At the battle of Stirling Bridge, 11 September 1297, the movie Braveheart has William Wallace provoking the English to battle, saying "Here are Scotland's terms. Lower your flags, and march straight back to England, stopping at every home to beg forgiveness for 100 years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today. ... Before we let you leave, your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own ass."

Putin's Nuclear Crisis - October 2022

Vladimir Putin made overt and explicit threats to use nuclear weapons in his war on Ukraine. The chances of the first use of a nuclear weapon in Europe increased dramatically with Putin's support for annexation of occupied Ukrainian territory, along with his vow that Russia would use "all means at its disposal" to defend its territorial integrity. In Russia, on state television and speeches by Putin, the conflict is painted as both a fight to free Ukrainians from a "neo-Nazi" government and a struggle against NATO and the West in which Russia's existence is at stake.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham claimed on 01 October 3033 that any Russian use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine would be considered as an attack on "NATO itself," prompting a "catastrophic" response. Speaking during a joint press conference with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the North Carolina senator further insisted that in such an attack the radiation "would not be confined to Ukraine, you would be irradiating parts of Europe that are under the NATO banner." He emphasized "If that day ever comes â€" and I hope and pray it doesn't â€" [a nuclear strike] should be considered by NATO writ large and the United States as an attack by Russia on NATO itself".

The United States saw no evidence suggesting that Russia had decided to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on 02 October 2022. "I don't see anything right now that would lead me to believe that he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] has made such a decision," Austin told CNN interviewer Fareed Zakaria. The Pentagon chief said that Washington had previously communicated these concerns to Moscow via top-level channels. When asked if he had any recent contacts with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Austin responded negatively.

Putin "is explicitly demonstrating that he is going to do whatever it takes to win, even at the risk of undermining his own regime," Russian expert Tatyana Stanovaya, founder and CEO of the political analysis firm R.Politik, wrote in an October 6 article in Foreign Affairs magazine. "Blindly believing in his own rectitude, Putin may resort to nuclear weapons if events in Ukraine continue to confound his ambitions," she wrote. "The key question is whether Russia's elites and broader society are prepared to accompany their president on this journey to hell, or if Putin, in doubling down on his disastrous gamble in Ukraine, has only paved the way for his own end."

On October 6, at Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Reception, Biden said: " we have some real difficult decisions to make, relative to what's going on in Ukraine, and we're going to continue to support them. But first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, we have a direct threat of the use of the nuclear weapon if, in fact, things continue down the path they've been going. That's — that's a different deal. That's a different deal. And, you know, we're trying to figure out: What — what is Putin's off-ramp? Where — where does he get off? Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not not only lose face, but lose significant power within Russia?"

The U.S. national-security spokesman said President Joe Biden's recent warnings of possible "Armageddon" in relation to Russian President Vladimir Putin's continued references to his nuclear arsenal were not based on any specific developments and that the White House does not see an imminent threat. "These comments were not based on new or fresh intelligence or new indications that Mr. Putin has made a decision to use nuclear weapons and, quite frankly, we don't have any indication that he has made that kind of decision," John Kirby told ABC TV on October 9.

A senior Russian Foreign Ministry official warned the Western countries that supplying long-range and more advanced weapons to Ukraine would cross Russia's red lines and in that case they have to be ready for a response. "As for the red lines, we have already designated them. First of all, these are the deliveries of long-range or more powerful weapons to Kiev. Specific measures of response to the actions by the United States and its allies supplying weapons to the Kiev regime will be defined following a thorough analysis of the developing situation," Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second CIS Department Alexey Polischchuk told TASS news agency 09 October 2022.

Russia conducted massed long-range missile strikes against energy infrastructure, communications and military command facilities deep inside Ukraine on 10 October 2022, with the bombardment taking place two days after Ukrainian security forces carried out an attack against the Crimean Bridge linking the Russian peninsula to the mainland.

President Vladimir Putin said Russia's response to any further Ukrainian attacks would be "severe", after Moscow's forces carried out retaliatory missile attacks across multiple Ukrainian cities following an explosion on a bridge linking Crimea with Russia. "It was not possible to leave [Ukrainian attacks] unanswered. If attempts at terrorist attacks continue, the response from Russia will be severe and correspond to the level of threat," Putin said.

Dr. Matthew Crosston, a professor of national security policy and specialist in international security and intelligence studies at the Bowie State University in Maryland, said the missile strikes debunk the myth spread by the US and Kiev in recent weeks that an 'irrational' Putin might resort to using nuclear weapons in Ukraine after being cornered by a string of defeats.

