This is surprising: Russia’s ex-president Dmitri Medvedev talks about turning the Ukrainian leadership into ashes – and contradicts Putin’s goal.
MOSCOW — Dmitry Medvedev is known as a friend of high-calibre war rhetoric — the former Russian president and current deputy head of the Russian Security Council has now a new target in the war with Ukraine issued. Medvedev wants to fight until only ashes remain of the Ukrainian leadership and he can set up a government at the mercy of Russia. He sees Russia in a “war of self-preservation” with no alternative.
No more diplomatic rhetoric – the new goal is annihilation
So far, Russia had approached the world public more diplomatically, on the grounds that it would use military assistance to reincorporate administrative areas in Ukraine that constitutionally belong to Russia. According to the Russian definition, these include the Crimea as well as Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson. According to Medvedev, however, there can be no question of that. In his Telegram channel, the confidante of Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin speaks of annihilation: “It’s either them or us.” He contradicts the official line from the Kremlin.
The former President of the Russian Federation sees the aim of the Russian attack on the neighboring country as “the complete obliteration of the state apparatus”, as he says, in order to ensure long-term loyalty to Russia in the future. This rhetoric comes close to the term war of annihilation – at least as far as the Ukrainian leadership and administration are concerned. The “should be swept off the face of the earth,” said Medvedev. In his own words, Russia is striving to gain total control over everything that is happening and will happen on the territory of present-day Ukraine. This is essential for the survival of the Russian people and therefore inevitable; even if it may take decades.
According to Medvedev, Russia wants total control over the Ukrainian government
In his opinion, there is therefore no alternative to war – even if it drags on for years to come. He considers Western governments to be decadent and uninterested in what is happening far away in Ukraine. “A distant war will sooner or later become boring, expensive and unimportant,” he writes in his contribution. In complete contrast to the Russian people: for them, the war is after all an existential conflict. This is exactly where he sees the guarantee of a victory for Russia. He announced that even if the West, with the help of the Ukrainian government, eventually tears Russia apart, “it will die with us”. In order for Russia not to be cut into “pieces”, the “hostile political regime” in Ukraine must be destroyed as soon as possible. Medvedev has repeatedly threatened the world with a nuclear strike. (Karsten Hinzmann)
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