November 23, 2024
Top Putin Ally warns West off a Ukrainian victory, warning that would lead to nuclear strikes on "Kiev, Berlin, London, Washington".

Top Putin Ally warns West off striving for a Ukrainian victory, warning that would lead to nuclear strikes on “Kiev, Berlin, London, Washington”, as well as an apocalyptic civil war in Russia with “tens of millions” dead.

Deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, who was also formerly the Prime Minister and President of Russia in service to Vladimir Putin, has threatened Western capitals with the “entire strategic arsenal” of Russian nuclear weapons. Medvedev, for whom absolutely no slight is too small to necessitate a nuclear response, was speaking of Ukraine’s hope to retake its U.N.-recognised national territory which in some cases have been occupied by Russia for very close to ten years.

Russia has amended its constitution and now considers those areas — Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia — to be full parts of the Russian Republic. Attempting to push the borders back to where they were before will invite a massive retaliation, Medvedev said in his latest threat on Sunday, making clear he sees the Western states aiding Ukraine with arms as legitimate targets.

He said: “Attempts to return Russia to the borders of 1991 will lead to only one thing. To a global war with Western countries using the entire strategic arsenal of our state. In Kiev, Berlin, London, Washington.”

Claiming “beautiful historical places” would be destroyed by Russia’s nuclear weapons, Medvedev suggested it would be better for the forces trying to roll back Russia’s war against Ukraine should stand down “before it’s too late”. Further discussing the consequences of Western-backed Ukraine taking back its legal territory, Medvedev spoke of how losing its newly conquered territory again could push Russia into civil war.

In comments possibly directed at a domestic audience to hammer home the importance of supporting the state’s war effort, Medvedev continued, per Russian state media: “the direct and irreversible collapse of present-day Russia… a violent civil war with the final disappearance of our country from the world map. Tens of millions of victims. The death of our future. The collapse of everything in the world.”

In the case of such unrest, Medvedev again warned the West, the disincentives for Russia launching its nuclear weapons would evaporate.

Despite the threats, in subsequent remarks on Monday Medvedev also asserted he believed victory for what Russia euphemistically calls the “special military operation” was to come soon. He said Russia’s military power was equal to any in the world, and that Russia is a strong country “[because] we know how to win”.

Medvedev’s remarks on nuclear war are only his latest wild threats against Western cities, which he makes with some frequency over developments in the Ukraine war. As previously reported, Medvedev has threatened nuclear strikes over an international arrest warrant on President Putin, to nuke “disgustingly damp… eternal enemy” Britain, and a “hot, full-scale World War III” over American interference in Ukraine. His latest remarks are particularly reminiscent of another Medvedev speech in July 2023 when he threatened nuclear war for NATO’s support to Ukraine.