Vladimir Putin was so close to using nuclear weapons in October 2022 that then-Prime Minister Liz Truss spent her final days in office preparing for the possible consequences, according to the updated version of her autobiographical book, Independent reports.
The former prime minister is said to have spent her last days in office studying weather maps and preparing for possible radiation poisoning incidents in the UK, as U.S. intelligence had warned that such an attack was imminent, Telegrafi reports.
Truss had been told that the Russian president was only hours away from launching a nuclear missile, and officials at Whitehall feared it could release radioactive material into the atmosphere, which could spread 1,700 miles from the blast site, according to Out of the Blue, an autobiographical book by the former prime minister.
An updated edition of the book by journalists Harry Cole and James Heale states that Truss spent “many hours studying satellite weather data and wind directions” out of fear that “incorrect weather patterns” could have a “direct effect on Britain.”
There was reportedly “detailed information” from the U.S. showing a 50 percent chance that Russia would use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine or drop a larger bomb over the Black Sea.
