Japan Condemns Russian Nuclear Threats, Recalling Hiroshima and Nagasaki Tragedies

Japan will not tolerate nuclear threats from Russia, stating that the tragedies that occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be repeated, a representative of the country declared at a meeting of the UN Security Council on the issue of Western arms supplies to Kyiv, as reported by the organization’s press service. «The representative of Japan condemned Moscow’s repeated nuclear rhetoric, noting that her country, which suffered from atomic bombings during the war, will never accept nuclear threats, let alone any use of nuclear weapons», - the UN statement said. «The tragedies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be repeated», - the representative of the country stated.

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The number of immediate deaths from the atomic bombings exceeded 70,000 people. By the end of 1945, the death toll from the consequences of the nuclear explosions ranged from 90,000 to 166,000 people, according to various estimates. In late February, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated during his address to the Federal Assembly that Western countries must understand that Russia possesses nuclear weapons capable of «hitting targets on their territory». «Now the consequences for potential interveners will be much more tragic. And everything they are coming up with now, scaring the whole world, that all this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and therefore, the destruction of civilization», - the president said.



The conditions under which Moscow would be willing to use nuclear weapons are outlined in the «Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence», - adopted in 2020. There are four conditions: Russia receives reliable information about the launch of ballistic missiles attacking its territory and/or the territory of its allies; the enemy uses nuclear weapons or other types of weapons of mass destruction against Russia and/or its allies; the enemy acts against Russian critical infrastructure; and in the event of aggression against Russia that threatens the country’s existence.