Former CIA director and retired US army general David Petraeus said that the United States would destroy Russia's troops and equipment in Ukraine and sink its Black Sea fleet if it carried out a nuclear attack in the country. "Just to give you a hypothetical, we would respond by leading a NATO - a collective - effort that would take out every Russian conventional force that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black Sea," he told ABC News. Petraeus said the use of nuclear weapons by Russia in Ukraine would not trigger NATO's Article 5, which calls for the collective defense of NATO because Ukraine is not part of NATO.

Petraeus said that it would not be a situation triggering the alliance's Article 5, which calls for a collective defense. That is because Ukraine is not part of Nato – nonetheless, a "US and Nato response" would be in order, Petraeus said. Petraeus said the use of nuclear weapons by Russia in Ukraine would not trigger NATO's Article 5, which calls for the collective defense of NATO because Ukraine is not part of NATO. However, he acknowledged that the likelihood that radiation would extend to NATO countries under the Article 5 umbrella could perhaps be construed as an attack on a NATO member.

Petraeus said that he had not spoken to national security adviser Jake Sullivan on the likely US response to nuclear escalation from Russia, which administration officials have said has been repeatedly communicated to Moscow. Petraeus added, "You don't want to, again, get into a nuclear escalation here. But you have to show that this cannot be accepted in any way."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Russia 13 October 2022 that its army would be "annihilated" by the US-led military alliance if uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine, while the Kremlin has advised Washington of its nuclear "red line". Speaking at the opening of a Diplomatic Academy in Belgium, Borrell said, "Putin is saying he is not bluffing. Well, he cannot afford bluffing, and it has to be clear that the people supporting Ukraine and the European Union and the Member States, and the United States and NATO are not bluffing neither."

Borrell added "Any nuclear attack against Ukraine will create an answer, not a nuclear answer but such a powerful answer from the military side that the Russian Army will be annihilated."

French President Emmanuel Macron said 13 October 2022 Paris would not respond with nuclear weapons if Russia deployed nukes against Ukraine. The comments immediately drew the ire of critics, who said he had divulged too much information. Speaking to public broadcaster France 2 on Wednesday, Macron said his country had a clearly defined nuclear doctrine which was based on the "fundamental interests of the nation."

"These are clearly defined and wouldn't be directly affected at all if, for example, there was a ballistic nuclear attack in Ukraine," he said. Macron also tweeted on Wednesday that France does "not want a world war." Macron's candor drew criticism from former French President François Hollande, who told FranceInfo radio that the credibility of nuclear dissuasion "relies on not saying anything" about what the country might do in specific circumstances.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III at a news conference following a North Atlantic Council Meeting 13 October 2022, said "... it is the business of NATO to ensure that we have the ability to defend NATO, and so that is the -- the topic that we always discuss whenever we meet. We're always looking to ensure that we have the right capabilities and the -- in place to not only defend NATO but also to sustain our efforts going forward. In terms of Russia's comments, you've heard me say a number of times and also our leadership say that irresponsible and reckless rhetoric is dangerous. And so as we've witnessed nuclear saber rattling, we don't think that's very helpful, and again, it's -- it's dangerous."

Putin, for the second time this week, floated the possibility that Russia may formally change its military doctrine of not being the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict, days after he warned of the “increasing” threat of nuclear war. “They (the US) have it in their strategy, in the documents it is spelled out – a preventive blow. We don’t. We, on the other hand, have formulated a retaliatory strike in our strategy,” Putin said at a news conference in the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek. Even if Russia were to retaliate immediately on seeing the launch of nuclear missiles towards it, Putin said, “this means that the fall of the warheads of enemy missiles on the territory of the Russian Federation is inevitable – they will still fall.”

A third world war with the use of nuclear weapons could begin in the event of a hypothetical loss of Crimea by Russia, wrote the American billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk on his Twitter 17 October 2022. “Whether one likes it or not, Crimea is absolutely viewed by Russia as a key part of Russia. Crimea is also critical to Russia's national security, as it is a southern naval base. From her point of view, the loss of Crimea is the same as the loss of Hawaii and Pearl Harbor for the United States,” Musk said. According to him, if Russia is faced with a choice - to abandon Crimea or use nuclear weapons, it will choose the latter. “If we nuke Russia, it will nuke us. And then the Third World War will begin, ”he concluded.

The U.N. nuclear chief said October 27, 2022 he is sending inspectors to two locations in Ukraine where Russia alleged that activities related to the possible production of “dirty bombs” was taking place and expects them to reach a conclusion “in days—very fast.” Rafael Grossi said inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency would be traveling this week to the two sites, which are under IAEA safeguards, following a written request from the Ukrainian government.