Ukraina - Putin truer - The Times

Russia will strike West if US rockets hit us, says Putin ally

Julian O’Shaughnessy

Saturday June 04 2022, 12.01am BST, The Times

 

Dmitry Medvedev, centre right, served as the Russian president from 2008 to 2012 but was widely viewed as Vladimir Putin’s puppet. He has taken a hawkish tone towards the war

MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/EPA

One of President Putin’s closest allies has warned that Moscow could target western cities if Ukraine uses rocket systems supplied by the United States to carry out strikes on Russian territory.

Washington said this week that it was sending M142 high-mobility artillery rocket systems to Ukraine, which will more than double its army’s artillery range and allow it to strike targets 50 miles away.

“If, God forbid, these weapons are used against Russian territory then our armed forces will have no other choice but to strike decision-making centres,” said Dmitry Medvedev, a former prime minister under Putin who is deputy chairman of Russia’s national security council.

“Of course, it needs to be understood that the final decision-making centres in this case, unfortunately, are not located on the territory of Kyiv,” he said in an interview with Al Jazeera. Officials in Moscow have accused Nato of using the war in Ukraine to wage a proxy war against Russia.

Medvedev, who also served a single term as president from 2008 to 2012 but was widely viewed as Putin’s puppet, was once seen as a liberalising force in Russia but has transformed in recent months into one of Moscow’s biggest hawks.

He also warned that the fighting in Ukraine was pushing the world dangerously close to nuclear Armageddon, saying: “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse are already on their way and all hope now is with Lord God the Almighty.”

Kremlin-controlled state television has said on a number of occasions that Moscow could launch nuclear missiles against western countries, including Britain, if the war in Ukraine turns against Russia.

The White House said it had agreed to provide Ukraine with the guided missiles after receiving assurances from President Zelensky that they would not be used to hit targets inside Russia. The Kremlin said it did not believe Zelensky. “The United States is directly and intentionally adding fuel to the fire,” Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said.

Russia has accused Ukraine of using combat helicopters and drones to carry out a number of cross-border strikes on villages and oil depots since the start of the war in February. Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied the allegations.