Former president who was once hopeful of West in Kremlin threatens enemies of Russia again: “I hate them. They are scum” | War Ukraine and Russia

“People often ask me why my posts on Telegram are so harsh,” Medvedev wrote this morning. “The answer is that I hate them. They are assholes and scum. They want to kill us and they want to destroy Russia. And as long as I live, I will do everything I can to wipe them off the map.”

Analysts say his lash is aimed at all enemies of Russia, not just Ukraine and the opposition at home, but the entire Western world. He has nothing good to say about that, as it has become clear in recent months. It used to be completely different.

When Vladimir Putin became president of Russia for the first time in 1999, after the resignation of Boris Yeltsin, he made Medvedev his protégé. The two knew each other from Saint Petersburg, where they had worked together for five years for Mayor Anatoly Sobchak. Medvedev led Putin’s presidential election campaign in 2000, became his deputy chief of staff and later his chief of staff, took charge of Russia’s largest company and largest natural gas company, Gazprom, and became Russia’s first-ever deputy prime minister.

Under Putin, he showed himself a strong supporter of reform. That was remarkable, because Putin was a supporter of tradition and stability. Medvedev was criticized in the Kremlin for his admiration for Western popular culture – he was obsessed with iPads – but those voices were silenced when Putin nevertheless named him as his successor.

In 2008, Medvedev won the presidential election with the slogan ‘freedom is better than no freedom’, giving hope to Russian liberals and defenders of democracy in the West. Hours after he was sworn in, Medvedev appointed Putin as his prime minister, as he had promised during his campaign.

He launched a liberalization and modernization program, but it was short-lived. When his term as president came to an end after four years, he switched posts with Putin and Putin simply reversed the reforms he had implemented.

Although he was prime minister for another eight years – until 2020 – Medvedev faded into the background and mainly served as a scapegoat for the ongoing economic malaise in Russia. He is currently the vice-chairman of the powerful National Security Council in Russia. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he has repeatedly made himself known with his radical views and statements.

For example, he caused concern in April when he stated that Russia’s ultimate goal was a vast Eurasia, stretching from Lisbon to Vladivostok. He also threatened with nuclear weapons if Finland and Sweden joined NATO.

Medvedev has also repeatedly accused the Ukrainians of being Nazis and believes that Ukraine cannot be an independent nation. He called the massacre in Butja (wrongly, as fact-checkers showed) “fake news”, staged by Ukraine to put Russia in a bad light.

Today, the Russian parliament decided that the European Court of Human Rights no longer has jurisdiction in Russia. The Council of Europe expelled Russia from the organization promoting human rights and democracy in Europe on March 15 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Russia insists it resigned itself. According to Medvedev, it is an opportunity to reintroduce the death penalty.