Nuclear fears in US amid Russia-Ukraine war, says AP-NORC poll
Russia’s war on Ukraine has most Americans at least somewhat worried that the U.S. will be drawn directly into the conflict and could be targeted with nuclear weapons, with a new poll reflecting a level of anxiety that has echoes of the Cold War era, The Associated Press reports.
Close to half of Americans say they are very concerned that Russia would directly target the U.S. with nuclear weapons, and an additional 3 in 10 are somewhat concerned about that, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Russian President Vladimir Putin placed his country’s nuclear forces on high alert shortly after the Feb. 24 invasion.
Roughly 9 in 10 Americans are at least somewhat concerned that Putin might use a nuclear weapon against Ukraine, including about 6 in 10 who are very concerned.
“He is out of control, and I don’t think he really has concern for much of anything but what he wants,” said Robin Thompson, a retired researcher from Amherst, Massachusetts. “And he has nuclear weapons.”
“We are seeing almost moment by moment what’s happening to these poor people,” said Linda Woodward, a retired phone company technician from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.
The concern about nuclear war cuts across party lines and even resonates with some young adults who were born after the Cold War.
Caleb Pack, a 21-year-old Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, was among those who said that they were “somewhat concerned” that the U.S. would be drawn into the war and that Russia would target the United States with nuclear weapons.
“If Russia’s end goal is to reclaim Soviet Union territory, that means they’re going to push into NATO countries, which obviously I think could escalate very quickly,” said Pack, who works in information systems.
The poll was conducted before North Korea test-fired its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday but also shows 51% of Americans saying they are very concerned about the threat to the U.S. posed by North Korea’s nuclear program. An additional 29% expressed moderate concern.