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The coming decade will be the "most dangerous" for the world since the end of World War II, Russian President Vladimir Putin predicted Thursday.
Russia has continued to escalate its invasion of Ukraine, and Putin as also ramped up his nuclear rhetoric, leading to fears that he could deploy a tactical nuclear weapon. Putin stated at an annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club that the current global situation is "to a certain extent revolutionary," according to the Agence France-Presse.
"Ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and at the same time important decade since the end of the Second World War," Putin said.
Putin's statement comes less than a day after his military completed several intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests on Wednesday. Russia tested ground-launched, air-launched and submarine-launched missiles in the "Grom" exercise. Each of the missiles was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after his meeting with U.S President Joe Biden at the 'Villa la Grange' in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. ((AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool))
A Russian military truck drives past an unexploded munition during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the Russia-controlled village of Chornobaivka, Ukraine July 26, 2022. (REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko)
EXPLAINER: DIRTY BOMBS ARE DEVICES USED TO CREATE FEAR AND PANIC, ACTUALLY CAUSE FEW DEATHS
Russian officials have also accused Ukraine of planning to use a "dirty bomb" within its own borders, an assertion that Ukraine and Western allies dismissed as an excuse for Putin to further escalate the conflict.
A dirty bomb is a conventional explosive device that has been combined with radioactive material to taint its landing area.
"We will regard the use of the dirty bomb by the Kyiv regime as an act of nuclear terrorism," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia reportedly told U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council in a letter.
The U.S., France and the U.K. released a statement rejecting the accusations soon afterward, calling them "transparently false."
"The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation," the three countries wrote in a joint statement. "We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia."
A still image from video, released by the Russian Defence Ministry, shows what it said to be Russia's strategic nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Tula during exercises held by the country's strategic nuclear forces at an unknown location, in this image taken from handout footage released Oct. 26, 2022. (Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS)
Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that Russia's Wednesday missile tests were routine and had been long-scheduled but condemned Russia's rhetoric as "reckless."
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"As we've highlighted before, this is a routine annual exercise by Russia," Ryder said. "In this regard, Russia is complying with its arms control obligations, its transparency, commitments to notifications.