The recent spate of World War III threats has caused massive panic among citizens around the world.
Bold declarations attributed to the leader of a world power have escalated fears of an impending nuclear showdown. However, a pivotal US election may place the threats in a different context.
From a Reuters report, a direct threat of war was issued by a known Putin ally.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky is described as a "flamboyantly outspoken ultranationalist leader" and he has warned Americans about their choice for the presidency.
"Americans voting for a president on November 8 must realize that they are voting for peace on planet Earth if they vote for Trump," Reuters quoted Zhirinovsky as saying. "But if they vote for Hillary it's war. It will be a short movie. There will be Hiroshimas and Nagasakis everywhere."
The statement is very alarming indeed, along with various reports claiming that Putin has requested Russian nationals with families to return to the motherland (a statement debunked by Snopes).
The big question: Is there really a cause for alarm?
According to The Washington Post, there is a motivation over the recent war-mongering. Putin openly prefers to deal with Donald Trump rather than Hillary Clinton and the threats could swing the tide in favor of the beleaguered business mogul.
As The Post declaed: "Putin has said he will not interfere in U.S. elections, but Zhirinovsky can say things that Putin wouldn't."
But why does Putin prefer Trump over Hillary?
It is presumed that Trump will take a contrarian stance from the current President Barack Obama's. Obama has called out Russia on their international aggression against neighboring countries.
According to Zhirinovsky, Trump "won't care about Syria, Libya and Iraq, and why on Earth should America interfere in these countries? And Ukraine. Who needs Ukraine?"
As an added endorsement, the Russian also pulled out the gender card. "Most Americans should choose Trump, because men have been leading for millions of years," he said. "You can't take the risk of having one of the richest, most powerful countries led by a woman president."
Washington Post writer David Filipov questioned the credibility of Zhirinovsky's statements citing previous declarations by the latter that he will "bomb Poland and the Baltic states into oblivion, annex Afghanistan and the Middle East." Even most Russians actually just "tune him out."