Dmitry Medvedev, a former head of state of Russia, claimed on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin had instructed him to visit troops close to the frontline in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Russia’s Medvedev visited troops in Ukraine: Since Moscow’s incursion started last year, a number of senior Russian officials have conducted surprise visits to Ukraine’s occupied territories, including Putin, who did so in March in the port city of Mariupol in the country’s southeast.
Former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev claimed, “On the orders of the president, I visited a firing range along the contact line on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
In a video shared on social media, Medvedev, who is currently the deputy chairman of the Kremlin’s Security Council, praised the military personnel for their “excellent combat qualities of will, firmness, and a general attitude to victory.”
In addition, he stated that “over 325,000 people” have joined the Russian armed forces since the beginning of the year, an increase over the 280,000 he stated at the beginning of the month.
The data could not be independently verified by AFP.
Further, Medvedev frequently criticises the West in incendiary remarks on social media and has been one of Moscow’s most strident voices in favour of the offensive in Ukraine.
In September 2022, Russia asserted its annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, but none of them are entirely under its authority.