Zelensky tells Putin he 'will die' in new warning as brutal war continues
Vladimir Putin attends a press conference following the Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Reuters
Volodymyr Zelesnky has warned Vladimir Putin “will not survive” as the Ukrainian leader rubbished Russia’s war of attrition.
Zelensky, 45, dismissed his Russian counterpart during an interview with Brazil’s TV Globo.
He said: “Putin won’t live that many years. He did not fight in Syria at the pace he is fighting us.
“That is why he will not stand 30 years. He will not exist, he will die.”
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a meeting with Ireland's Prime MinisterReutersZelensky went on to claim the 70-year-old Russian leader “won’t survive even 10 years”, adding Putin knows “deep down” he cannot subjugate the ex-Soviet state.
He added: “All their actions on the battlefield indicate that today Russia is not able to completely occupy Ukraine and destroy us.”
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have soared in recent months, with Kyiv launching its counter-offensive against Putin’s troops.
Ukraine even launched an aerial attack against Moscow, adding to the Kremlin’s growing paranoia.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Zelensky at the Nato SummitReutersZelensky’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak warned the Russian capital is “rapidly getting used to full-fledged war”.
He added: “Everything that will happen in Russia is an objective historical process.
“More unidentified drones, more collapse, more civil conflicts, more war.”
However, Ukraine’s emboldened language comes after a senior figure in Moscow suggested nuclear weapons remained on the table.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian security council, claimed Moscow would be justified due to a nuclear deterrence policy adopted by President Putin in 2020.
Deputy head of Russia's Security Council Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting with officials and employees of the military industrial corporation
Reuters
The Russian President vowed to use atomic weapons in response to a conventional strike which “threatens the very existence of the state”.
Commenting on the prospect of using nuclear weapons, Medvedev said: “There would simply be no other choice.”
It has been suggested the Kremlin would likely use a short-range tactical or “battlefield” nuclear weapon fired from Russia, Belarus or the occupied part of Ukraine.
Russia could even opt to fire the weapon from an aircraft or submarine.
Medvedev has suggested Russia could use strategic nuclear weapons several times since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2020.