MOSCOW, Russia: Dmitry Medvedev, Former Russian President and a leading hawk on the Ukraine offensive, Saturday said his country will seek “revenge” for massive Western sanctions.
A day earlier, the US and the EU introduced fresh sanctions on the eve of the second anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years back and after the death of opposition leader and critic of president Putin Aleksei Navalny in prison.
“The reason [behind the sanctions] is clear: The worse it is for Russian citizens, the better it is for the Western world,” Medvedev said on social media. “We all just need to remember this and take revenge on them wherever possible. They are our enemies.”
Medvedev called on the Russians to “create problems in the West’s economy and fuel public discontent with the incompetent policies of Western authorities.”
Russia should “carry out other activities on its territory that cannot be discussed publicly,” he added without elaborating.
For months, the Kremlin has told Russians that economic sanctions are aimed at hurting ordinary people.
Medvedev replaced Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin from 2008 to 2012, a period that led to warming relations with the West.
Since February 2022, when Putin sent troops into Ukraine, Medvedev has regularly posted strong anti-Western statements on social media.
