Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, expressed the view that achieving the goals of the special military operation may require a military reach to Kyiv. The politician warned that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine may not be limited to the current phase.
In an interview with Russian media, responding to a question about the geographical limits of the special military operation, Medvedev stated: "Where does it stop? I don't know. I believe that considering what I said (about the need to create a protective belt), we still have to work a lot and seriously. Will it be Kyiv? Yes, perhaps it should be Kyiv, if not now, then after some time, maybe at a later stage of the development of this conflict."
He warned that a nuclear war could start inadvertently, for instance, in the case of an attack by an "F-16" supplied to Ukraine against Russia from the territory of a NATO country. Medvedev said, "There are still incidents that no one is immune from, and the accidental, unintended beginning of a nuclear conflict cannot be ruled out, so all these games about Ukraine are very dangerous."
He drew attention to what "these smart men in NATO occasionally talk about" regarding the potential delivery of "F-16" fighter jets to the Kyiv regime, stating: "So far, they have no place to fly from Ukraine, and some planes will take off from one of the NATO countries. What is this? An attack on Russia. I won't even describe what could happen, although this could occur by accident and not deliberately, and even without approval at the level of the NATO and U.S. command, and thus, unfortunately, such a development of events is possible."
Medvedev had announced a week earlier that Ukraine's attempts to destroy Russian launch platforms with long-range Western missiles could become a reason for using nuclear weapons. He wrote on his Telegram page: "Kyiv believes that the best way to fight Russia is to destroy launch platforms in all Russian territory with long-range missiles received from the West."
Medvedev questioned what this means, adding: "It means only one thing, that (Ukrainian authorities) risk falling under the action stipulated in paragraph 19 of the fundamentals of Russian state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence: aggression against Russia using conventional weapons threatens the very existence of the state."
He noted that striking Russian launch platforms is not a defense at all but a direct and clear basis for Moscow to use nuclear weapons against Kyiv. He concluded with a warning: "All the heirs of Hitler, Mussolini, Petain, and others in Europe today, who support the Nazis in Kyiv, should remember that."
