Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, delivers a speech during a ceremony marking Shipbuilder’s Day in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 29, 2022. Sputnik / Valentin Yegorshin / Pool
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- This content has occurred in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine
MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) – Ukraine and Western powers’ refusal to recognize Moscow’s control of Crimea poses a “systemic threat” to Russia and any external attack on the region will provoke a “doomsday” response. “, said former President Dmitry Medvedev. Sunday.
Russia annexed the Crimean Black Sea Peninsula to Ukraine in 2014 after a pro-Moscow president in Kyiv was overthrown amid massive street protests. At the time, Moscow also supported pro-Russian armed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
In the event of an attack on Crimea, Medvedev was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying, “Judgment day will come very quickly and hard. It will be very difficult to hide.”
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Medvedev did not give further details, but has already warned the United States of the dangers of trying to punish a nuclear power like Russia for its actions in Ukraine, saying this could endanger humanity. Read more
His comments came a day after a Ukrainian official suggested that Crimea, which most of the world still recognizes as part of Ukraine, could be a target for U.S.-made HIMARS missiles, recently deployed by Kyiv while fighting. against Russian forces.
Earlier Sunday, the Interfax news agency quoted Medvedev as telling World War II veterans, “If any other state, be it Ukraine or NATO countries, believes Crimea is not Russian, this is a systemic threat to to us”.
“This is a direct and explicit threat, especially considering what had happened in Crimea. Crimea returned to Russia,” said Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council.
Vadym Skibitskyi, an official of Ukrainian military intelligence, was asked on Saturday in a televised interview if HIMARS could be used on targets in Crimea.
He said that Russia had carried out attacks on Ukrainian territory from the Crimea and the Black Sea and therefore these were also justified targets.
Crimea is of particular strategic importance to Russia, as it includes the headquarters of its Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol.
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Reuters report Edited by Guy Faulconbridge and Gareth Jones
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