Top Russian official hints at Nuclear War possibility if Ukraine invasion fails

Former Russian President and Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote incendiary comments on Telegram alluding to nuclear war. Russia continues to be unable to win the war with Ukraine, and the United States is beefing up its financial and weapons support for Ukraine.

“The loss by a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war… The nuclear powers do not lose major conflicts on which their fate depends,” Medvedev wrote.

The message is clear that Putin’s Russia could resort to nuclear strikes if it fails to win its unprovoked war with Ukraine. Medvedev served one term as Russia’s leader from 2008-2012, and has been one of the biggest supporters of the Russian invasion.

Medvedev is among those who use rhetoric suggesting the Ukraine war is about much more; an existential struggle between the Kremlin and the Western powers. Just The News reports Medvedev’s remarks “come as Russia appears to be making gains in the hotly contested Donbas region, with Russian forces storming Soledar, potentially threatening the Ukrainian position in Bakhmut.”

In August of 2022, the White House announced a $2.98 billion aid package for Ukraine. In the first week of January 2023, the U.S. Department of State announced:

In this first week of 2023, the United States continues to stand strongly behind Ukraine and our European allies and partners by announcing more than $3.75 billion in new military assistance.  This assistance includes a $2.85 billion drawdown from stocks of the Department of Defense to be provided immediately to Ukraine and $225 million in Foreign Military Financing to build the long-term capacity and support modernization of Ukraine’s military.  It also includes $682 million in Foreign Military Financing for European partners and allies to help incentivize and backfill donations of military equipment to Ukraine.

Analysts are concerned that a Russian victory against Ukraine could result in a “domino effect.”