Tuesday, as Russia started revealing the results of the referendums it claims are a prelude to it annexing four Ukrainian areas, one of President Vladimir Putin’s allies delivered a stern new nuclear warning to Ukraine and the West.
Moscow’s most recent salvo came as European nations hurried to look at unexplained, significant leaks in two Russian natural gas pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea, which posed hazards of explosions and the sinking of any ships that visit the area.
The Kremlin, which previously attributed past disruptions in Russian gas exports to Europe to technical issues, stated that it could not completely rule out sabotage without identifying the perpetrator.
Since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, which resulted in harsh Western sanctions and Russian punitive actions, Moscow has been at odds with the West, which has increased global inflation and exacerbated energy and food shortages in many nations.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, delivered a nuclear warning on Tuesday, one of several in recent weeks from Putin and his allies.
They are, according to analysts, intended to deter Ukraine and the West by suggesting a readiness to defend freshly acquired territory with tactical nuclear weapons in the face of fierce Ukrainian counteroffensives in recent weeks.
The difference between Medvedev’s warning and earlier ones was that he foresaw, for the first time, that even if Moscow attacked Ukraine with nuclear weapons, the NATO military alliance would not risk a nuclear conflict and would stay out of the conflict.
In a Telegram post, Medvedev stated, “I believe that NATO would not immediately interfere in the fight even in this case.
“The demagogues in Europe and across the Atlantic will not perish in a nuclear holocaust.”
The four regions of Ukraine that are only partially under Russian control were overwhelmingly supported, according to preliminary results of voting taken inside Russia, according to the Russian state news agency RIA.
After a five-day referendum that Kyiv and the West have called a farce and declared they will not recognise, it was a highly anticipated statement. In reaction to votes that it claimed were frequently carried out under threat of force, Ukraine urged the EU to enact fresh severe penalties.
Putin claimed on state television that the votes were intended to shield people from what he has described as Ukrainian persecution of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers, a claim Kiev denies.
The top of our minds and the centre of our entire society and nation, according to Putin, are saving people in all the areas where this referendum is taking place.
The latest move in a campaign he announced last week to support what Moscow terms its “special military operation” after last month’s battlefield setbacks, he previously discussed with officials the mobilisation of farmers to fight in Ukraine.
Thousands of Russians have rushed across Russian borders into neighbouring countries as a result of the mobilisation effort.
Between September 19 and September 25, about 66,000 Russians entered the European Union, primarily via Finland and Estonia, a 30% rise from the prior week, according to Frontex, the bloc’s border agency.
Featured Image: Wikimedia Commons
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