Medvedev Threatens Nuclear Strike on European Capitals if They Send Troops to Ukraine

Russia will respond with a nuclear strike on London, Paris, and Washington if Western troops are sent to Ukraine, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said, in one of his now customary social media rants.

“Sending their troops to the territory of Ukraine will entail their countries' direct entry into the war, to which we will have to respond. And, unfortunately, not on the territory of Ukraine. There will be a global catastrophe,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram on Monday, May 6.

He threatened that Western elites would be unable to hide from Russia's response whether on Capitol Hill, in the Elysee Palace, or in 10 Downing Street.

“This, by the way, was realized by Kennedy and Khrushchev more than 60 years ago. But today's infantile morons who have come to power in the West do not want to realize this,” Medvedev added.

According to him, that is why today the Russian General Staff has begun preparations to exercise its use of non-strategic nuclear weapons under instruction from Russian President Vladimir as the Russian defense ministry also announced today, May 6.

The decision follows continuing and increased nuclear rhetoric since the war in Ukraine began, with Putin warning of a “real” risk of nuclear war in February.

In the first days of the war with Ukraine, Putin announced the transfer of Russian nuclear forces to a “special mode” of combat alert, and six months later he threatened to use “all available means” to protect the occupied territories of Ukraine.

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Early last year, Putin announced the termination of Russia’s participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the United States, and a month later he announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The Kremlin specified that these latest  exercises were in response to statements by French President Emmanuel Macron and British officials.

Russia has in recent days hit out at Macron for telling The Economist magazine he was "not ruling anything out" in the West's response to the war in Ukraine, including sending troops to the country.

The Kremlin has also blasted UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron for saying Kyiv has the right to strike targets inside Russia.