Russia again threatened Tuesday to use nuclear weapons, on the last day of the annexation referendums it is organizing in four regions of Ukraine, denounced as “simulacra” by kyiv and its allies.
The former president and number two of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev assured that Moscow will defend these new territories which it intends to incorporate at the end of these elections, “including with strategic nuclear weapons”.
“I will repeat it once again for deaf ears (…): Russia has the right to use nuclear weapons if necessary”, he added.
Asked if these statements represented the official position of the Kremlin, its spokesman Dmitry Peskov recalled Russian military doctrine, which provides for the possibility of nuclear strikes if territories considered Russian by Moscow are attacked.
However, after the referendums, “in these territories, there will be cardinal changes from the legal point of view, from the point of view of international law and because of all the respective consequences (of the measures taken) to ensure security”, indicated Mr Peskov.
These nuclear threats, which are taken seriously in the West, come on the last day of annexation votes organized by Moscow in the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk (east) and those under Russian occupation of Kherson and Zaporijjia (south).
The results could be announced as early as Tuesday evening or Wednesday.
These elections, organized urgently in the face of the success of the Ukrainian counter-offensive launched in early September, follow the pattern of the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
These five regions represent just over 20% of the surface of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin assured Tuesday that these votes were aimed at “saving the local populations”, Moscow justifying its invasion by accusing kyiv of Nazism and of orchestrating an alleged genocide of Russian speakers.
Exodus of the Russians
The G7 countries have vowed to “never recognize” their results, while Washington has promised a “stern” response through additional economic sanctions.
The EU considers these “referendums” as “illegal” and all those who participated in their organization will be sanctioned, said the spokesman for the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.
Even China, Russia’s main partner, has made criticisms without going so far as to denounce them.
The authorities put in place by Moscow in the areas to be annexed have assured for their part that “provisional results” should be announced no earlier than Tuesday evening or in the days that follow. The Russian Parliament will then have to vote on a text formalizing the integration of the four regions into Russia.
“What do we expect from this event? Stability, economic stability and confidence in the future,” said the leader of the Luhansk separatists, Leonid Passechnik.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was in kyiv on Tuesday in support of Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky in particular.
At the same time, Russia continues to lead a mobilization of its reservists in order to recruit 300,000 fighters for its invasion of Ukraine, seeking parade in the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian troops who, with the help of Western arms deliveries, recaptured thousands square kilometers of territory at the beginning of September.
This recruitment campaign, carried out at times in a chaotic manner, has pushed many Russians to leave the country, an exodus confirmed on Tuesday by two neighbors of the country, Georgia and Kazakhstan, while an influx is also observed at the borders of the Mongolia and Finland.
Leaks on Nord Stream
Georgia has reported 10,000 Russians crossing the border every day since the announcement of the mobilization. Kazakhstan has reported 98,000 Russian citizens who have arrived since September 21.
“I’m not cannon fodder, I’m not a murderer,” Nikita, a 23-year-old Russian who passed through the Georgian side at the Kazbegi border post, told AFP.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has promised to protect Russians fleeing to Kazakhstan, Russia’s traditional ally but which has distanced itself from the invasion of Ukraine.
On the ground in Ukraine on Tuesday, kyiv claimed new territorial gains with the capture of the localities of Borivchtchyna, on the left bank of the Oskil river in the Kharkiv region, as well as the Kupinask-Vouzlovy logistics and railway node.
Moscow, for its part, continued to claim to inflict heavy losses on its adversary.
In recent days, Russian attacks on Iranian-made drones have intensified, particularly over Odessa, a major port on the Black Sea, where two “kamikaze” machines hit military infrastructure on Monday, causing a major fire and ammunition detonations.
On the economic side of the war, the Nord Stream gas pipelines built to deliver Russian gas to Europe were hit by unexplained leaks reported by the Nordic countries. The Kremlin said it was “extremely concerned”, saying it did not exclude “any” hypothesis, including that of sabotage.
If these two tubes did not work, one for technical reasons invoked by Russia, the other because of European sanctions, they were still filled with gas.