I believe this article in the Kyiv Independent is the source for stories, some of them rather alarmist, about comments made by Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev:
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, on Feb. 18 threatened to use nuclear weapons against the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and Ukraine if Moscow loses all occupied Ukrainian territories.
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“Attempts to restore Russia’s 1991 borders [i.e., Russia’s borders before its invasions of Ukraine] will lead only to one thing – a global war with Western countries with the use of our entire strategic (nuclear) arsenal against Kyiv, Berlin, London, and Washington. And against all other beautiful historic places that have long been included in the flight targets of our nuclear triad,” Medvedev said in a reference to the triad of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers with nuclear weapons.
How seriously should Medvedev’s threat be taken? Not very, according to the Kyiv Independent:
Medvedev, who is also a former president of Russia, has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons but the threats have so far failed to materialize. His critics say that his statements are bluff rather than Russia’s genuine plans and are intended to scare the West into making concessions.
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Medvedev, a close ally of Putin, has regularly regularly threatened Ukraine and NATO with a nuclear attack. However, he has been ridiculed since his numerous nuclear threats have failed to result in any actions.
I think the best evidence that no Ukrainian scenario would result in a nuclear attack on the U.S. and our allies is the fact that Russia has refrained from using battlefield nuclear weapons in Ukraine, even though the fighting in that conflict has gone much worse than expected. Nuclear weapons continue to represent a red line. Beyond that, it is hard to imagine the rulers of the Kremlin causing their own self-immolation by ordering a nuclear attack, no matter how frustrated they may be with events in Ukraine.
Still, Medvedev’s threat highlights the danger of nuclear weapons in the wrong hands. In Russia, as in North Korea and Iran, the only real solution to the nuclear threat is regime change.
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