Top Russian Official Warns of Nuclear Strike Against Washington If Forced to Give Up Territory Won in Ukraine War

Former Russian President and current Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev speaks at a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 22, 2022. Yekaterina Shtukina/Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy head of the Russian Security Council that controls Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, has threatened a nuclear strike against Washington if the United States and its allies act to force Russia to give up its territorial gains in Ukraine.

Mr. Medvedev has threatened a nuclear strike on several occasions amid the war in Ukraine, most recently in the summer of 2023 when the much-vaunted Ukrainian counter-offensive loomed large—before it ultimately failed to take back territory that Russia annexed and now calls its own.

Now, as Russian top brass believes another Ukrainian counter-offensive may be in the works, Mr. Medvedev has issued a new nuclear warning. While its contours are basically the same as prior warnings, it seems to be the first time that Mr. Medvedev has threatened the use of nuclear weapons if Ukraine and its western backers try to force Moscow to relinquish control of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions that the Kremlin says are part of Russia.

“Attempts to return Russia to the borders of 1991 will lead to only one thing,” Mr. Medvedev wrote in a Sunday post on Telegram. “Towards a global war with Western countries using the entire strategic arsenal of our state.”

The reference to “borders of 1991” means Russia without the four regions it wrested from Ukraine amid the war. Russia has the largest number of nuclear warheads of any country, according to the Arms Control Association, which puts the figure at 5,889.

Mr. Medvedev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed his threat with a target list: “Kyiv, Berlin, London, and Washington,” as well as “all other beautiful historical sites, which have long been included in our nuclear triad’s attack goals.”

He insisted that Russia’s leadership would not hesitate to make “difficult decisions” about using nuclear weapons if Ukraine and its Western allies try to push Kremlin forces out of territories that Moscow considers to be an integral part of Russia.

“Will we have enough guts for this if a 1,000-old country, our great homeland, is on the verge of extinction, and the sacrifices made by the Russian people over the centuries are in vain?” Mr. Medvedev asked.

“The answer is obvious,” he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and deputy security council chief Dmitry Medvedev meet with members of the government in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 15, 2020. Dimitry Astakhov/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

Mr. Medvedev’s latest warning comes at the tail end of a series of nuclear-related developments. These include Russia pulling out of a nuclear test ban treaty, test-firing a nuclear-capable missile from a submarine, and shifting an undisclosed number of nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus, closer to the border with NATO member Poland.

Russian Space Weapons?

The warning also comes as tens of billions of dollars in potential aid to Ukraine remains stalled in Congress, with some U.S. Representatives warning that Russia has anti-satellite weapons that could threaten most of America’s civil and military infrastructure.

Last week, the head of the House Intelligence Committee released a statement calling on the Biden administration to declassify intelligence about a “serious national security threat,” which the White House later confirmed was an emerging anti-satellite weapon.

The decision on the part of committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) to issue the warning drew criticism from some fellow Republicans, who accused him of hyping up the threat to get a Ukraine aid bill passed.

Russia dismissed the warning, calling it a ploy meant to prod Congress into approving more aid.

“It is obvious that the White House is trying, by hook or by crook, to encourage Congress to vote on a bill to allocate money; this is obvious,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters last week.

Mr. Turner later issued a follow-up statement, saying that the language used in his first warning—namely that the matter was “serious”—had been cleared with the Biden administration, which also did not object to Mr. Turner’s notification to Congress about this “national security threat.”

The White House subsequently confirmed intelligence indicating that Russia has gained anti-satellite strike capability but noted that it’s not yet operational.

“There is no evidence that they have made a decision to go forward with doing anything in space,” President Joe Biden told reporters last week.

“So, what we found out: There was a capacity to launch a system into space that could theoretically do something that was damaging. Hadn’t happened yet,” President Biden said, adding that he hopes it won’t happen.

John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, said last week that Russia’s anti-satellite capability was “troubling” but posed no immediate threat.

It comes as Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine nears the two-year anniversary, with increased activity both on the front lines and in the information space.

Another Ukrainian Counter-Offensive?

Russia on Feb. 19 declared victory in the months-long battle for Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region, a development that Russia’s president hailed as an “important victory.”

That came days after Ukrainian Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Kyiv’s new military commander, announced that he had ordered Ukrainian troops to withdraw from Avdiivka “to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives of servicemen.”

An aerial view of the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant, eastern Ukraine, in a still from video released on Feb. 19, 2024. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Mr. Putin was cited by Tass as saying on Feb. 18 that Moscow is ready for peace talks.

“I don’t know if they want it today,” he said in an interview on Russian state television, before adding, “We are ready for dialogue.”

Meanwhile, Colonel General Sergey Rudskoy, first deputy chief of Russia’s General Staff, was cited by Russian state media Tass as saying that another Ukrainian counter-offensive could be in the works.

“The Ukrainian armed forces still retain their combat capability to conduct active operations. In the future, provided there is large-scale military assistance from the West, another attempt at a counter-offensive cannot be ruled out,” he said.

Ukraine has relied on weapons shipments from the West to stay in the fight, with more arms supplies in limbo amid deadlock on Capitol Hill.