One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, Dmitry Medvedev, recently revealed that the Kremlin would fire nuclear weapons at the U.S. and other Western nations if it is forced into giving up Ukrainian territory that it has seized.
Medvedev, the head of the Russian security council, said that any attempts to coerce Russia into returning Ukrainian territory would initiate a “global war” against the West.
BREAKING: Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Vladimir Putin and deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council, warned that Russia would initiate a catastrophic conflict by launching nuclear attacks on cities like Washington and London if pressured to relinquish Ukrainian… pic.twitter.com/sb6eX1Oxcv
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) February 18, 2024
“Attempts to return Russia to the borders of 1991 [when the Soviet Union collapsed] will lead to only one thing: towards a global war with Western countries using the entire strategic arsenal of our state — in Kyiv, [Ukraine], Berlin, London, Washington,” Medvedev said.
Medvedev continued by saying that the answer is “obvious” regarding the question if Russia would “have the courage to do this if the disappearance of a thousand-year-old-country, our great Motherland, is at stake, and the sacrifices made by the people of Russia over the centuries will be in vain.”
The Russian official then warned Western countries to not believe that Russia would “tremble in its hand” in launching nuclear weapons if such a situation ever arose.
Notably, Medvedev served as president of Russia from 2008-2012. He emphasized that “it’s better to return everything [to us] before it’s too late. Or we will return it ourselves with maximum losses for the enemy.”
Medvedev also issued a scathing rebuke of “snotty Anglo-American fosterlings,” criticizing British and German defense ministers Grant Shapps and Boris Pistorius for believing that the world could not afford Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian official claimed that if Shapps and Pistorius were successful in thwarting the Kremlin’s invasion, there would be a “direct and irreversible collapse of present-day Russia,” including in Ukrainian territories that Russia has taken over.
Medvedev has been an outspoken critic of the Ukrainian government and has threatened Ukraine and countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with a nuclear attack.
In May 2022, he said NATO’s involvement in sending weapons and training Ukrainian soldiers “increases the likelihood of a direct and open conflict between NATO and Russia.”
Despite such threats, NATO countries have trained Ukrainian troops and have delivered weapons to the country in its fight against Russia.
