Medvedev warns Ukraine of doomsday in case of its attack on Crimea

1. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by Putin, has responded to Ukrainian officials’ statements that Kyiv may strike the bridge linking Crimea and Russia, warning that that would trigger devastating consequences for the Ukrainian leadership.

“If that happens, the consequences will be obvious: They will momentarily face Doomsday,” Medvedev said. “It would be very hard for them to hide.”

Medvedev, who once was touted by the West as more liberal compared to Putin, said Russia will press its action in Ukraine until fulfilling its stated goal of “denazifying” and “demilitarising” the country. He predicted that the continuing fighting will “undoubtedly lead to the collapse of the existing regime” in Kyiv.
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2. Ukraine’s leadership will immediately be faced with a doomsday should it venture to attack Crimea, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday.

"Some ecstatic bloody clowns, who pop up there with some statements now and then, are trying to threatens us, I mean attacks on Crimea and so on," he said at a meeting with WWII veterans during his trip to Russia’s southern city of Volgograd. According to Medvedev, consequences of such Ukraine’s actions are quite obvious.

"Should anything of the kind happen, they will be faced with a doomsday, very quick and tough, immediately. There will be no avoiding it. But they keep on provoking the general situation by such statements," he stressed.
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3. Kiev sees the Crimean Peninsula as a major military hub and a legitimate target for long-range weaponry by the West, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Directorate of Intelligence at the Ministry of Defense, Vadim Skibitskiy, said Saturday.

The official made the remarks as he appeared live on TV channel 1+1, having been asked whether Ukraine could use US-made М142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS multiple launch rocket systems to strike Crimea.

“Today, the Crimean Peninsula has become a hub for the movement of all equipment and weapons that come from the Russian Federation to the south of our state. It is, first of all, a cluster of military hardware, ammunition and materials that are concentrated in the Crimea, and then sent in to supply the Russian occupying forces,” Skibitskiy stated.

Kiev is also seeking to attack the warships of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, stationed in Crimea, Skibitskiy went on. The warships are being used to launch cruise missiles and therefore are “among the targets that must be hit in order to ensure the safety of citizens, our installations and Ukraine in general”, he explained.

The threat comes a day after Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov announced that Kiev has received its first M270 MLRS systems. The official did not elaborate on whether the systems have already been deployed on the battlefield, nor from where exactly they’d arrived. Earlier, London had pledged to supply at least three systems of the type.