On Friday, a "friend" and ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Viktor Medvedchuk, predicted that a nuclear strike on embattled Ukraine is "most likely." President Putin has previously hinted at the possibility as well.

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Russian President Vladimir Putin's friend, Viktor Medvedchuk, recently predicted that a nuclear strike will "most likely" be coming.

Putin and senior Russian officials have repeatedly threatened nuclear escalation against Kyiv and its Western partners since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

During Putin's annual state of the nation address last month he warned that Russia's "strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness." He also warned that there was a genuine risk of nuclear war if Western nations send troops to Ukraine, as suggested by French President Emmanuel Macron last month.

Western nations, Putin added, "must realize that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don't they get that?"

While Russia is indulging itself in some nuclear saber-rattling, it seems unlikely that Putin will actually take this step, which would involve crossing a big red line that would threaten to bring other European powers into the conflict.

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Viktor Medvedchuk said as much in the same statement, predicting that the Russo-Ukranian conflict could well expand.

On Friday, according to Russian news agency Tass, pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Medvedchuk who was exiled to Russia in 2022 in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war predicted that a nuclear strike will "most likely" be coming as the West continues to "assert its right to global dominance."

"If the collective West continues to assert its right to global dominance, Ukraine's human capital will not be enough in any case...If we continue the policy of war to the bitter end, sooner or later foreign troops will have to be introduced. And most likely, [we will be] looking at a nuclear strike eventually," he said.

However, Medvedchuk does not rule out that countries outside of Europe could become involved if the conflict expands. "It is clear that the Arab world is being drawn into the war, and after that, China and India will also be involved, as they do not have issues with soldiers."

According to the International Nuclear Threat Initiative, Ukraine does not possess any nuclear weapons; devices that had been located in Ukraine in the Soviet era were returned to Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence.

Any nuclear strike in this conflict would more likely be a small device focused on a tactical target, rather than a strategic-level weapon used on a city, like Kyiv. Russian doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons, tactical or strategic, is not completely clear, although some statements by Putin would seem to indicate that Russia is backing away from the "no first use" rule. A tactical strike on a point target could be seen as a way to achieve a breakthrough, allowing Russian forces to re-establish mobile warfare after breaking into the Ukrainian rear areas.

Russia has also withdrawn from the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. As of this writing, it is not known if Russia intends to resume nuclear testing.