Zelenskyy Issues Bomb Shelter Warning as Russia Escalates Tensions with NATO; Medvedev Threatens Response
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Kremlin leaders to “know where the bomb shelters are” in an escalation of rhetoric, as Moscow deepens its military provocations against NATO and the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year.
The comments came shortly after his address to the United Nations General Assembly, and amid fresh airspace violations across Europe attributed to Russian fighter jets and drones.
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| File Photo: Dmitry Medvedev |
He declined to specify the system, but said: “They have to know that we in Ukraine, each day, we will answer. If they attack us, we will answer them.”
The warning provoked a direct and incendiary response from former Russian President and Security Council chief Dmitry Medvedev, who said in a post on X that “Russia can use weapons a bomb shelter won’t protect against.”
The Kiev drug addict said the Kremlin should know where a bomb shelter is so its occupants can hide when he uses long-range American weapons. What the freak needs to know is that Russia can use weapons a bomb shelter won't protect against. Americans should also keep this in mind.
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) September 25, 2025
He referred to Zelenskyy as a “drug addict” and warned Americans to “keep this in mind,” in what analysts called one of the most explicit Russian threats of the war to date.
The exchange came amid growing signs of direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. On Friday, three Russian fighter jets violated Estonian airspace, prompting an emergency response under Article 4 of the NATO charter -- the second such activation in two weeks.
NATO officials say it’s part of a wider pattern of “deliberate provocations,” including repeated drone incursions over Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and now Estonia.
“These are deliberate tests -- tests of our readiness, our resolve, and of the limits of our deterrence,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said, calling the latest incursion “a direct threat” to NATO’s eastern flank.
She warned that Russia’s strategy hinges on miscalculation. “Does Russia believe that NATO will not allow violations of its territory? That is now the last line of defense between if and when war with Russia happens,” Sakaliene said.
Since the start of August, NATO has recorded multiple Russian UAVs -- some armed with explosives -- crossing into allied airspace.
A dramatic drone swarm over Poland earlier this month forced NATO to intercept and shoot down several drones, marking the first time the alliance has engaged Russian assets directly since the full-scale invasion began.
Together with @SecGenNATO Mark Rutte, we discussed the effectiveness and further expansion of the PURL initiative.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / ΠΠΎΠ»ΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠΌΠΈΡ ΠΠ΅Π»Π΅Π½ΡΡΠΊΠΈΠΉ (@ZelenskyyUa) September 24, 2025
In just two months since its launch, the initiative, which enables the purchase of American weapons with the financial support of NATO member states, has already… pic.twitter.com/g0N8hUpu1U
One American-owned facility in western Ukraine, near the borders of Hungary and Slovakia, was also struck by cruise missiles in late August.
While some incidents have been labeled as “accidental” by Moscow, Eastern European leaders reject that narrative. “These are not mistakes,” said Poland’s Foreign Ministry. “These are deliberate, calibrated acts of pressure.”
The broader concern is Russia’s use of gray-zone warfare -- tactics that fall below the threshold of formal war but destabilize nonetheless. A growing number of analysts now believe that Russia is systematically probing NATO’s response thresholds.
Earlier this month, the Institute for the Study of War highlighted an op-ed by Medvedev in the state-run TASS agency, using language eerily similar to that deployed in the lead-up to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.
In the piece, Medvedev accused Finland of “Russophobia,” warned that NATO’s expansion was a guise for aggression, and implied that Helsinki was erasing the “historical and cultural identity” of ethnic Russians -- echoing the narrative that preceded the annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine.
In his UNGA speech, Zelenskyy did not pull back. He reiterated his call for the international community to act decisively, warning that if Russia is not stopped now, the war will grow.
“Ukraine is only the first. Russian drones are already flying across Europe. Putin wants to continue this war by expanding it,” he said.
Zelenskyy also took aim at the weakness of global institutions, arguing that rules-based international order is being hollowed out.
“There isn’t a single international institution that can truly stop bloodshed anymore. What can Sudan, Somalia, Palestine -- or any country -- expect from the UN? Just statements.”
I met with President of France @EmmanuelMacron.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / ΠΠΎΠ»ΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠΌΠΈΡ ΠΠ΅Π»Π΅Π½ΡΡΠΊΠΈΠΉ (@ZelenskyyUa) September 24, 2025
We discussed strengthening Ukraine’s air defense, the escalation by Russia against European countries, and the cases of detected drones in Poland, Romania, and Denmark, as well as fighter jets in Estonia. A swift response and… pic.twitter.com/yViEiPGlTG
In the United States, President Trump voiced deepening concern over escalation, warning at a press event in the UK that the world is “heading toward World War III.”
He acknowledged that Putin had “let him down” by continuing the war and again criticized NATO countries for buying Russian energy. “They are funding the war against themselves,” Trump said.
Zelenskyy, in response, underscored the stakes. “Stopping Russia now is cheaper than wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead.”
With nuclear rhetoric intensifying, military pressure mounting, and NATO airspace repeatedly breached, the risk calculus across Europe is shifting rapidly -- away from theoretical deterrence and toward the real possibility of broader conflict.