Ex-Russian President Medvedev's 'Judgement Day for Ukraine' warning leaves Zelenskyy fuming

By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 18, 2022, 4:29 PM IST

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Ukraine and the West will face a 'Judgement Day' response should they attempt to militarily dispute Russia's control of Crimea.

Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president, has issued a chilling warning that if Ukraine and the West challenge Russia's control of Crimea militarily, they will be met with a "Judgement Day" response.

The former President stated on Sunday that the Kremlin would retaliate with the greatest amount of force if the region is assaulted due to the refusal of Ukraine and Western nations to recognise Moscow's ownership of the peninsula.

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"Judgement Day comes very fast and hard. It will be very difficult to hide," he announced, according to Russia's TASS news agency.

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In 2014, a pro-Moscow president in Kyiv was overthrown amid widespread street protests, leading to Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea on the Black Sea.

The Kremlin later sponsored pro-Russian armed rebels in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Since the February 24 invasion, its army has assisted them in capturing the Luhansk and most of the Donetsk oblasts.

The day before Medvedev's remarks, a Ukrainian official had warned that the Crimean peninsula would be a target for American-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) missiles that Kyiv had lately used to great effect as its armed forces fought off Putin's soldiers.

Earlier on Sunday, the Russian Security Council's deputy chairman, Dmitry Medvedev, was quoted by Interfax as saying to veterans of World War Two, "If any other state, be it Ukraine or NATO countries, believes that Crimea is not Russian, then this is a systemic threat for us."

"This is a direct and an explicit threat, especially given what has happened to Crimea. Crimea returned to Russia."

Although Medvedev did not go into further detail about his remarks, he has previously used Moscow's tried-and-true nuclear sabre-rattling strategy to caution the United States and other Western countries about the risks of trying to punish a nuclear power.

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No one will accept such intimidation: Zelenskyy

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned Medvedev's Doomsday comments as 'intimidation' and said it was Russia that would eventually face a Judgement Day, 'not in a figurative sense, not as loud talk, but literally'.

During his regular address to the countrymen, Zelenskyy stated, "Today, another not-so-sober statement about the alleged judgement day for Ukraine came from Russia...of course, no one will accept such intimidation."

"How cynical it is to say such a thing today- on the anniversary of the destruction of the Malaysian Boeing by Russia in the sky over the Ukrainian Donbas region," the Ukrainian President added.

Dubbing it an "act of terrorism," Zelenskyy remembered the dreadful disaster that killed 298 onboard, including 80 children. The Ukrainian President again accused Moscow of "terrorism" under the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he had previously called a "terrorist."

He added that while the hollow threats of "judgement day" does not scare Ukraine, Russia, on the contrary, will face a tribunal for its atrocities in Ukraine. "This will be a judgement day for Russia- not in a figurative sense, not as some loud statement...but literally," Zelenskyy concluded.

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From 2008 to 2012, Medvedev presided over Russia as President, although there is little doubt that he functioned as Putin's spokesman while serving as prime minister and effectively running the country.

The former President has previously said Russian forces will continue fighting until they fulfil their stated goal of 'denazifying' and 'demilitarising' Ukraine. He predicted the conflict would 'undoubtedly lead to the collapse of the existing regime' in Kyiv under the weight of the Russian offensive.

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