A top Russian official on Thursday warned that nuclear weapons could be used to defend annexed Ukrainian regions, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech announcing the partial mobilization of national forces.
“The Donbas republics and other territories will be accepted into Russia,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the current deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on Telegram. He was referring to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that were taken by Russia in 2014.
While Putin did not specifically mention nuclear weapons during his speech, he suggested that Moscow “will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people” before adding that “it’s not a bluff.”…