July 21, 2025

Medvedev Compares Ukraine to Nazi Germany


Medvedev Compares Ukraine to Nazi Germany
Dmitri Medvedev The Russian Life files

On July 17, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev compared Ukraine to Nazi Germany. The propagandist Russian news outlet Russia Today reported Medvedev’s words, quoting his assessment of an “obvious similarity” between Kiev and the declining Third Reich.

This is the latest reiteration of a years-old piece of Russian rhetoric. Putin himself has on many occasions invoked an imagined Ukrainian Nazism in order to justify the war. Medvedev's comments neatly outline the propagandist strategy behind these claims.

In the Russia Today article, Medvedev followed his association of Ukraine with Nazi Germany with a plan Russia has for Ukraine's defeat: the “three Ds.” Medvedev’s mnemonically simplified outline is intended to appear innocent: his central words are “demilitarization,” “denazification,” and “democratization,” words weaponized by Putin in the past.

Painting Kiev in this light has the benefit of disguising Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as the benevolent eradication of lingering Nazism. It also justifies the Kremlin's condemnation of the West, implying collusion with historical baddies through inaction. The article concludes with the sentence, “Russia has accused Western governments of deliberately ignoring continued neo-Nazi activity in Ukrainian ranks.”

The Russian government thus positioned supporting Ukraine as an act of Nazism in itself. Capitalizing on the memory of Russia’s struggle against Germany in World War II, Medvedev’s words continue a tradition by Russian officials of alleging fascism from all sides. By claiming a kind of underdog status in the face of a global threat, Russian leaders distort military aggression into an heroic defense.

You Might Also Like

Russians Unaffected by War
  • January 06, 2025

Russians Unaffected by War

Verstka uncovered a survey that showed Russians are both exhausted and accustomed to the war in Ukraine.
What's in a Name? Stalin.
  • July 23, 2023

What's in a Name? Stalin.

Every September 3, and on nine other days of the year, the city of Volgograd will change its name back to Stalingrad.
Searching for Nazis
  • June 05, 2022

Searching for Nazis

Putin says he invaded Ukraine to root out Nazis. Zelensky compares the defense of Ukraine to the heroism of the 1940s. Can both be right? No. No, they can't.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955