“Meduza” told how Medvedev turned into a “hawk”

The publication “Meduza” told details about the metamorphosis of the former president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, who for a long time was perceived as a more liberal politician in comparison with Vladimir Putin, however, after the start of the war with Ukraine, he became one of its most radical supporters in the public sphere, resorting to direct insults of the West politicians and nuclear threats.

According to Meduza, part of the agreement between Medvedev and Putin was that he would remain prime minister after 2018. However, already in January 2020, he resigned after Putin announced amendments to the constitution. As “Meduza” writes, the amendments were not discussed with Medvedev in advance, and he perceived the reduction of the Prime Minister’s plenipotentiary as a violation of the agreements. At the same time, it is not known for sure whether Medvedev left on his own or at the request of Putin.

The post of deputy chairman of the Security Council was created especially for Medvedev. At the same time, according to two Meduza interlocutors close to the Kremlin, the current “master of the Security Council” remained its secretary Nikolai Patrushev, and “Medvedev sat on the side chair.” He also remained the chairman of United Russia, but, according to sources, he soon realized that he had no real leverage over the party. Nevertheless, Medvedev expected to lead the party list in the State Duma elections in 2021, and then become the head of the Duma. However, in the summer of 2021, Putin personally announced to Medvedev that he would not be on the party list. “The president humiliated his ego, completely removed himself from the campaign,” says one of the sources.

“By the end of 2021, Dmitry Medvedev practically fell off the public agenda. But the war changed everything,” states “Meduza”. Only after the start of the war, Medvedev began actively running his Telegram channel, threatening Ukraine with a full conquest and the West with nuclear weapons, as well as insulting Western politicians and residents of Ukraine, the United States, and Europe. “Meduza” sources close to the Kremlin claim that Medvedev deliberately chose such rhetoric: “he realized that he would be better off if he was reminded of some liberalism.” At the same time, the same sources say that the Kremlin treats Medvedev’s posts not seriously, despite the fact that Vladimir Putin “partially agrees with the assessments in which Medvedev is not shy” – but against Medvedev’s background, he continues to look more “respectable”. The fact that the president’s administration “strongly recommended” pro-government mass media to monitor Medvedev’s publications and publish news based on them may be connected with this.

The radical change in rhetoric, as sources claim, did not lead to an increase in Medvedev’s influence. A source close to the leadership of “United Russia” calls him a “wedding general”, and one of the president’s diplomatic missions stated that Medvedev is “nobody” for them. While one of the sources claims that Putin continues to consider Medvedev as an “armored train on the spare track”, others report that Medvedev now wants one thing – “so that everything is behind him, both patriots and liberals”. Medvedev himself did not comment on the publication.