New court jester in the Kremlin?
Master of Disaster in trouble again – how one small detail ruined Dmitry Medvedev’s grand entrance
During a visit to a military garrison, Dmitry Medvedev wanted to make a big impression. But a small detail in this picture screwed up his performance.
© Yekaterina Shtukina / Picture Alliance
When Vladimir Putin needed someone to warm his presidential chair for him, he chose Dmitry Medvedev. 14 years later he might have found a completely different task for him.
Dmitry Medvedev was once the hope of Russia’s liberals. Today, the former interim president is the hottest candidate for the vacant post of court jester in the Kremlin. Since the death of ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky last April, that position has been vacant — and Medvedev appears to be nothing too abstruse or gross to follow in the infamous political clown’s abnormally large footsteps.
Medvedev’s appearances on Telegram and the Russian social network Vkontakte have become a manifesto of his imperialist madness. Since 2020 he has held the previously non-existent post of “Deputy Chairman of the Security Council” and only makes abstruse statements about himself.
Medvedev recently insulted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensyj as Hitler. He mocks Chancellor Olaf Scholz as a “liver sausage fan”. In June he explained his hate speech with the following words: “I’m often asked why my telegram posts are so harsh. I answer: I hate them. They are bastards and scum. They want our deaths, the deaths of Russia. And so long I’m alive, I’ll do everything to make them go away.” What is meant is the western world and its representatives.
The “pathetic” becomes the “terrible”
But no matter how bloodthirsty Medvedev appears, there is hardly anyone left who wants to take Medvedev seriously. His old nickname of the “pathetic” was quickly changed to the sarcastic “terrible”.
His latest appearance won’t help Medvedev out of this image hole either. In the manner of his boss Vladimir Putin, Medvedev wanted to present himself as a tough guy in a military uniform. On August 5, he endowed a military garrison in the Orenburg region a visit. On behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, the former prime minister got acquainted with the training of the Russian armed forces, the Security Council of the Russian Federation announced. Medvedev’s visit to the border area with Kazakhstan would have gone unnoticed, despite the grandiose press release, had it not been for a photo that is so indicative of the clumsy work of the Kremlin propagandists.
In the picture, Medvedev looks into the distance through binoculars. Big pose for a big man. That’s the idea. Except that Medvedev couldn’t see very far. Because the protective covers dangled directly in front of the lenses.
Dmitri Medvedev as Zhirinovsky’s successor?
Medvedev was not particularly far-sighted towards Kazakhstan in another of his bizarre statements on his social networks. Kazakhstan is an “artificial state” and “former Russian territory,” wrote Medvedev. In the scandalous post, he accused the Kazakh authorities of “genocide against Russians” and vowed to regain the “lost territories.” In addition to Kazakhstan, this also applies to Georgia.
The post was online in just ten minutes. Then it was said that Medvedev’s account had been hacked and that the post was not from himself. This is not the first time this excuse has been used. And yet the content makes you sit up and take notice: has Medvedev perhaps already held the post of court jester? Zhirinovsky played this role for Putin for more than 20 years until his death – and spoke out what was too hot for the Kremlin. As a mood test.
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