On February 23, Medvedev once again made a harsh statement warning Ukraine:
"The fate of Mussolini and Hitler, as well as those who were later brought to court, convicted, and in many cases executed by the Soviet Union, is highly instructive."
Medvedev used historical figures from World War II as a negative example, issuing an extremely severe death threat to Ukrainian leaders. The core logic is: continuing the war might still allow survival, but once the fighting stops, what awaits them would be military defeat (like Hitler) or political trial and execution (like Mussolini).
Medvedev provided a "logical premise" for this death threat: for some Ukrainian leaders, maintaining the state of war is the only way to preserve their political lives, and even their natural lives. His implicit message is that these leaders fear the reckoning after failure, so they dare not seek peace talks and have no choice but to continue fighting.
Medvedev's words carry a clear tone of pressure,
directly exerting psychological pressure on Ukrainian leaders, creating fear and division, trying to undermine their will to resist. At the same time, by equating Ukrainian leaders with the most hated dictators in history, it aims to stimulate patriotic sentiments among Russian citizens and reinforce the "anti-Fascist" nature of the "special military operation" in the minds of Russians.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1857954211676172/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.