"Russian Official Issues Stark Nuclear Warning to US: 'Chess Game' of Death"

by Andrew Stanton (September 3, 2022) Newsweek

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev issued a stark nuclear warning to the West on Saturday as relations remain tense amid the ongoing Ukraine war.

Tensions between Moscow and the West escalated after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.  Many Western nations, including the United States, condemned Putin's war while also providing humanitarian and military support to Ukraine.  This aid has bolstered Ukraine's defense efforts while adding more pressure to already tense U.S.-Russia relations.

A chief concern among national security experts amid the conflict is that Russia could potentially turn to nuclear weapons if they feel cornered by Ukraine's advances.  Russia has sent mixed messages about nuclear war, with Putin warning in August that nobody would win in a nuclear war, while his allies taunt the West with nuclear threats.

Medvedev served as Russia's president from 2008 to 2012, being succeeded by Putin. He currently serves as the deputy secretary of Russia's security council, and on Saturday became the latest Russian official to make a nuclear threat.

In a Telegram post made after last week's funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union, Medvedev accused the West of wanting to take "advantage of the military conflict in Ukraine" to "eliminate Russia from the political field."

"Those are the dirty dreams of the Anglo-Saxon perverts, who go to sleep with a secret thought about the breakup of our state, thinking about how to shred us into pieces, cut us into small bits."  Medvedev wrote in the translated post.  "Such attempts are very dangerous and mustn't be underestimated.  Those dreamers ignore a simple axiom: a forceful disintegration of a nuclear power is always a chess game with death, in which it's known precisely when the check and mate comes: doomsday for mankind."

While U.S. leaders have condemned Russia's invasion and Putin's leadership in Russia, they have not called for any "breakup" of the Russian nation — or for any offensive action against Russia, as direct military action against Moscow would greatly escalate nuclear tensions.

Last month, Medvedev said Ukraine and the West "seem to be ready to arrange a new Chernobyl" as concerns grew that Russian activity at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) could lead to a nuclear reaction.

Other Russian politicians have also left the door open on Russia's use of nuclear weapons amid the war, though Putin has typically used more measured rhetoric himself.  In March, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Russia would use nuclear weapons if leaders felt like their country was facing an "existential threat."

Russian-state television, which typically pushes Putin's propaganda, however, has made more forceful threats of nuclear warfare.  In April, television personality Vladimir Solovyov warned of a nuclear war that only "mutants" would survive if member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) continued providing Ukraine weapons.

Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Department of State for comment.
 

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A Preceding Article was also ignored by National Leaders and 'We the Sheeple.'
 

"Russia's Medvedev: Attack on Crimea will ignite 'Judgement Day' response"

Reporting by Reuters Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Gareth Jones
 

Caption from article: Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council, delivers a speech during a ceremony marking Shipbuilder's Day in Saint Petersburg, Russia June 29, 2022. Sputnik/Valentin Yegorshin/Pool

MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - The refusal of Ukraine and Western powers to recognise Moscow's control of Crimea poses a "systemic threat" for Russia and any outside attack on the region will prompt a "Judgment Day" response, former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday.

Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 after a pro-Moscow president in Kyiv was toppled amid mass street protests.  Moscow then also backed pro-Russian armed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

In the event of an attack on Crimea, Medvedev was quoted by TASS news agency as saying, "Judgment Day will come very fast and hard.  It will be very difficult to hide."

Medvedev did not elaborate but has previously warned the United States of the dangers of attempting to punish a nuclear power such as Russia over its actions in Ukraine, saying this could endanger humanity.

His comments were aired a day after a Ukrainian official suggested that Crimea, which most of the world still recognises as part of Ukraine, could be a target for U.S.-made HIMARS missiles, recently deployed by Kyiv as it battles Russian forces.

Earlier on Sunday, Interfax news agency quoted Medvedev as telling World War Two veterans: "If any other state, be it Ukraine or NATO countries, believes that Crimea is not Russian, then this is a systemic threat for us."

"This is a direct and an explicit threat, especially given what had happened to Crimea.  Crimea returned to Russia," said Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council.

Vadym Skibitskyi, an official at Ukrainian military intelligence, was asked on Saturday in a televised interview if HIMARS could be used on targets in Crimea.

He said Russia had carried out strikes on Ukrainian territory from Crimea and the Black Sea and so these were also justified targets.

Crimea is of particular strategic importance to Russia as it includes the headquarters of its Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol.

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