Russian security chief Dmitry Medvedev has issued a chilling threat against the “enemies” of Russia. The close Vladimir Putin ally evoked the bloody siege of St Petersburgh during World War II in a social media rant at the West.
Medvedev mentioned that the 80th anniversary of the full lifting of the Siege of Leningrad is on January 27 and called on Russians to preserve the memory of the Soviet victory over Nazism.
The Kremlin’s propaganda heavily relies on attempts to link the defeat of the Nazis with the current war in Ukraine, looking to paint Russia’s opponents as driven by “neo-fascism”.
Medvedev wrote on his social media page: “This serves as a source of courage and determination in our fight against the forces of neo-fascism.”
Medvedev continued: “With the support of the West, the Kyiv regime is trying to challenge not only Russia but the entire civilized world.
“We will do everything so that, like 80 years ago, our enemies disappear from the face of the earth forever.”
It comes as Putin promised to release the findings of Moscow’s investigation into the crash of a military transport plane. The Kremlin has claimed that Kyiv’s forces shot down the plane despite being aware that Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board.
Putin told a group of Russian students: “Knowing (the POWs were aboard), they attacked this plane. I don’t know whether they did it on purpose or by mistake, through thoughtlessness.”
Putin did not provide specific details to back up the accusation against Ukraine, which other Russian officials have also made.
Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed whether their military was responsible for shooting down the plane, but they have requested an international investigation.
Putin said: “There are black boxes, everything will now be collected and shown, I will ask the investigative committee to make public, to the maximum extent possible, all the circumstances of this crime — so that people in Ukraine know what really happened.”
