On August 1, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on the social media that he had ordered two “nuclear submarines” to be positioned in “the appropriate regions”, in a direct menace to Russia. Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defence, reposted Mr. Trump’s publish. The cause for Mr. Trump’s escalatory transfer: back-to-back social media posts by Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian President and Prime Minister. Mr. Trump additionally slammed the “foolish, inflammatory and provocative” statements by Mr. Medvedev.
Mr. Medvedev had evoked the fabled Dead Hand mechanism (also referred to as ‘Perimeter’), a secretive semi-automated Russian command system that would launch a nuclear strike if its leaders have been killed in enemy assaults.
Born on September 14, 1965 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Dmitry Medvedev is the son of professors Yulia and Anatoly Medvedev. He earned a level in regulation after which accomplished post-graduate research at Leningrad State University, graduating in 1990. In 1989, he married Svetlana; their son Ilya, now 29, joined the United Russia Party of Vladimir Putin in 2022.
A PhD in regulation, Mr. Medvedev taught for 9 years at the St. Petersburg State University. During this time, he additionally labored as an adviser to the metropolis council, and in 1991, he joined the authorized crew working for the then Mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak. It was right here that he met Mr. Putin.
Mr. Putin turned the appearing President of Russia in December 1999, and Mr. Medvedev was tapped to change into a member of his crew. In 2000, he led Mr. Putin’s presidential marketing campaign, and was appointed the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Presidential Executive Office. In November 2005, he turned the first Deputy Prime Minister, and was named by Mr. Putin as his successor in 2007. On May 7, 2008, Mr. Medvedev turned the President of Russia, for a one-term stint since Mr. Putin was barred below the then Constitution from occupying the publish for a 3rd consecutive time period. Soon after his inauguration, he nominated Mr. Putin as his Prime Minister.
Mr. Medvedev had campaigned with the slogan “Freedom is better than no freedom,” and through his stint as President, he undertook a number of reforms, similar to the decriminalisation of defamation. He negotiated with the then U.S. President, Barack Obama, to cut back the quantity of nuclear warheads in the two nations, and presided over Russia’s accession to the WTO. He additionally introduced an finish to counterinsurgency operations in Chechnya. He was at the helm when warfare broke out in Georgia in 2008.
New position
Mr. Putin returned as President in March 2012, and Mr. Medvedev turned the head of the United Russia occasion and the Prime Minister of Russia, occupying this place from May 8, 2012 to 2020. He slowly pale into the background and ultimately resigned as Prime Minister in 2020.
Post this, Mr. Medvedev was appointed as the deputy of the newly created National Security Council, an advisory physique with Mr. Putin at its head.
Since the starting of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Mr. Medvedev has been a powerful supporter of Mr. Putin’s actions. He began a Telegram channel quickly after the invasion, turning into Russia’s hottest blogger by the finish of 2022. This additionally circled his picture in the eyes of the public: from a public belief score of 23% in 2021 from pollster VTsIOM, he notched a score of 45.7% in June 2025.
While Mr. Trump and Mr. Medvedev have sparred earlier than, the present alternate was sparked by Mr. Trump’s publish on July 29, warning that the U.S. would sanction Russia in 10 days if it didn’t take measures to finish the warfare with Ukraine. Mr. Medvedev referred to as this a “theatrical ultimatum”, and stated “each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war”. He additionally warned that Russia was not “Israel or even Iran”, and warned Mr. Trump to not “go down the Sleepy Joe road.” In response, Mr. Trump referred to as him “the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President”.
Mr. Medvedev responded by way of a message on Telegram, “If some words from the former president of Russia trigger such a nervous reaction from the high-and-mighty president of the U.S., then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path.”
