Biden: ‘Armageddon’ risk at highest since Cold War

US President Joe Biden has said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is “not joking” about tactical nuclear weapons and the “Armageddon” risk is at its highest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Russian officials have spoken of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Mr Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons”.

Mr Biden added: “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

Mr Biden also challenged Russian nuclear doctrine, warning that the use of a lower-yield tactical weapon could quickly spiral out of control into global destruction.

“I don’t think there is any such a thing as the ability to easily use a tactical weapon and not end up with Armageddon,” Mr Biden said.

US officials for months have warned of the prospect that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine as it has faced a series of strategic setbacks on the battlefield.

As recently as this week, though, they have said they have seen no change to Russia’s nuclear forces that would require a change in Washington’s alert posture.

The news of heightened fears comes as the death toll from a Russian missile attack on apartment blocks in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia rose to 11 – as the city was hit again by missiles and, for the first time, by explosive-packed drones.

With its army suffering a series of battlefield defeats in recent weeks, Russia has been deploying Iranianmade drones to attack Ukrainian targets. The unmanned, disposable “kamikaze drones” are cheaper and less sophisticated than missiles but have proved effective at causing damage to targets on the ground.

Regional Governor Oleksandr Starukh said Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones damaged two infrastructure facilities in the city of Zaporizhzhia, the first time used there. He said missiles also struck the city again, injuring one person.

The Emergency Services of Ukraine said the toll of Russian S-300 missile strikes on the city a day earlier rose to 11 and a further 21 people were rescued from the rubble of destroyed apartments.

“This was not a random hit, but a series of missiles aimed at multi-storey buildings,” Mr Starukh wrote on his Telegram channel.

Zaporizhzhia is one of the four regions of Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin has illegally claimed as Russian territory. The region is home to a sprawling nuclear power plant under Russian occupation while the city of the same name remains under Ukrainian control. The Ukrainian military also said 500 former criminals were mobilised to reinforce Russian ranks in eastern Donetsk, where Ukrainian forces have been retaking territory.