Russia Says Likelihood of Nuclear Weapons Being Used Growing by the Day

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that the likelihood of nuclear weapons being used is growing by the day.

Nuclear weapons are "the backbone that holds the state together" and are of fundamental importance for the existence of Russia, Medvedev who was President Vladimir Putin 's stand-in president between 2008 and 2012 and now serves as deputy head of Russia's Security Council, told an educational event.

Medvedev has issued nuclear threats frequently throughout Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began last February. Putin himself said in a televised address to the nation in September 2022 that he'd be prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory.

Speaking on Tuesday, Medvedev said that climate change is nothing compared to the prospect of a nuclear blast.

"Stop suffering because the temperature rose by one degree in such and such a year or over such and such a period. Humanity has been watching this for a very short time. Do you really care about the climate to such an extent?" he said, according to Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

"Do you really care about the climate to such an extent? In my opinion, this is nothing compared to the prospect of being at the epicenter of an explosion with a temperature of 5,000 Kelvin (scale), a shock wave of 350 meters per second and a pressure of 3,000 kilograms per square meter, with penetrating radiation, that is, ionizing radiation and an electromagnetic pulse," he said.

Medvedev said the likelihood of nuclear weapons being used is growing at a rapid rate.

"Is there such a prospect today? (Unfortunately,) yes. And it is growing every day for well-known reasons," he said.

He previously invoked the possibility of nuclear war should Russia be defeated in Ukraine.

"Defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war," Medvedev said in a Telegram post in January, discussing NATO support for Ukraine's military.

Medvedev added: "Nuclear powers have never lost major conflicts on which their fate depends."

In July 2022 he also issued a stark warning after the International Criminal Court said it would probe alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

"The idea to punish a country that has the largest nuclear arsenal is absurd in and of itself and potentially creates a threat to the existence of mankind," Medvedev said on Telegram at the time.

Medvedev added on Tuesday that he believes the modern world is "sick" and "it is quite likely that it is on the verge of a new world war."

"Is it inevitable? No, it is not," he added. "A world war can be avoided, but I will not make forecasts, forecasts are a thankless task."

Former Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev told Newsweek in February that Putin's nuclear rhetoric has been a "bluff."

"[Putin's] bluffing and we know that he has bluffed about nuclear threats," Bondarev, who resigned over the invasion of Ukraine, said during a phone interview. "Ukrainians recovered some parts of their territory, and there was no nuclear retaliation."

"If you're afraid of Putin using nukes, then you already lose the war against him and he wins," he added. "If Putin threatens to use nukes, OK, threaten him back."

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