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.
The refusal of Ukraine and
Western powers to recognize Moscow’s ownership of the peninsula poses a
‘systemic threat’ for Russia, the former president said yesterday, before
declaring the Kremlin would hit back with maximum force if the territory is
attacked.
‘Judgement Day come very fast
and hard. It will be very difficult to hide,’ he announced, according to
Russia’s TASS news agency.
Russia annexed the Black Sea
peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 after a pro-Moscow president in Kyiv was
toppled amid mass street protests.
The Kremlin then also backed
pro-Russian armed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which
its army has since supported to seize the Luhansk and much of the Donetsk
oblasts since the February 24 invasion.
Medvedev’s comments were aired
a day after a Ukrainian official suggested that Crimea could be a target for
U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) missiles, recently
deployed by Kyiv with great effect as the Ukrainian armed forces continue to
battle Putin’s troops.
