In a highly concerning statement, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president, issued a warning that Russia would resort to using nuclear weapons if Ukraine’s counteroffensive were to succeed.
“There would simply be no other way out” of using nuclear weapons if the Ukrainian offensive succeeded in taking Russian territory, Medvedev said in a post on social media.
In a tweet, Medvedev imagined a scenario where “ukrobanderovtsy” (a term used by some Russians to refer to Ukrainian nationalists) backed by NATO managed to seize a portion of Russian territory.
“Just imagine that the offensive… in tandem with NATO, succeeded and ended up with part of our land being taken away. Then we would have to use nuclear weapons by virtue of the stipulations of the Russian Presidential Decree,” said Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, in a Telegram post.
There simply wouldn’t be any other solution, the former Russian president said adding “Our enemies should pray to our fighters that they do not allow the world to go up in nuclear flames.”
Medvedev known for his provocative remarks
Known for his inflammatory remarks, Medvedev has been garnering attention with his bellicose stance towards the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and its impact on Western alliances.
Previously, he controversially claimed that Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland were historically linked to Russia.
In his latest Twitter statement, Medvedev portrayed Russia’s armed forces as defenders of the nation and its citizens.
This is not the first time Medvedev has raised the specter of nuclear conflict. In the past, he warned that Russian nuclear expansion could occur if Sweden and Finland joined NATO. Helsinki eventually joined the alliance, and Stockholm’s path to NATO membership was cleared after Turkey dropped its objections.
Medvedev’s latest remarks seem to be an admission of potential defeat for Russia after almost 18 months of attrition in Ukraine. This is an unusual acknowledgment from a senior Russian official. Furthermore, his statements come on the heels of accusations by Russia’s Defense Ministry, which claimed that Kyiv had launched drone attacks on Moscow. Three drones were intercepted, but one managed to strike a business and shopping development in the west of the Russian capital.
Zelenskyy warns that war is coming to Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a warning, stating that “war” was bound to reach Russia following the temporary closure of a major Moscow airport due to an overnight drone attack on the capital.
“Gradually, war is returning to the territory of Russia, to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely just process,” he said during his daily address, on the sidelines of a visit to western Ukraine.
Zelenskiy visited Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in western Ukraine previously hit by Russian missile fire and urged Ukrainians to prepare for further Russian attacks on the country’s infrastructure, particularly in the upcoming winter months.
“Ukraine is getting stronger,” he said. “But we must be aware that, just as last year, Russian terrorists can still attack our energy sector and critical facilities this winter.”
Russian officials, on Sunday, reported that three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow, with one drone being shot down and two others jammed, leading to crashes near the Moskva-Citi business complex. No casualties were reported in either incident.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that 16 Ukrainian drones were destroyed by anti-aircraft defenses in Crimea, while nine others were neutralized through electronic warfare means, crashing into the Black Sea. The attacks resulted in light damage to the fronts of two office buildings in Moscow, and Vnukovo International Airport experienced a brief closure but soon resumed flights.
This marked the fourth drone attack on Moscow this month.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov condemned the attacks and attributed them to Western aid given to Ukraine.