Putin’s all ‘bluff and bluster’ as war concerns grow in Russia | Hamish de Bretton-Gordon

Putin’s all ‘bluff and bluster’ as war concerns grow in Russia | Hamish de Bretton-Gordon

it also shows I think how really concerned the Russians are with the way the war is going and if the shackles are off Ukraine with the sophisticated American Weaponry they have the atacam and the like to attack into Russia you can see that Russia is very nervous and all this bravado with their tactical nuclear weapons is actually I think Bluff and Bluster um certainly seeing the videos they posted yesterday showed me an organization that was you know unprofessional um we we and understand that actually the nuclear warheads that the Russians claim to have on their escandon missiles are actually conventional ones so yeah I think it’s a further indication that that Russia is is really you know feeling that the war is not going as they see fit and of course Putin wants to do everything to ensure that he prevails my name’s h Gordon I was a British army officer commanded uh the first TR tank regiment uh now an academic and a commentator right well hey Mish thank you very much for talking to us might you be able just to start off by explaining exactly what’s happened here well from what we what we understand um the Russians have launched a satellite uh which is a satellite that has the ability to attack other satellites or certainly put them out of condition um and this is against a backdrop I think in 1967 States like the US and Russia and others signed a treaty that uh space would not be used uh for anything to do with uh defense and I think at this time it’s hugely significant because uh only this week Russia has been doing nuclear drills uh testing its T tactical nuclear weapons um very much in response to what’s happening in Ukraine it’s also very clear that us intelligence satellites and probably British ones as well are providing some pretty detailed information on Russian troop movements in Ukraine and elsewhere and no doubt of facilitating some of the devastating attacks which are long range Precision guided missiles and Storm Shadow uh deep uh into to the Russian Logistics hubs and elsewhere and I think very significantly today uh secretary state blinken has agreed with our own foreign secretary Lord Cameron that us and British weapons can be used to strike Russian military Targets in Russia which hither to has not been the case so when you put that all together it starts to make sense but then this news or development from the Russian side potentially then this is a problem well it it’s certainly a problem um the challenge with containing what is happening in Ukraine is something that is in everybody’s interests um you know as we head towards an election in this country I would suggest that we haven’t been closer to war in Europe since the summer of 1939 and any misunderstanding or misinterpretation particularly of strategic assets Like Satellites could be the trigger that would turn the war in Ukraine into a European war and even further so this is the potential to escalate things Way Beyond the borders of Ukraine because of course we see on the news everybody sees on the news pictures from Ukraine and often with war war you Warfare and and and and the like you see PL and boats and this kind of thing one thing that is sort of outside of the public Consciousness almost is what happens in space and the potential implications that it can have absolutely space is critical for intelligence it’s critical for communications um many people have heard of the staright starlink system Elon mus system which is satellites communication satellites which are enabling an awful lot of activity in Ukraine and also around the world you know virtually every drone that is flying in Ukraine every missile that’s flying is being directed via a satellite every bit of intelligence that’s being collected or or a lot of what we call the Strategic the really big intelligence where the major troop movements are where the Russian commanders are Etc is being collected by satellite intelligence but not just sort of video that people would would sand and satellite imagery but what we call Sig signals intelligence that’s what people are talking about on the ground and in the Airways uh also IM imagery intelligence um so virtually everything that is not a soldier on the ground or a drone flying at a few hundred feet uh from an intelligence perspective is coming from space of course Russia have said that the launch of or what America have said the launch of a counter space weapon is misinformation well one would expect the Russians to to say nothing different um you know the the whole uh Russian Communications campaign is about misinformation and disinformation and propaganda so yeah um I generally think if Russia says something the truth is probably about 180° or diametrically opposed to what they’re saying so so what one would expect that I I think also um you know the Russians would expect probably the the Americans have a similar capability to take down Russian satellites now it might well be that they don’t actually have a satellite you know hunter killer satellite in space as the Russians appear to do at the moment but there would be