From: Transform Ukraine By Douglas Landro / September 23, 2025
A day when Putin brandished nuclear threats while Russia’s election interference machine worked overtime in Moldova, and Copenhagen’s skies fell silent under mysterious drone surveillance
The Story of a Single Day
On the 1,307th day of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, September 22, 2025, Vladimir Putin chose nuclear blackmail as his diplomatic weapon, announcing Russia would honor arms control limits for exactly one year—provided America did the same. Meanwhile, 1,500 kilometers west in Moldova, 74 people sat in detention cells, accused of training with Russian intelligence to destabilize a democracy on election’s eve. And across Northern Europe, mysterious drones forced Copenhagen’s airport into darkness for four hours, while Oslo arrested foreign nationals for flying prohibited zones. The convergence of nuclear threats, election subversion, and aerial provocations painted a portrait of a Kremlin playing every card in its destabilization playbook simultaneously.
The Nuclear Gambit: Putin’s Treaty Ultimatum
Vladimir Putin chose the stage of a Russian Security Council meeting to deliver what sounded like statesmanship but functioned as extortion. Russia would adhere to New START nuclear arms limits for one year after the treaty’s February 2026 expiration, he announced—but only if America reciprocated. It was deterrence wrapped in conditional promises, a master class in appearing reasonable while delivering ultimatums.
The New START Treaty, signed in 2010, caps deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 for each nation and limits delivery systems to 700. Russia had suspended participation in February 2023, claiming American violations, though Moscow insisted it still respected numerical limits. Now Putin offered a one-year extension as bait, dangling arms control prospects to extract concessions on Ukraine.
Voice of Ukraine 