New areas will be defended with strategic nuclear weapons: Ex-Russia President | World News

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev mentioned on Thursday that any weapons in Moscow's arsenal, together with strategic nuclear weapons, may very well be used to defend territories integrated in Russia from Ukraine.

Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Safety Council, mentioned that referendums being organised by Russian-installed and separatist authorities in giant swathes of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory will happen, and that "there is no such thing as a going again":

"The Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk) republics and different territories will likely be accepted into Russia."

Learn extra: Escalation or accepting Ukraine losses? Putin's partial mobilisation defined

Medvedev mentioned the safety of all of the territories can be considerably strengthened by the Russian armed forces, including:

"Russia has introduced that not solely mobilisation capabilities, but additionally any Russian weapons, together with strategic nuclear weapons and weapons based mostly on new rules, may very well be used for such safety."

The referendums as a result of happen within the Russian-held components of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces, in addition to a part of Mykolaiv province, from Friday are broadly anticipated to supply outcomes overwhelmingly endorsing becoming a member of Russia.

The votes, being organised at a number of days' discover below army occupation, have been labelled shams by Kyiv and its Western allies.

If formally admitted to the Russian Federation, the occupied territories, the place Ukrainian counteroffensives have gathered tempo in current weeks, will below Moscow's nuclear doctrine be entitled to safety from Russian nuclear weapons.

Moscow doesn't totally management any of the 4 areas it's anticipated to attempt to annex, with solely round 60% of Donetsk and 66% of Zaporizhzhia areas held by the Russian military.

Medvedev has usually issued aggressive statements on the West and Ukraine in current months, underlining his transformation from apparently Western-minded liberaliser as president from 2008-2012 to strident geopolitical hawk.