Russia's Vladimir Putin is more likely to start World War III than concede defeat in Ukraine, according to an editor of Russian state TV.
The remark came Wednesday from RT editor Margarita Simonyan, who said a Russian nuclear strike is "more realistic" and "more probable" than failure in the second phase of Putin's "special military operation" in Ukraine, the U.K.'s Daily Star reported.
"Either we lose in Ukraine or the Third World War starts," Simonyan said. "I think World War III is more realistic, knowing us, knowing our leader.
"The most incredible outcome, that all this will end with a nuclear strike, seems more probable to me than the other course of events."
There have been reports of a major offensive May 9, the 77th anniversary of Russia's victory over Nazi Germany and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sounded an ominous warning of nuclear war.
"This is our key position on which we base everything: The risks now are considerable," Lavrov said Tuesday. "I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real – and we must not underestimate it."
Simonyan, the editor at RT, which stands for Russia Today, seemed resigned to nuclear war and death for "all."
"This is to my horror on one hand, but on the other hand, it is what it is," she said Wednesday, according to translations. "We will go to heaven, while they will simply croak.
"We're all going to die someday."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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