Vladimir Putin’s mounting problems in Ukraine make Russia’s use of a tactical nuclear weapon more likely, a senior US expert has told Sky News.
Tactical nuclear weapons are designed to be used on a battlefield.
John Bolton, a former US national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations, said that the Russian president is in “greater trouble than at any point since the invasion”.
Discussing the Russian “annexation” of four occupied areas in eastern and southern Ukraine following a series of referendums described by Kyiv and the West as a “sham”, Mr Bolton said: “Obviously he (Putin) thought it would be a morale booster for Russia, (that) it would help lay the groundwork for future borders with Ukraine.
“But the fact is, at least according to Putin’s view of the world, fighting is now taking place on the ‘soil of Russia’ and the Russian military is not doing very well.”
Mr Bolton added: “So I think without question that increases Putin’s domestic difficulties in regular Russian politics and makes it somewhat more likely that the use of a tactical nuclear weapon might be possible.
“Because with ‘Russian soil’ itself affected I think Putin could see that as regime-threatening, which would be the circumstance when use of a nuclear weapon would be more likely.”
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When asked what the US response might be, Mr Bolton said: “I don’t think it needs to be nuclear, depending on what the Russians actually do.
“But I do think we should say it would be Vladimir Putin signing a suicide note if he authorised even a tactical nuclear weapon.
“It’s very important that we deter the use of a nuclear weapon.
“Otherwise the lesson that would be learned in China, Iran, North Korea, would be exactly the wrong lesson.”
More than a dozen people are missing after a tourist boat sank in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, officials have said.
The boat, Sea Story, was carrying 45 people, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and 14 crew.
Authorities are searching for 17 people who are still missing, the governor of the Red Sea region said on Monday, adding that 28 people had been rescued.
The vessel was part of a diving trip when it went down near the coastal town of Marsa Alam.
Officials said a distress call was received at 5.30am local time on Monday.
The boat had departed from Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday and was scheduled to reach its destination of Hurghada Marina on 29 November.
Some survivors had been airlifted to safety on a helicopter, officials said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht to sink.
The firm that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, said it has no information on the matter.
According to its maker’s website, the Sea Story was built in 2022.
Russia launched a large drone attack on Kyiv overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the attack shows his capital needs better air defences.
Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attacks.
Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs and around 460 attack drones in the past week.
Warning that Ukraine needs to improve its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week”.
“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state.
“But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us.”
Russia did not comment on the attack.
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It comes as Russian media reported that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the country’s southern military district, had been removed from his role over allegedly providing misleading reports about his troops’ progress.
While Russian forces have advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, forces have been much slower around Siversk and the eastern region of Donetsk.
Russian forces have reportedly captured a British man while he was fighting for Ukraine.
In a widely circulated video posted on Sunday, the man says his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22.
He says he is a former British Army soldier who signed up to fight for Ukraine’s International Legion after his job.
He is dressed in army fatigues and speaks with an English accent as he says to camera: “I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment.”
He tells the camera he was “just a private”, “a signalman” in “One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron”.
“When I left… got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said.
“My dad was away in prison, I see it on the TV,” he added, shaking his head. “It was a stupid idea.”
In a second video, he is shown with his hands tied and at one point, with tape over his eyes.
He describes how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: “I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.”
Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a “UK mercenary” had been “taken prisoner in the Kursk area” of Russia.
The UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.
The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.