What happens if the UK is targeted by nuclear weapons? How Britain would respond to a Russia attack

The fear is that if Russia is allowed to invade Ukraine unresisted, that might act as a signal to other leaders that the days of Western powers intervening in other conflicts are over. It is called self-determination, and perhaps the most important aspect of this principle is that borders cannot be changed by invading armies. In 1994, the UK - along with the US - signed a memorandum at an international conference in Budapest promising "to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine". They also promised to provide assistance to Ukraine if it "should become a victim of an act of aggression". We will continue to work with Ukraine and our international partners for a just and sustainable peace.

“I am legitimately worried that in that circumstance Putin might use a nuclear weapon, most likely on the ground in Ukraine to terrify everyone and get his way. President Putin ordering the use of nuclear weapons against the UK remains very unlikely, but is not impossible. What would happen if Russia decided to target the UK with nuclear weapons?

Ukraine invasion: UK troops will not fight against Russia says Wallace

President Putin warned in December that the war "could be a lengthy process", but then added later that Russia's goal was "not to spin the flywheel of military conflict", but to end it. President Putin never said it out loud, but high on the agenda was toppling the government of Ukraine's elected president. "The enemy has designated me as target number one; my family is target number two," said Volodymyr Zelensky.

• “And that’s why I’ve always said that it would be much better for us if Germany supported Ukrainians by adding money to the Ukrainian budget.
• So far the UK government has sent troops (now withdrawn) to train the Ukrainian army, and supplied them with defensive weapons.
• Crucially, General Sanders insisted that the potential scale of the conflict in years to come must not be underestimated.
• The Basmanniy district court said Maria Pevchikh, the head of Mr Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), and Kiya Yarmysh, his spokesman, should be arrested.

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Thursday morning and its forces have now advanced on the capital Kyiv. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Wallace said Ukraine would instead be supported to "fight every street with every piece of equipment we can get to them". In 1968 the Government developed an operation, codenamed Python, to disperse the key figures in groups to different parts of the country, including on yachts at sea. A nuclear strike on any UK city would kill everyone within a  1.2-mile radius instantly. Anyone exposed within a 6.8-mile radius of the impact would almost certainly suffer third-degree burns, while hundreds of thousands would be likely to die due to radiation fallout.

On 14 January, Ukraine destroyed a Russian A-50 MAINSTAY, a key enabler for Russian operations over Ukraine, providing airborne early warning of threats as well as command and control functionality. Ukraine has increased its agricultural exports in December 2023 to the highest level since the war began, reopened its main Black Sea ports and it has established a unilateral shipping export channel. Additionally, it has largely repelled the Russian Black Sea Fleet from operating in the western Black Sea. There is nothing ‘normal’ in this reality; everyday innocent Ukrainian lives are lost as a consequence of Russia’s war of choice. Russia has continued to terrorise the Ukrainian civilian population, exemplified in its missile and drone attacks which struck residential areas in Kyiv and Kharkiv yesterday. Viewed from any angle, Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine is nothing short of an unmitigated disaster for Russia.

Why did Putin invade?

Russia also has the world’s largest supply of operational nuclear warheads – at around 4,500 – making the threat of a nuclear attack the largest since the Cold War. If war broke out in Ukraine and Russian forces occupied large swathes of the country, many civilians might flee. A lot of the stark warnings we are hearing from our own government should be seen in that light. What we might want to worry about more is the impact on energy prices. Your parents are likely to pay even more for gas and electricity because of this crisis. US President Joe Biden has ruled out sending troops even to shepherd American citizens out of Ukraine because he said if Russians and Americans end up fighting that would be World War III.

• Military kit also needs boots on the ground to operate it – hence Sir Patrick’s call for a “Citizen Army” to boost the regular Armed Forces.
• Russian forces may try to push again along the entire front, at least to secure all of the Donbas region.
• Ground troops in Belarus, backed by airstrikes, would spearhead a lightning drive south to seize the capital, Kyiv.

