Russia

Russia’s Medvedev: new regions can be defended with strategic nuclear weapons

cde.news desk 22 September 2022, 13:20 · 2 min read

epa09711924 Dmitry Medvedev, Chairman of the United Russia Party, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, speaks during an interview with Russian journalists at the Gorki residence, outside Moscow, Russia, 27 January 2022. 'Ukraine has become a toy in the hands of NATO and, above all, the United States, the country is used as an instrument of geopolitical pressure on Russia, as well as on China' said Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. EPA-EFE/YULIA ZYRYANOVA / SPUTNIK POOL

LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that any weapons in Moscow’s arsenal, including strategic nuclear weapons, could be used to defend territories incorporated in Russia from Ukraine.

Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said that referendums being organised by Russian-installed and separatist authorities in large swathes of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory will take place, and that “there is no going back”:

“The Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk) republics and other territories will be accepted into Russia.”

Medvedev said the protection of all the territories would be significantly strengthened by the Russian armed forces, adding:

“Russia has announced that not only mobilisation capabilities, but also any Russian weapons, including strategic nuclear weapons and weapons based on new principles, could be used for such protection.”

The referendums due to take place in the Russian-held parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces, as well as part of Mykolaiv province, from Friday are widely expected to produce results overwhelmingly endorsing joining Russia.

The votes, being organised at a few days’ notice under military occupation, have been labelled shams by Kyiv and its Western allies.

If formally admitted to the Russian Federation, the occupied territories, where Ukrainian counteroffensives have gathered pace in recent weeks, will under Moscow’s nuclear doctrine be entitled to protection from Russian nuclear weapons.

Moscow does not fully control any of the four regions it is expected to try to annex, with only around 60% of Donetsk and 66% of Zaporizhzhia regions held by the Russian army.

Medvedev has regularly issued aggressive statements on the West and Ukraine in recent months, underlining his transformation from apparently Western-minded liberaliser as president from 2008-2012 to strident geopolitical hawk.

(Writing by Caleb Davis; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Photo – Dmitry Medvedev, Chairman of the United Russia Party, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council. EPA-EFE/YULIA ZYRYANOVA / SPUTNIK POOL