Russia just re-enforced their promise. If NATO attacks Crimea, Russia will respond in kind; against Europe or the United States with hypersonic and/or nuclear weapons.
So, who’s bluffing?
Referendum results expected Wed, same ref held for Crimea in ’14.
Russia’s Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said,
“Various retired idiots wearing a general’s insignia should know better than to try to scare us with speculations about a NATO strike at Crimea. Hypersonic retaliation is be able to reach targets in Europe and the United States much faster, it’s guaranteed,” Medvedev wrote.
He added that “the Western establishment and, in general, all citizens of the NATO countries, need to understand that Russia has chosen its own path. There is no turning back,” he stressed.
At the same time, Medvedev is certain that referendums in the republics of Donbass and in the liberated territories will take place with the net effect of these territories’ accession to Russia. “The protection of all the territories that have joined in will be significantly strengthened by Russia’s Armed Forces,” Medvedev wrote.
He added that "not only mobilization capabilities, but also any Russian weapons, including strategic nuclear weapons and weapons based on new principles, can be used for such protection.”.