Russian geologist thinks Vladimir Putin can trigger a super volcano in America

Russian President Vladimir Putin
(Image credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Russia and the U.S. may not be on the best terms, but suggesting nuclear weapon use on a national park seems a tad bit extreme.

Konstantin Sivkov, president of the Moscow-based Academy of Geopolitical Problems, wrote an article for Russia's VPK News on Wednesday suggesting that Russia detonate nuclear weapons near Yellowstone National Park or the San Andreas fault line in the United States. Sivkov believes the nuclear weapons could trigger a super volcano, which would destroy the U.S.

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Last year, Sivkov told Russia's Pravda that "American politicians have committed a variety of crimes" for which they have yet to be punished. He also told Pravda that American politicians were responsible for 1,200,000 deaths in Iraq.

"Geologists believe that the Yellowstone super volcano could explode at any moment. There are signs of growing activity there. Therefore, it suffices to push the relatively small, for example, the impact of the munition megaton class to initiate an eruption," Sivkov wrote, according to a translation from The Sydney Morning Herald. "The consequences will be catastrophic for the United States — a country just disappears."

If a nuclear weapon were detonated near the San Andreas fault, Sivkov wrote, it could cause a tsunami powerful enough to "completely destroy the infrastructure of the United States." Sivkov believes that Russia's geographic features, meanwhile, would protect the country from the aftermath of a super volcano explosion or a tsunami.

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Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.