Dmitry Medvedev has responded to a deadly Ukrainian strike on Belgorod on Saturday, saying that Moscow’s forces do not strike civilian targets
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. © Sputnik/Sergey Guneev
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is “scum” who would love to see his own civilian population killed, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has claimed. The official, who currently serves as deputy chairman of the Security Council, was commenting on a deadly strike on Belgorod, insisting that Moscow’s forces only hit military targets, in contrast to Kiev’s army.
On Saturday, Ukraine unleashed an artillery barrage on the Russian city, which is located around 40km from the border. The attack came shortly after a Russian bombardment of multiple Ukrainian cities, and left 24 people dead and 108 injured, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.
In a post on the Russian VK social media platform on Saturday, Medvedev wrote: “It is obvious that the terrorist strike on Belgorod and the death of our citizens is a bloody crime at the hands of the Banderite bastards [caused by their] powerlessness to change anything on the front line.”
He went on to say that “probably some scum like Zelensky is dreaming of our armed forces turning Kiev city center into some semblance of the Gaza strip.” Medvedev suggested that the Ukrainian leadership might be secretly wishing for such an attack by Moscow, as it would make it easier for them to “beg their masters” for more weapons.
The office of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Ukrainian strike as a “violation of international humanitarian law,” as quoted by RIA Novosti.
An anonymous Moscow security source told RT’s Russian-language service that Zelensky had personally ordered his forces to target the Russian city.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday that “Britain is behind the terrorist act,” with the US and EU also bearing responsibility.
Ukrainian defense officials claimed that their forces had targeted exclusively military facilities, with any destruction of civilian infrastructure resulting from the “inefficient work of Russian air defenses.”
Apart from condemning Kiev’s actions on Saturday, Medvedev wrote in his VK post that a day before, the “Russian army inflicted considerable damage on the Nazi regime’s military and other infrastructure.”
According to the Ukrainian authorities, the Russian bombardment of several major cities, including the capital, Kiev, left 39 people dead and nearly 160 injured.
The Russian Defense Ministry insisted that its drones and missiles strictly targeted “military facilities and infrastructure.”
Any civilian casualties were attributable to the unprofessional performance of Ukrainian air defense forces, Moscow explained.
