning System and other space-based capabilities that support military power and daily civilian life.
AlertsUSA continues to monitor the domestic and international threat environment around the clock and will immediately notify service subscribers, via SMS messages to their mobile devices, of new alerts, warnings and advisories or any developments which signal a change the overall threat picture for American citizens as events warrant. |
