Did Vladimir Putin say in a televised address on November 17, 2024, that Russia could use nuclear weapons if Ukraine launches "a mass missile" to strike targets inside Russia? No, that's not true: A viral post on X reused footage from almost two months before November 2024, when reports said the Biden administration was removing a long-standing ban on the use of U.S.-supplied missiles that could strike inside Russia from Ukraine. In the old footage, Putin discussed updates to the Russian national nuclear doctrine, not the authorization of nuclear weapons for immediate use or in response to specific missiles.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on November 17, 2024. It said:
BREAKING: Vladimir Putin just announced to use NUCLEAR weapons if a mass missile or UAV is launched toward Russia, or when these weapons cross into Russian territory.
World War 3 is here!
Biden caused World War III.
STOP WWIII!
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Nov 18 17:34:40 2024 UTC)
The claim was published the day multiple major media organizations -- for example, The Associated Press (archived here), Reuters (archived here), Fox News (archived here) and NPR (archived here) -- reported that the Biden administration allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
However, the video reused in the post reviewed in this fact check did not reflect the Kremlin's reaction to those reports. It was a previous Putin address (archived here) recorded on September 25, 2024. In it, the Russian president discussed revisions of the Russian nuclear doctrine -- not the authorization to use nuclear weapons.
In that earlier address, Putin began (translated by Lead Stories Russian-speaking staff):
We are holding a scheduled event today: The meeting is called the Permanent Meeting on Nuclear Deterrence, and it is held twice a year. And on today's agenda, we have an issue related to updating the Fundamentals of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence.
The discussed updates included a proposition that if Russia is attacked by a non-nuclear state that is helped by a nuclear state, that will be considered a joint attack on Russia. The new version of the doctrine does not appear to have been made public since then.
As of this writing, neither the White House nor the Pentagon nor Ukraine explicitly confirmed media reports about lifting a veto on long-range strikes within the Russian territory.
In a November 17, 2024, address (archived here), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointed out the importance of "long-range capabilities" for the Ukrainian army, but added that "strikes are not carried out with words," that "such things are not announced" and that "missiles will speak for themselves."
On November 18, 2024, remarks (archived here) by U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer included:
I don't have anything to confirm for you here.
Then, Finer brought up reports about the presence of North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk region (archived here):
... what I will say is that the United States has been clear throughout this conflict that we will make our policy decisions based on circumstances we identify on the battlefield, including, in recent days and weeks, a significant Russian escalation that involves the deployment of a foreign country's forces on its own territory. The United States has been clear that we will respond to that, and we've been clear to the Russians that we will respond to that.
Russia's reaction included a statement (archived here) from Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On November 18, 2024, she referred to news reports as unconfirmed but said that if that's the case, "Russia's response would then be adequate and tangible." On the same day, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, as cited by the Washington Post (archived here), that the reported U.S. permission will "continue to add fuel to the fire and to further provoke the level of tension."
As of this writing, Putin had not directly commented on the reports about U.S.-supplied long-range missiles. His most recent video address was published on the Kremlin on November 10, 2024 (archived here). On that occasion, he congratulated the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on their professional holiday and said nothing about nuclear weapons.
Other Lead Stories fact checks of the claim concerning the Russian-Ukrainian war can be found here.
