Zelenskyy on Putin's threat of nuclear weapons: 'I don't think he's bluffing'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia's menace of atomic weapons usage "could beryllium a reality," successful an interrogation with CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday.

It has been 7 months since Russia launched its penetration of Ukraine successful February, and successful a rare, televised code connected Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin indirectly threatened that helium is prepared to usage atomic weapons to escalate the war.

Zelenskyy said Russia is targeting atomic powerfulness plants successful Ukraine, truthful determination could beryllium immoderate information to Putin's claims.

"He wants to scare the full world. These are the archetypal steps of his atomic blackmail. I don't deliberation he's bluffing," Zelenskyy said.

Referendum voting successful Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine is underway, according to Russian authorities media. Western and Ukrainian officials are rebuking them arsenic a sham utilized by the Kremlin to effort to legitimize Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory.

Zelenskyy said a batch of radical volition beryllium forced to enactment successful these referenda, but that determination is nary enactment for it successful society. He said a menace could look if the Russians implicit the referendum and denote the results.

"This would marque it impossible, successful immoderate case, to proceed immoderate diplomatic negotiations with the President of Russian Federation, and helium knows it precise well," Zelenskyy said. "I deliberation it's a precise unsafe awesome from President Putin that tells america that Putin is not going to decorativeness this war."

Putin announced a partial subject mobilization successful Russia during his code Wednesday, stating that the West "wants to destruct our country" and had tried to "turn Ukraine's radical into cannon fodder."

Zelenskyy said Russia is utilizing the warfare arsenic an excuse to assertion that it is being attacked by the West.

"He knows that he's losing the war. In the battlefield, Ukraine has seized the initiative. He cannot explicate to his nine why, and helium is looking for answers to these questions," Zelenskyy said. "Now, it's the West who attacks Russia. Now, the West attacks our territories."

As wintertime approaches, Zelenskyy said helium knows the months up volition beryllium hard and complicated. He said Ukrainian forces are moving to support infrastructure similar energy and h2o power systems.

"This is simply a challenge, but we are not acrophobic of that," helium said.