Ein Erdbeben hat die nukleare Strategie von Putin untergraben – wir müssen es beschlagnahmen

Russia’s conventional military forces have taken a hammering as President Putin’s three-day “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine has extended well into its fourth year. The army has suffered over one million casualties, lost anywhere between 5,000-10,000 tanks and had its formerly magnificent Black Sea fleet obliterated.

But in the background, [Putin](https://inews.co.uk/topic/vladimir-putin?srsltid=AfmBOoooNKJVls34umRnDJLmVB4p6E9-OjBfZKBKLEwFQQSmoe3KUgZ2&ico=in-line_link) and his other gangster leaders like former prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, have been able to lean on their 5,000 or so nuclear warheads to bully Ukraine and European capitals. However, this strategy has taken a blow recently, and its apparent frailty may be the area the West should exploit in order to gain a just peace for Ukraine.

Russia’s nuclear submarine base in the Far East appears to have been damaged by the [tsunami](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/tsunami-warnings-for-us-japan-and-pacific-after-massive-earthquake-3832800?ico=in-line_link) which swept Russia’s Pacific coast on Wednesday after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake. The tsunami hit the Rybachiy naval base on the Kamchatka peninsula. 

This is Russia’s largest nuclear submarine base for its strategic nuclear deterrent, and also other nuclear-powered submarines. It is strategically based: originally to be well out of range of European forces, but now also Ukrainian forces. It has access to the vast Pacific Ocean, no doubt to hide from NATO surveillance and launch attacks on the US if need be.

Satellite images show that on the surface there is some damage to the port, unsurprising at only 75 miles from the epicentre of one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded on the planet. The possibility of damage below the waterline must be legion, where one anticipates many of the secure submarine “pens” will be.