Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at New York's The New School, told BBC Radio 4's Today program on Friday that anxiety among Russians waiting for Putin's next steps is "palpable," according to Metro.She is currently in Russia and said that recent conversations about the potential deployment of a nuclear weapon are pushing residents to ready themselves for the fallout of such a possibility.Nuclear fears have been circulating ever since the war began in late February, but Putin ramped up those concerns when he said in an address last month that he was willing to respond to what he alleged was "nuclear blackmail" from the West using his country's weapons.Additionally, after Russia recently accused Ukraine of planning to deploy a "dirty bomb" on its own territory and then blame Russia, Western leaders rejected the allegation and warned that Putin's regime might attempt to use it "as a pretext for escalation."She said on BBC Radio 4's Today that Putin "may be ready to have a war" in an apparent reference to further escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, according to Metro."