Five reasons Putin would ‘sacrifice EVERYTHING’ & fire nuke into space…& the terrifying chain reaction that would follow

A RAGING Vladimir Putin would "sacrifice everything" and fire nuclear weapons into space if he felt his grip on power was under threat.

US intelligence chiefs warned last week that Russia is planning to launch nukes into space that would destroy satellites in a "grave" threat to the world's security.

Now military experts have warned that Putin would take the "suicidal" decision to launch the deadly weapons if he felt his grip on power was being threatened by Ukraine and the West.

Any move to detonate the nukes in space would destroy satellites, which would have "devastating" and "extreme consequences" for those back on Earth.

It would wipe out all communications, meaning people would be unable to call for ambulances or police, and it would knock out GPS satellites.

That would mean aircraft controllers would have serious difficulties communicating with and routing planes. Given the sheer volume of airline traffic, accidents could occur and hundreds could be killed.

Juliana Suess, a Research Analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, told it would be "wrong" to think Putin wouldn't "sacrifice everything" by firing nukes into space.

Putin has already tested orbital weapons designed for blasting Western kit - such as the anti-satellite weapon, Cosmos 2543.

While the weapon was not armed with a nuke for its 2020 firing - there are fears future versions of similar tech could take the next step.

Retired US Army Brigadier General Kevin Ryan said he believes Putin would only deploy weapons of mass destruction as a "very last resort"; if he felt his grip on the regime was "physically threatened".

For Dr David Jordan, Co-Director of the Freeman Air & Space Institute at King's College London, Putin could make the disastrous knee-jerk reaction to fire nukes into space "because he can" or if "he thought he could get away with it".

He said Putin could also push the red button if he felt the war in Ukraine was going to end with his removal of power.

"He could do it out of spite. He might think, I've lost, so you're going to suffer as well," Dr Jordan told The Sun.

He said Putin could also launch nukes into space to unite the Russian population, and spin it by saying he "had to destroy enemy satellites to prevent an imminent Western threat".

If the Russian despot did fire nukes into space and pressed the red button, the explosion wouldn't just destroy one satellite.

Suess told The Sun: "A nuclear explosion in space would be indiscriminate and have long-lasting effects on the orbit in question.

"A nuclear detonation would wipe out a series of satellites in one go. Russia would be sacrificing their own satellites and space capabilities"

When detonated, the nuke would create a massive electromagnetic wave and release radiation into space.

And such a blast would indiscriminately destroy a vast swathe of commercial and government satellites that ordinary civilians rely on to use to make emergency calls on their phones and surf the internet.

There could also be a financial crisis as banks would lose the ability to track the moment that transactions occurred.

In major cities, traffic lines and railway signals will be defaulted to red, bringing transport to a standstill and potentially increasing the risk of crashes.

And the "devastating" chain reaction wouldn't stop there.

Militaries across the world rely on satellites to provide accurate, real-time guidance for weapons systems and aircraft, as well as detailed ground intelligence for their field agents.

A lack of secure satellite communications systems would also leave soldiers, ships and aircrafts cut off from their commanders and vulnerable to attack.

And Squadrons flying armed drones over the Middle East for instance would also lose control over the weaponry, leaving them vulnerable to interception by terrorist organisations.

And world leaders would struggle to communicate with each other to diffuse the mounting global tensions.

Indeed, Russia's nuclear weapon, which is still in the development stages, could trigger a chain reaction of collisions.

This could make it impossible to use satellites in low-Earth orbit for decades.

"The US would have the most to lose in terms of how many satellites they have and how dependent they are on satellites, but China would also lose," Suess said following the release of her RUSI report.

"So one might say that Russia has the least to lose in that aspect but I think it would be wrong to conclude that Putin would not also sacrifice Russia's way of life."

She added: "Depending on the orbit affected, everyday necessities such as navigation, banking and emergency services could be disrupted."

But Suess said launching nukes into space with the intent of "indiscriminately destroying and damaging satellites" would "alienate Russia even further".

"Russia would isolate itself from the few allies it has left, most notably China who have invested a lot and who would lose a lot with a detonation of a nuclear weapon."

She added: "No space power will be appreciative of a nuclear co-orbital threat hanging over their heads or satellites."

She added that at a time when Russia stands isolated from the West amid the Ukraine war, Putin "cannot afford to also lose allies such as China".