Medvedev: Russia is Fighting a Sacred Battle, Victory is Ours

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (AFP)
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (AFP)
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Medvedev: Russia is Fighting a Sacred Battle, Victory is Ours

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (AFP)
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (AFP)

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday cast Russia's war in Ukraine as a sacred conflict with Satan, warning that Moscow could send all its enemies to the eternal fires of hell.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has killed tens of thousands and triggered the biggest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the Cold War superpowers came closest to nuclear war, Reuters said.

Medvedev, who once cast himself as a liberal modernizer as president from 2008 to 2012, said Moscow was fighting "crazy Nazi drug addicts" in Ukraine backed by Westerners who he said had "saliva running down their chins from degeneracy".

Ukraine and the West have repeatedly dismissed President Vladimir Putin's assertions that Ukraine is run by fascists who have persecuted Russian speakers. Instead, they cast the war as a brutal land grab by Moscow.

In a message marking Russia's Day of National Unity, Medvedev said Russia had different weapons, including the ability to send all their enemies to “hell.”

Since the war began, Medvedev's rhetoric has become increasingly fierce though his published views sometimes chime with thinking at the top levels of the Kremlin elite.

Satan's weapons, Medvedev said, were "intricate lies. And our weapon is the truth. That is why our cause is right. That is why victory will be ours!"



Iran Confirms Meeting European Officials on Friday

FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets with Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji (unseen) in Beirut, Lebanon June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets with Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji (unseen) in Beirut, Lebanon June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
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Iran Confirms Meeting European Officials on Friday

FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets with Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji (unseen) in Beirut, Lebanon June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets with Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji (unseen) in Beirut, Lebanon June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi confirmed on Thursday he would meet his British, French and German counterparts as well as the European Union's top diplomat on Friday in Geneva, Iranian state media reported.

He said the meeting had come at the request of the three European states.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Thursday warned the US again to avoid getting directly involved in the conflict between Iran and Israel, saying in a statement that “direct” role by the Americans would “expand the conflict to the region.”

“We warn the criminal United States: any direct involvement in this war would lead to its expansion across the region and will result in severe and irreparable blows,” the guard said in a statement carried by Iranian state TV.

The warning echoes recent statements made by other Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and comes as US President Donald Trump has said he’s not looking for a fight with Iran but stands ready to act if necessary.