Medvedev again threatened to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine

DW:  After a series of massive missile attacks on the territory of Ukraine, Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday, January 11, again threatened Kyiv with the use of nuclear weapons.

“A series of recent intensive and effective strikes on enemy military targets in Ukraine, which were carried out by the armed forces of the Russian Federation, confirms the successful and effective work of our defense-industrial complex throughout 2023. Moreover, as you know, different media with different contents were used. Well , perhaps except for nuclear for now,” Interfax quotes Medvedev’s words at a meeting of the working group of the Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation to control the production of in-demand weapons.

In his Telegram channel, the former Russian president later warned Kyiv against firing Western long-range missiles at missile launchers on Russian territory. “This is not a right to self-defense, but a direct and obvious basis for our use of nuclear weapons against such a state,” he wrote.

Earlier, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, said that his country does not have the resources to intercept thousands of Russian S-300 missiles, therefore, according to him, it is more effective to disable the launchers of such missiles using precision weapons. Russia regularly fires S-300 missiles at Ukraine. The victims of these attacks are often civilians.

What is behind Medvedev's threats?

Since the beginning of Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine, Dmitry Medvedev has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons. At the same time, there are no concrete signs that Moscow is currently really considering such a possibility, the dpa agency notes.

Reuters, in turn, writes that many experts consider the statements of this confidant of Vladimir Putin as an indicator of the mood in the leadership of the presidential administration of the Russian Federation.