A top Russian political figure and Vladimir Putin fanboy have chillingly warned that British Government officials are now ‘legitimate military targets’ in his latest tirade.
Former Kremlin president Dmitry Medvedev, who recently called for the ‘elimination’ of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his ‘clique’ in Kyiv, issued the warning.
His strong words come after British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly backed Ukraine’s right to strike targets inside Russia.
“Today, the UK acts as Ukraine’s ally providing it with military aid in the form of equipment and specialists, i.e., de facto is leading an undeclared war against Russia,” Medvedev, who sits on Russia’s security council, tweeted in English.
“That being the case, any of its public officials (either military or civil, who facilitate the war) can be considered as a legitimate military target.”
He even name-checked the British official. He went on: “The UK’s Foreign Secretary Cleverly has stated that Ukraine ‘has the legitimate right to … project force beyond its borders to undermine Russia’s ability to project force into Ukraine itself’.
“According to him, legitimate military targets beyond Ukraine’s border are part of its self-defence.”
Medvedev is seen by some as angling for a return as Russian president if Putin is forced out by war failings or ill health.
The 57-year-old, once seen as a Kremlin liberal, is positioning himself as a hawk nowadays.
He added: “The goofy officials of the UK, our eternal enemy, should remember that within the framework of the universally accepted international law which regulates modern warfare, including the Hague and Geneva Conventions with their additional protocols, their state can also be qualified as being at war.”
Cleverly, speaking on a visit to Estonia, a NATO country bordering Russia where UK troops are based, said Kyiv had “the legitimate right to defend itself.
“It has the legitimate right to do so within its own borders, but it does also have the right to project force beyond its borders to undermine Russia’s ability to project force into Ukraine itself.”
