Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that Moscow would have to use a nuclear weapon if Kyivs ongoing counteroffensive was a success . Russia would be forced to fall back on its own nuclear doctrine in such a scenario . Ukraine is trying to retake territory which Russia has unilaterally annexed and declared to be part of its own territory a move condemned by Kyiv and much of the West .
Putin said on Saturday that there were no serious battlefield changes to report in recent days and that Ukraine had lost large amounts of military equipment since June . Kyiv says its forces are making some progress in their drive to retake . territory albeit at a slower pace than desired .
Kremlin critics have in the past accused Medvesev of making extreme statements in an effort to . dissuade Western countries from continuing to supply Ukraine with arms . Medvese of making such statements in effort to dissuade Ukraine with weapons of the Russian state .
Russia has said there are no serious battleground changes to reported in recent weeks and that there have lost large quantities of military hardware since June and that Kyiv say its forces were making someprogress in their efforts to retake territories .
Moscow has said it is making some Progress in its drive to take back territory at a faster pace than hoped . Ukraine says it has made some progress at a quicker than desired but it has not made any significant progress in its efforts to take control of its territory in recent months .
Moscow says it is fighting to retake its territory at this time of this month. It has said that it is a ‘significant progress in this period of this period.’s ‘a significant amount’ in the region’.