On August 1, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on the social media that he had ordered two “nuclear submarines” to be positioned in “the appropriate regions”, in a direct threat to Russia. Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defence, reposted Mr. Trump’s post. The reason for Mr. Trump’s escalatory move: back-to-back social media posts by Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian President and Prime Minister. Mr. Trump also slammed the “foolish, inflammatory and provocative” statements by Mr. Medvedev.
Mr. Medvedev had evoked the fabled Dead Hand mechanism (also known as ‘Perimeter’), a secretive semi-automated Russian command system that could launch a nuclear strike if its leaders were killed in enemy attacks.
Born on September 14, 1965 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Dmitry Medvedev is the son of professors Yulia and Anatoly Medvedev. He earned a degree in law and then completed post-graduate studies at Leningrad State University, graduating in 1990. In 1989, he married Svetlana; their son Ilya, now 29, joined the United Russia Party of Vladimir Putin in 2022.
A PhD in law, Mr. Medvedev taught for nine years at the St. Petersburg State University. During this time, he also worked as an adviser to the city council, and in 1991, he joined the legal team working for the then Mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak. It was here that he met Mr. Putin.
