Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 20/11/2024; Author: Jelena Jovanovic
The ongoing deterioration of relations between Russia, on the one hand, and the USA and its allies, on the other, has triggered a series of actions fueling global fears of further conflict escalation.
The immediate catalyst for these new tensions was the decision by outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration approved Ukraine’s use of American weapons for deeper strikes into Russian territory.
This move was predictably met with hostility in the Kremlin. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new nuclear doctrine.
This development has been interpreted in various ways by global media, while certain regional portals sensationalized Putin’s response, framing it as a direct threat to NATO countries, including Montenegro.
“RUSSIAN NUKES ARE FALLING ON PODGORICA! This is the key to Putin’s new doctrine, and the revenge has already begun!” announced the portal Aloonline (archived: here)
“In real-world conditions, paragraph 11 will automatically trigger paragraph 10. This implies that if Ukraine were to attack Russia with long-range missiles, Moscow would designate the U.S. as an aggressor state. Consequently, once a state is labeled as an aggressor, paragraph 10 is automatically invoked, leading Russia to regard all U.S. allies as aggressor states. In simple terms, if Ukraine launches long-range missiles at Russia, every country in a military alliance with the U.S. would automatically share responsibility for the attack and potentially become a target for Russia. For example, Greece, Bulgaria, France, Montenegro…”.
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This article was also shared on Facebook (archived here).
What does Russia’s updated nuclear doctrine mean?
The fundamental principle of the Russian doctrine is that the use of nuclear weapons is the ultimate measure to protect the country’s sovereignty.
The U.S. move certainly prompted Putin to update the existing doctrine, however, the amendments do not contain a plan to specifically bomb any member of the Alliance.
“Specifically, the revised doctrine expands the range of countries and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence, as well as the list of military threats to be countered in this way. In addition, the document states that Russia will now consider any attack by a non-nuclear country supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack. Moscow also reserves the right to consider a nuclear response to an attack with conventional weapons that threatens its sovereignty. The previous version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine was approved in June 2020, replacing a similar document that had been in force for ten years,” RFE/RL reported.
“It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered their joint attack on the Russian Federation,” Putin said.
He further clarified that Moscow would consider such a response if it received credible intelligence about an imminent large-scale aerial assault using strategic or tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, or hypersonic weapons.
These meaningless writings come after Russia announced that Ukraine had fired missiles delivered to it by America into its territory.
On the same day that Alo online reported that Russia’s revenge had already begun, Reuters reported that Putin was open to talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine with Donald Trump, but ruled out any major territorial concessions and insisted that Kyiv abandon its ambitions to join NATO.
To be clear, Montenegro is a non-nuclear power, and if, for example, it were to carry out aggression against Russia with the support of America or one of the nuclear states, it would succumb to Putin’s doctrine.
The editorial staff of Raskrinkavanje, as well as anyone else, can confirm that Montenegro did not commit aggression against Russia.
Russian state television has aired a TV report that discusses hypotheses about a wider conflict with the West. The report shows a map of Europe, where individual capitals are marked that could be targets of Russian missiles in the imagined scenario. Montenegro is not on this map either.
Given these facts and the reality—that Montenegro has not acted aggressively toward Russia with the assistance of a nuclear state and that there is no evidence of “revenge”—the claim made by the editorial staff of the tabloid Alo Online, whose editorial office is also in Podgorica, should also know, we assessed the publication as disinformation.
The “Disinformation” rating is given to a media report that contains a “mix“ of facts and incorrect or half-true content. In such cases, the media may not necessarily be aware of incorrect information being published alongside the true ones. Also, this rating will be given to media reports with false attributions or titles that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.
The “Clickbait“ rating is given to a media report whose title has no grounds in the article that follows. Such articles and features aim to attract the attention of the consumer with a sensational title, promising content that does not actually. Such reports are mostly motivated by financial interest, i.e., to increase readership.