other means for taking it down so yeah this seems to be a bit of a a sort of tip fortat I expect but it also shows I think how really concerned the Russians are with the way the war is going and if the shackles are off Ukraine with the sophisticated American Weaponry they have the atacam and the like to attack into Russia you can see that Russia is very nervous and all this bravado with their tactical nuclear weapons is actually I think Bluff and Bluster um certainly seeing the videos they posted yesterday showed me an organization that was you know unprofessional um we we and understand that actually the nuclear warheads that the Russians claim to have on their as scander missiles are actually conventional ones so yeah I think it’s a further indication that that Russia is is really you know feeling that the war is not going as they see fit and of course Putin wants to do everything to ensure that he prevails what’s the most likely outcome here then as far as this satellite issue is concerned well I would have thought at the moment it is in the US and the Russian interests that this doesn’t escalate Beyond Ukraine um so I I I would expect that both those countries are trying very hard to make sure that it doesn’t but the fact that the Americans have come out so strongly this um is really I think a warning to Russia to to actually you know if you have put a this sort of satellite in space don’t use it because if you use it you know that is the end you you know we will be all in so I think with a lot of these things at the Strategic level between the Russians and the Americans um they will be trying to make sure it doesn’t escalate which is probably why we’re hearing so much about it in the public press so that either side couldn’t say well you know it sneaked up on us so I I think it’s really really challenging and dangerous times around Ukraine at the moment and W with everything else vexing and focusing our minds at the moment actually you know I I want our politicians to be focusing on this rather than everything else it might F sound difficult at the moment but you know if Ukraine goes bang we all go bang with it when you say escalate what could that look like in the obviously the worst case we know what that is but in the sort of you know lower end of things well I I think um you know absolutely you’re right the worst case escalation is war in Europe which involves NATO which involves all of us now in between them there are there are other levels of escalation I think um you know if Russia does start did take out some us satellites I would expect the US might well allow its missiles and jets to take out uh Russian missiles and jets that are are fighting in the Ukraine war um and that would have a profound effect on Russia’s ability to prosecute that war in Ukraine so that could then you know escalate even further um you know likewise I think you know if um us weaponry and British Weaponry like Storm Shadow is used to take out targets deep into Russia that could um encourage Russia to start taking out satellites and then you get into this escaro ly sort of ladder as it were so that’s why I say I mean things are really finely balanced in Ukraine at the moment and deserve our un undivided attention which you know I think perhaps that is not what it’s getting at the moment which makes it so dangerous and just lastly then you mentioned the outer space treaty is it too simplistic to say that that being in place should probably stop any real escalation with this I I think it is too simple to say that and you know I may be uh super cynical having spent my the last 40 years of my life on the battlefields of the world protected allegedly by the Geneva Convention chemical weapons convention and elsewhere but you know I was with the peshmerga when chlorine gas was chucked at us that was against the chemical weapons convention you know I fought in Afghanistan and elsewhere where the Geneva Convention has been completely ignored so um yeah I I think uh the fact that was signed in 1967 space was a very different place than it is now you know perhaps one thing that could be done is it could be updated to reflect what’s happened in the last you know 40 plus 50 plus years um so yeah I’m I’m afraid International treaties only as good as those who support them and prepare to back them up and generally when it comes to Tyrant like you know the Russians the Iranians and dare I say the North Koreans these treaties you know are only used when they’re a benefit to them and if they get in the way they ignore them

“Russia is really feeling that the war isn’t going as they see fit and Putin wants to do everything to make sure he prevails.”

Putin’s “bravado” is all “bluff and bluster” as Russia is “really concerned” with how the war with Ukraine is going, says former British Army colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon.

📻 Listen to Times Radio – https://www.thetimes.co.uk/radio

📍 Subscribe to our channel – http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTjDhFuGXlhx9Us0gq0VK2w?sub_confirmation=1

🗞 Subscribe to The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/subscribe/radio-3for3/

📲 Get the free Times Radio app https://www.thetimes.co.uk/radio/how-to-listen-to-times-radio/app