2024-03-06 19:11:13
It is already known that Russia harbors imperial fantasies. With a map, Kremlin agitator Dmitri Medvedev is now once again showing how far the alleged claims go.
When Dmitri Medvedev speaks publicly, he usually chooses drastic words. Vladimir Putin’s agitator then fabricates a “world war” or threatens to use nuclear weapons. In his fantasy world, the Ukrainian government becomes a group of “drug addicts” and Olaf Scholz becomes the “liverwurst chancellor”. Most recently, he attested to French President Emmanuel Macron that he had “urine on his mind” because he did not want to rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine.
From a Western perspective, such outpourings from the deputy head of the Russian Security Council seem almost comical and exaggerated. But Dmitri Medvedev pursues a clear goal with his propaganda: he supports Vladimir Putin’s imperialist course – and at the same time makes the Kremlin boss appear almost moderate because of his radicalism.
Medvedev provided an example of this last Sunday at a youth festival in the coastal city of Sochi on the Black Sea: There the former Russian President (2008-2012) and Prime Minister (2012-2020) spoke in particular about his country’s foreign and security policy. This isn’t unusual at first. But during his lecture, Medvedev presented a map on which the borders of the Russian Federation are suddenly much larger than they already were. Poland and Romania are also growing beyond their actual borders in Medvedev’s world. And Ukraine? The attacked country is now only a rump state.
“A concept that should disappear forever”
The “concept” that Ukraine is not part of Russia must disappear immediately, Medvedev said, according to the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti. “One of Ukraine’s former leaders once said that Ukraine is not Russia. This is a concept that should disappear forever. Ukraine is definitely Russia,” Medvedev said. In his opinion, attempts to ignore this “Russian public opinion” should also disappear. The politician received minutes of applause for this.
The denial of Ukrainian statehood is a narrative that the Kremlin repeatedly spreads as part of disinformation campaigns and to ostensibly legitimize its war of aggression. In fact, the Ukrainian state has a long history. According to US historian Timothy Snyder, the idea of the Ukrainian state dates back at least to the 17th century. However, the country’s history is much older, said Snyder in a World Economic Forum podcast. Ukraine, Russia and Belarus all see Kievan Rus as their forerunner. This is an ancient East Slavic empire that had the city of Kiev as its center from the 9th century onwards.
If Medvedev is to be believed, the areas on both banks of the Ukrainian Dnipro River were among the “historical and strategic” borders of the Russian Empire. All attempts to “forcibly change or curtail” these borders are “doomed to failure,” he explained. All powers should respect this, said Medvedev: “This is, if you will, part of our fundamental self-image, the basic principles of our foreign policy for the coming decades, and we will not deviate from them.” Medvedev shared a similar map on his social media channels in 2022.
Medvedev is completely in line with Putin
Medvedev once again agrees with the views of Vladimir Putin, who, as a historical revisionist, likes to talk about Russia’s alleged historical borders. It was only at the beginning of February that he gave a more than 30-minute lecture to US presenter Tucker Carlson in an interview about his view of Russian history and the supposed territorial claims that would arise from it. These even go beyond Medvedev’s card, you can read more about it here. “Modern Ukraine was created entirely by Russia, more precisely by Bolshevik, communist Russia,” said Putin, justifying his invasion of the neighboring country in February 2022.