Medvedev warns of ‘grounds’ for Belarusian nuclear strike on Ukraine

Minsk will have “full grounds” to hit Kiev with nuclear weapons if Ukraine moves to attack Belarus, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and current deputy head of the Security Council, has said.

Medvedev was responding to statements made on Friday by Ukrainian MP Oleg Dunda. At an anti-Russia conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, Dunda suggested that it is “crucial to move the war not only to the territory of [Russia’s] Bryansk and Kursk regions, but also to Belarus.”

“I am deeply confident that, if we enter Belarus with relatively small units, the Belarusian army will lay down its weapons. This is not even confidence, this is knowledge,” the MP claimed, adding that this would be a “gut-punch to Moscow.”

Responding to Dunda’s remarks on his Telegram channel on Sunday, Medvedev said such an incursion would promptly trigger a nuclear response.

“Some stinking Kiev Dunda suggested moving the war to Belarus. Well then, Alexander Grigorievich [Lukashenko, Belarusian President] will have full grounds to ask Russia to use the tactical nuclear weapons deployed in Belarus,” he stated.

Russia is currently finalizing an updated version of its nuclear doctrine. The update was proposed by President Vladimir Putin earlier this month amid the growing involvement of Western nuclear powers in the Ukraine conflict. The updated doctrine would allow Russia to deploy its nuclear deterrent in case of a conventional attack by a state that is backed by a nuclear power against either Russia or Belarus.

Medvedev, who has long been a hardliner on the Ukraine conflict, last month noted that Russia has had ample reason to use nuclear weapons throughout the Ukraine conflict, but has so far exercised restraint. He warned, however, that “there is always a limit to patience.”

As Russia’s closest ally, Belarus has supported Moscow throughout the Ukraine conflict, much to the chagrin of Kiev. Minsk does not have its own atomic arsenal, but in 2023 Putin ordered Russian tactical nuclear weapons to be stationed in Belarus.

Lukashenko recently warned that any violation of the country’s border would cross a “red line” and prompt Minsk to deploy nuclear weapons.

“As soon as they attack us, we use nuclear weapons. And Russia gets involved for us,” Lukashenko said last week, warning that the entire situation could then spiral out of control, triggering a new world war.