The ministry said the settlement of Tabaivka, home to 34 people, was “liberated” and under Russian control. In order to continue its war, Russia has needed to ramp up its defence spending, which has come at the expense of other areas and accelerating inflation. This has forced the Central Bank of Russia to double interest rates to  16% since July 2023. Every weekday The Telegraph’s top journalists analyse the invasion from all angles - military, humanitarian, political, economic, historical - and tell you what you need to know to stay updated. On  https://euronewstop.co.uk/why-is-europe-not-helping-ukraine.html , the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, stopped the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to Russia’s recognition of the two self-proclaimed republics.

So far, it has achieved little more than exposing the brutality and inadequacy of the Russian military. A war of attrition is now taking place along an active front line of 850km (530 miles) and Russian victories are small and rare. What was meant to be a quick operation is now a protracted war that Western leaders are determined Ukraine should win. A month into the invasion and his campaign goals were dramatically scaled back after a retreat from Kyiv and Chernihiv.

They say NATO's principles of freedom and democracy are under threat and NATO has acted in non-member countries before, like Libya and Kosovo. Prime Minister Boris Johnson repeated that over the weekend, saying Ukraine is not a part of NATO and therefore not entitled to NATO's one for all, all for one protection. The danger, however, with sanctions is they push Moscow further away from the West and towards the East, meaning Mr Putin may develop yet closer relations with Beijing. Germany's pausing of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is perhaps the most significant step to punish Vladimir Putin because of the likely impact on the Russian economy. He is a strong believer in a professional army made up of volunteers. But he was making the point that if war broke out troop numbers would be too small.

The devastation was felt most acutely in Kharkiv, where an apartment block was hit, killing two people, and injuring 35 residents. The UK's defence secretary has also warned that we need to be prepared for a war. In his first major speech on defence, Grant Shapps said the country was moving from a "post war to a pre-war world".

• US officials believe the Kremlin has drafted a list of public figures earmarked for arrest or assassination.
• With just three UK-provided Storm Shadow cruise missiles, they have forced the commander of the Black Sea Fleet to withdraw a third of his fleet from Sevastopol.
• It could even send troops to the three Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.
• British ministers predict a long-running “quagmire”, with Russia suffering significant casualties.

"To think war could be contained to one nation would be foolish," they added.

But the head of the British Army Gen Sir Patrick Sanders is not alone in issuing a national call to prepare for a major conflict on European soil. Russia has sent tanks over the border into Ukraine and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the UK and NATO allies will support Kyiv. The Prime Minister also suggested Britain could provide more military support to Ukraine as legislation to allow for tougher UK sanctions against Russia were expected to come into force today. "A victorious Ukraine would not be a permanent ward of the West," it says, arguing that restored to its 1991 borders its economy is big enough to support its own military. By early summer Ukraine will be able to use US-made F16 fighter jets for the first time, which it hopes will improve its ability to counter Russian aircraft and strengthen its own air defences. Russian forces may try to push again along the entire front, at least to secure all of the Donbas region.

• This would put the "largest and most combat-effective friendly military on the European continent" at the forefront of NATO's defence, according to the thinktank.
• The US estimates artillery, missile and bomb strikes and ground clashes could kill 50,000 civilians, a figure that may prove conservative if fighting is prolonged.
• Luke Harding reports from Kupiansk, where almost two years after Vladimir Putin’s all-out invasion, Moscow has mobilised tens of thousands of troops.
• Despite warnings from the US and its Nato allies that any invasion by Russia of Ukraine would have "severe economic consequences," Moscow's military build-up on the border continues.

Labour's Keir Starmer and many Conservative backbenchers have called for further military options to be explored. So far the UK government has sent troops (now withdrawn) to train the Ukrainian army, and supplied them with defensive weapons. There is a sense in the upper echelons of the British military that many politicians and most of the public have not grasped the threat they see. It is the duty of the military to analyse that threat, and they still might be proved wrong.