Medvedev Threatens to Turn Kyiv Into 'Giant Melted Spot'

Senior Russian security official and former president Dmitry Medvedev. EPA
Senior Russian security official and former president Dmitry Medvedev. EPA
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Medvedev Threatens to Turn Kyiv Into 'Giant Melted Spot'

Senior Russian security official and former president Dmitry Medvedev. EPA
Senior Russian security official and former president Dmitry Medvedev. EPA

Senior Russian security official and former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday Russia could destroy Ukraine's capital Kyiv with non-nuclear weapons in response to the use of Western long-range missiles by Ukraine.

Medvedev said Moscow already had formal grounds to use nuclear weapons since Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region, but could instead use some of its new weapon technologies to reduce Kyiv to "a giant melted spot" when its patience runs out.

"Holy shit! It's impossible, but it happened," he wrote in English on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on Friday that his plan to achieve victory depended on Washington's decision, a clear reference to the authorization for long-range strikes that Kyiv has long sought from NATO allies.

Andriy Yermak, head of Zelenskiy's office, said on the Telegram messaging app on Saturday: "Strong decisions are needed. Terror can be stopped by destroying the military facilities where it originates."

Kyiv has said such strikes are critical for its efforts to restrict Moscow's ability to attack Ukraine, but allies have so far been reluctant to permit them, citing fears Moscow will treat them as an escalation and doubting their efficiency.



Official: US Warns Iran to Stop Plotting Against Trump

OAKS, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 14: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on October 14, 2024 in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP
OAKS, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 14: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on October 14, 2024 in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP
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Official: US Warns Iran to Stop Plotting Against Trump

OAKS, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 14: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on October 14, 2024 in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP
OAKS, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 14: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on October 14, 2024 in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

The United States has warned the Iranian government to stop all plotting against Republican Donald Trump and said that Washington would view any attempt on his life as an act of war, a US official said on Monday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said US President Joe Biden has been briefed regularly on the threats and directed his team to address Iranian plots against Americans.

At Biden's direction, top US officials have sent messages to the highest levels of the Iranian government warning Tehran to cease all plotting against Trump and former US officials, Reuters quoted the official as saying.

The Iranians have been told that Washington would view it as an act of war if any attempt was carried out against Trump's life, the official said.

Trump, a Republican, is seeking a return to the White House after losing the 2020 election to Biden.

His campaign said on Sept. 24 that Trump was briefed by US intelligence officials on the alleged threat from Iran.

The White House said the United States has been closely tracking Iranian threats against Trump for years and it warned of "severe consequences" if Tehran was to attack any US citizen.

"We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority, and we strongly condemn Iran for these brazen threats. Should Iran attack any of our citizens, including those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences," said White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.

He said "appropriate agencies are continuously and promptly providing the former president’s security detail with evolving threat information."

"Additionally, President Biden has reiterated his directive that the United States Secret Service should receive every resource, capability, and protective measure required to address those evolving threats to the former president," Savett said.