Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, has threatened the use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine if they retake all territories currently controlled by Russia, saying that such a possibility would be a “threat to the existence of our state and the collapse of today’s Russia.”

In a message to his Telegram channel, Medvedev asserted that the “thesis of Western countries” is “Russia cannot be allowed to win the war.” To that he explained the situation as a zero sum game, explaining that “If not Russia [that] wins, then, apparently, Ukraine [does]. The goal of Ukraine in the war was named by the Kyiv regime – the return of all territories that previously belonged to it. That is, their rejection from Russia. This is a threat to the existence of our state and the collapse of today’s Russia.”

“That means a direct reason for applying clause 19 of the Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the field of nuclear deterrence,” adding that “What is this if not a direct provocation of a world war with the use of nuclear weapons? Let’s call a spade a spade. Western countries are pushing the world to a global war. And only the complete and final victory of Russia is a guarantee against world conflict.”

Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, responded to Medvedev’s comments by essentially calling him an alcoholic and laid out three points:

1. “Russia will definitely and inevitably lose.”
2. “The Kremlin regime launched the process of disintegration of its sorry excuse for an empire and fake federation itself.”
3. “All the territories occupied by Muscovy will be liberated, and this refers not only to Ukraine, but to Georgia, Moldova, Japan, and other countries and people as well. This includes Belarus being a country free from Russian occupiers.”
4. “Russia threatening to use or using nuclear weapons is an act of suicide. Russia will eventually become enemy number one for the whole world.”