Top Russian official threatens strikes on Ukrainian, European nuclear facilities.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said on July 9 that Russia should attack Ukrainian nuclear power plants and nuclear facilities in Eastern Europe if an alleged Ukrainian attack on a Russian nuclear plant is confirmed. "If the attempted attack with NATO missiles on the Desnogorsk Nuclear Power Plant is confirmed, we should consider the scenario of a simultaneous Russian attack on the Pivdenno-Ukrainska, Rivne and Khmelnytsky nuclear power plants, as well as nuclear facilities in Eastern Europe," Medvedev, who is also a former president of Russia, said on Telegram. "There is nothing to be ashamed of here." Medvedev responded to the recent claim by Mash, a Russian propagandist channel on Telegram, that Ukraine attempted to attack Russia's Desnogorsk Nuclear Power Plant in Smolensk Oblast with a Storm Shadow missile earlier on July 9.
Mash claimed that the missile had been shot down by air defense. Medvedev, a close ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, used to be seen as a more liberal representative of the Kremlin but has become one of Russia's most prominent hawks during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In January, Medvedev said a potential defeat of Russia in war against Ukraine "may trigger a nuclear war," adding that "nuclear powers have never lost major conflicts on which their fate depends."
In May he said[1] that, by sending weapons and training Ukrainian soldiers, NATO "increases the likelihood of a direct and open conflict between NATO and Russia."
Natalia DatskevychNatalia Datskevych is a business reporter at the Kyiv Independent.
Before joining the team, she worked as business reporter for the Kyiv Post.
She studied economic theory at Kyiv National Economic University and holds a Ph.D in economic science.