Nobel laureate Muratov warns nuclear weapons in Ukraine war a possibility

Geneva, May 3 (EFE).- Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, on Tuesday said that he would not rule out the possibility of nuclear weapons being used in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Muratov, editor-in-chief of the independent Novaya Gazeta, which suspended operations at the end of March amid the threat of reprisals from the Russian government, took part in a Geneva event marking World Press Freedom Day alongside his fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Filipino-American journalist Maria Ressa.

“Earlier, Maria and I spoke in a different room and I told her that I do not rule out the possibility that nuclear weapons might be used,” he told the panel.

“The biggest tragedy of it all is that nobody could possibly stop this decision from being taken, not the parliament, not civil society, not the public, not even Lenin,” he added.

Unlike many Russian journalists, Muratov has decided against going into exile.

A leading figure in independent Russian journalism since the 1990s, Muratov said he believes Russia’s president Vladimir Putin seeks to absorb Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region into Russia.EFE

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