Tuesday 27 September 2022 10:02 AM Putin ally warns nuclear threat 'certainly not a bluff' amid fears of ... trends now
One of Vladimir Putin's attack dogs has been rattling the nuclear sabre once again as he declared that his master is not bluffing, even as the Russian strongman prepares to announce the annexation of Ukrainian territories.
Dmitri Medvedev, a former Russian president, said in a now customary rant on the Telegram messaging app that Russia has the right to use nuclear weapons 'if the use of conventional weapons threatens the very existence of our state.'
'And it is certainly not a bluff,' he added.
The ominous threat comes as the British Ministry of Defence assessed as a 'realistic possibility' that Putin might announce the annexation of sovereign Ukrainian regions on Friday Sept 30 after the occupiers held sham referenda there.
Referenda held in the regions of Russia-controlled Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are due to conclude today, with it assumed that the democratic charade will result in the regions 'voting' to join Russia.
The hasty move to incorporate Ukrainian territory into Russia proper gives rise to the fear that Putin will claim integral Russian land is under threat if and when Ukraine moves to liberate it, justifying the use of nuclear weapons in 'self-defence'.
Former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev (right, with Putin, left) has reiterated Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons, saying it is 'certainly not a bluff'
The threat comes as Russia is thought to be preparing to announce the annexation Russia-controlled Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson on Friday
The hasty move to incorporate Ukrainian territory into Russia proper gives rise to the fear that Putin will claim integral Russian land is under threat if and when Ukraine moves to liberate it, justifying the use of nuclear weapons in 'self-defence'
Votes held in four areas currently under Russian control - Donetsk and Luhansk, which together make up the Donbas, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, are set to conclude today
The latest threat of nuclear annihilation follows on from Putin's bluster during a televised address broadcast last week when he announced a partial mobilisation of Russian men.
During the speech, he raised the spectre of a nuclear strike if he deemed the 'territorial integrity' of Russia to be under threat.
The Kremlin is clearly fearful of a well-train and battle-hardened Ukrainian army, fresh with modern Western weapons, moving to liberate the stolen territories and sweeping the Russian army out of its homeland.
Medvedev was dismissive of Western warnings of 'catastrophic consequences for Russia' if they used nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine and indicated he thought they were bluffs.
'I believe that NATO will not directly intervene in the conflict even in this situation. After all, the security of Washington, London, and Brussels is much more important for the North Atlantic Alliance than the fate of the perishing Ukraine, which no one needs, even if it is abundantly supplied with various weapons,' he wrote.
'Biden and Truss, spraying Atlantic saliva, demand that Russia remove its hand from its ''nuclear button.''
'Together, they constantly threaten us with ''terrifying'' consequences if Russia uses nuclear weapons.
'And the London aunt [Truss], young in mind, is completely ready to immediately begin an exchange of nuclear strikes with our country.'
People from Luhansk and Donetsk regions, the territory controlled by a pro-Russia separatist governments, who live in Crimea, vote during a referendum in Sevastopol, Crimea, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022
People line up to vote in a referendum in Luhansk, Luhansk People's Republic controlled by Russia-backed separatists, eastern Ukraine, Sept. 24, 2022
The moves to mobilise the Russian population and rush through sham referenda in the occupied regions are seen as desperate ploys by analysts, prompted by public misgivings from Putin's key allies of India, China and Turkey at a summit two weeks ago.
The announcement of the partial mobilisation has seen thousands of men called up to fight in the Russian army, along with chaotic scenes of Russians streaming out of the country, protests in the
