After Putin's warning, Russian TV lists nuclear targets in U.S.

By Andrew Osborn

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a wreath-laying ceremony marking the Defender of the Fatherland Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in central Moscow, Russia February 23, 2019. Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool via REUTERS

 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state television has listed U.S. military facilities that Moscow would target in the event of a nuclear strike, and said that a hypersonic missile Russia is developing would be able to hit them in less than five minutes.

 

The targets included the Pentagon and the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland.

 

The report, unusual even by the sometimes bellicose standards of Russian state TV, was broadcast on Sunday evening, days after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was militarily ready for a "Cuban Missile"-style crisis if the United States wanted one.

 

With tensions rising over Russian fears that the United States might deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe as a Cold War-era arms-control treaty unravels, Putin has said Russia would be forced to respond by placing hypersonic nuclear missiles on submarines near U.S. waters.

 

The United States says it has no immediate plans to deploy such missiles in Europe and has dismissed Putin's warnings as disingenuous propaganda. It does not currently have ground-based intermediate-range nuclear missiles that it could place in Europe.

 

However, its decision to quit the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty over an alleged Russian violation, something Moscow denies, has freed it to start developing and deploying such missiles.

 

Putin has said Russia does not want a new arms race, but has also dialled up his military rhetoric.

 

The Pentagon said that Putin's threats only helped unite NATO.

 

"Every time Putin issues these bombastic threats and touts his new doomsday devices, he should know he only deepens NATO's resolve to work together to ensure our collective security," Eric Pahon, a Pentagon spokesman, said.

 

Some analysts have seen his approach as a tactic to try to re-engage the United States in talks about the strategic balance between the two powers, for which Moscow has long pushed, with mixed results.

 

In the Sunday evening broadcast, Dmitry Kiselyov, presenter of Russia's main weekly TV news show 'Vesti Nedeli', showed a map of the United States and identified several targets he said Moscow would want to hit in the event of a nuclear war.

 

The targets, which Kiselyov described as U.S. presidential or military command centres, also included Fort Ritchie, a military training centre in Maryland closed in 1998, McClellan, a U.S. Air Force base in California closed in 2001, and Jim Creek, a naval communications base in Washington state.

 

Kiselyov, who is close to the Kremlin, said the "Tsirkon" ('Zircon') hypersonic missile that Russia is developing could hit the targets in less than five minutes if launched from Russian submarines.

 

Hypersonic flight is generally taken to mean travelling through the atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound.

 

"For now, we're not threatening anyone, but if such a deployment takes place, our response will be instant," he said.

 

Kiselyov is one of the main conduits of state television’s strongly anti-American tone, once saying Moscow could turn the United States into radioactive ash.

 

Asked to comment on Kiselyov's report, the Kremlin said on Monday it did not interfere in state TV's editorial policy.

 

(Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Dan Grebler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-26

The worry here is...as more ignorant and aggressive world leaders develop weapons of mass destruction...some moron will pull the trigger to enjoy the spectale of the carnage... 

It wouldn't take a genius to know where the targets in Russia are. 

Surprised Putin rehashed the Cuban crisis , Russia had to back down , and it's not surprising but doesn't Putin think that not only Russia but other countries of interest, the US would have targets set. also Russian and US military have always used the fired first method, this method avoided a retaliation by Russia in the late sixties when their computers stuffed up, one Russian general refused to use the release key , because no rockets had landed on Russian soil. 

I’m sure those places have Been targeted for years I think Donald and Putin are laying the ground work for some distraction campaign probably to make Donald to look strong on Russia 

1 hour ago, chainarong said:

Surprised Putin rehashed the Cuban crisis , Russia had to back down , and it's not surprising but doesn't Putin think that not only Russia but other countries of interest, the US would have targets set. also Russian and US military have always used the fired first method, this method avoided a retaliation by Russia in the late sixties when their computers stuffed up, one Russian general refused to use the release key , because no rockets had landed on Russian soil. 

 

Russia didn't just back down.  There was an agreement reached that the U.S. would in turn remove its missiles from Turkey.  The U.S. insisted Russia agree to keep this secret until a later time so it wouldn't be interpreted as a trade off by the U.S.

Not sure what the 'fired first method' is.  Both sides are cognizant of the deterrent of "Mutual Atomic Destruction" aka MAD.

In that picture, it looks like Putin is wearing lifts just a little smaller than the ones Boris Karloff put on for Frankenstein.

Aaaaaah...come on!

He is such a good pal and Donnie trusts him more then his own intelligence agencies!

