Is Glasgow a Russian nuclear target?

Lt Col Stuart Crawford has responded to reported threats from Putin’s ‘Professor Doomsday’ to detonate a nuclear device in a bid to intimidate the West

Stuart Crawford is a political and defence commentator, former SNP member, and retired army officer. Sign up for his podcasts and newsletters at www.DefenceReview.uk

A military expert has given his verdict on whether Glasgow would be targeted by Russia with a nuclear bomb as the country ramps up its rhetoric amid the invasion of Ukraine.

Sergei Karaganov, a close adviser to Vladimir Putin and known as ‘Professor Doomsday’, has issued the latest threat from the rogue state as it looks to weaken the West’s resolve over its support for Ukraine.

According to reports, Karaganov has suggested Russia explode a nuclear weapon on ‘neutral’ ground to intimidate the UK and its allies.

But his claims have been dismissed by military commentator Lt Col Stuart Crawford, who said it was little more than “bluff, brinkmanship, and arrant nonsense”. And he ruled out Scottish cities such as Glasgow being targeted by Russia, as it would “it would lead to the end of Putin, Moscow, and Russia in quick succession”.

Writing in a new blog, the former SNP defence spokesman said even detonating a device somewhere like the Arctic as a show of strength would “unleash a sequence of events over which [Russia] would have no control”.