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Russia’s Medvedev makes new nuclear threat over Ukraine war

Anton Novoderjozhkin/SIPAPRE/Sipa/AP

Dmitry Medvedev attends a gathering in Moscow on July 18, 2023.



CNN
 — 

Russia could also be compelled to make use of a nuclear weapon if Ukraine’s counteroffensive succeeds, senior Russian official Dmitry Medvedev stated Sunday – the most recent in a sequence of nuclear threats made throughout Moscow’s invasion by the important thing ally of President Vladimir Putin.

“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,” stated Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, in a Telegram put up.

“There simply wouldn’t be any other solution,” the previous Russian president added. “Our enemies should pray to our fighters that they do not allow the world to go up in nuclear flames.”

Medvedev, who served as president of Russia from 2008 to 2012, has struck a bellicose tone all through Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, repeatedly elevating the specter of nuclear battle.

Last April, he warned of Russian nuclear enlargement ought to Sweden and Finland be a part of NATO. Helsinki joined the protection alliance later that month, whereas Stockholm’s path to NATO membership was cleared earlier this month after Turkey dropped its objections.

In September, Medvedev stated strategic nuclear weapons could possibly be used to defend territories integrated into Russia from Ukraine.

And in January, as NATO member states debated new weapons shipments to Ukraine, Medvedev said defeat for Russia within the war may result in nuclear battle.

“The loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram in January. “Nuclear powers don’t lose main conflicts on which their destiny relies upon.

“This should be obvious to anyone. Even to a Western politician who has retained at least some trace of intelligence.”

Medvedev’s remarks Sunday once more elevate the chance that Russia may doubtlessly lose the war following almost 18 months of attrition – a uncommon admission from a senior Russian official.

They additionally got here simply hours after Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Kyiv of attacking Moscow with drones. Three drones have been intercepted Sunday, however a enterprise and buying growth within the west of the Russian capital was hit, the ministry stated.

The United States has beforehand warned Russia towards utilizing nuclear weapons in Ukraine, each by means of non-public direct communications, in addition to public channels, together with finally 12 months’s UN General Assembly.

Last month, Putin stated Russia had moved a primary batch of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, claiming they have been positioned there for “deterrence.”

Speaking on the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin stated the remainder of the tactical nuclear weapons Russia intends to maneuver to Belarus could be transferred “by the end of the summer or by the end of the year.”

The US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) stated it had “no reason to doubt” Putin’s claim that nuclear weapons have been in Belarus.

But US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated on the time that the US has “not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture nor any indication Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.”

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated final month that within the face of aggression, he would present “no hesitation” in utilizing the Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed on Belarusian soil.

But the senior DIA officers stated they don’t consider Lukashenko would have any management over the arsenal. It would most probably be fully managed by Russia, the officers stated.

Russia has about 4,477 deployed and reserve nuclear warheads, together with round 1,900 tactical nuclear weapons, based on the Federation of American Scientists.

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