It'll all be fine!

"Russia: February 2018 New START declaration: 1,444 strategic warheads deployed on 527 ICBMs, SLBMs, and strategic bombers."

Get 1,444 pins and map of USA. Start sticking. "Gee, ya think we ought to hit DC?" So many nukes expect at least 5 or ten; same LA, NY etc

 

sabre rattling and ewes are buying it.

5 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

It wouldn't take a genius to know where the targets in Russia are. 

be hard to be gleeful when you're a pile of smoking ash...

President Putin, please don't target Disney World in Florida!

4 hours ago, silverhawk_usa said:

 

Russia didn't just back down.  There was an agreement reached that the U.S. would in turn remove its missiles from Turkey.  The U.S. insisted Russia agree to keep this secret until a later time so it wouldn't be interpreted as a trade off by the U.S.

Not sure what the 'fired first method' is.  Both sides are cognizant of the deterrent of "Mutual Atomic Destruction" aka MAD.

MAD actually stands for Mutual Assured Destruction. Like you, not sure what "fired first method" means. The major nuclear powers, as I understand it, have been concentrating on developing a "first strike" capacity overwhelming enough to rule out the possibility of any meaningful response. 

 

Hopefully, this latest US/Russia spat is nothing more than a Punch and Judy show aimed at keeping the prols in both camps in a malleable state of paranoia. 

Edited February 26, 20197 yr by Krataiboy

9 hours ago, chainarong said:

Surprised Putin rehashed the Cuban crisis , Russia had to back down , and it's not surprising but doesn't Putin think that not only Russia but other countries of interest, the US would have targets set. also Russian and US military have always used the fired first method, this method avoided a retaliation by Russia in the late sixties when their computers stuffed up, one Russian general refused to use the release key , because no rockets had landed on Russian soil. 

The Russians claim a victory over Cuban crisis. They removed missiles from Cuba and we removed missiles from Turkey.

Edited February 26, 20197 yr by Mac98
Spelling

http://www.usdebtclock.org/world-debt-clock.html

10 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

It wouldn't take a genius to know where the targets in Russia are. 

Yes, the wrong ones. Now the USA targets military sites, should be the population instead. Being humanitarian will destroy the USA in the end.

 

MAD doesn't work when only one side has Hypersonic Missiles.

 

The missiles removed from Turkey by JFK were old, mostly non-working, and scheduled to be removed anyway. The USA had the Russians hopelessly outgunned back then; not so much now days.

Edited February 26, 20197 yr by IAMHERE

Are there awards given for political theatre? 

 

17 hours ago, webfact said:

Putin has said Russia would be forced to respond by placing hypersonic nuclear missiles on submarines near U.S. waters.

Rerun, dates back to when the Andy Griffith Show was new.

 

17 hours ago, webfact said:

hypersonic missile Russia is developing would be able to hit them in less than five minutes.

Maybe from the part of Russia that is on the Bering Strait, 50 miles from Alaska.  The target is Sarah Palin's house, because they know she can see Russia from there.  They're developing speech-seeking missile technology so they can home in on her babbling yap.

 

Next thing Putin will announce time travel technology from the Terminator movies, and threaten to go back and replace George Washington with a Kremlin goon.

 

All kidding aside, though, US foreign policy is subjugated to Putin at this point.  A big irony for those of us who remember the Cold War years (and understood what it was) is the idea that the liberals-leftists, or anyone who did not take a hard line against Russia were considered traitors, defeatists, etc.  Now, the rabid patriots are the ones supporting a compromised president.

 

 

More world stupidity

You must know the Yanks never did remove their nukes from İncirlik. As with most US bases, it's designed as American theme park. I doubt they'd have much success defending the place from Erdoğan if he took a notion to just take it. Nukes are insanity. So far, South Africa is the only country with nukes to give them up, likely because the Afrokaners didn't want a black bomb after apartheid. No country is brave enough to make the first move and tell the world, no more nukes, we're giving up on them before they're used on us.

I hope he didn’t mention Udon Thani.

On 2/26/2019 at 7:31 PM, IAMHERE said:

Yes, the wrong ones. Now the USA targets military sites, should be the population instead. Being humanitarian will destroy the USA in the end.

 

MAD doesn't work when only one side has Hypersonic Missiles.

 

The missiles removed from Turkey by JFK were old, mostly non-working, and scheduled to be removed anyway. The USA had the Russians hopelessly outgunned back then; not so much now days.

Those missiles may have been scheduled to be removed. But the fact is that they were not replaced with newer versions.