Putin Ally Threatens US Will Burn in 'Earthly Fire'

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Sunday that the United States will burn in an "earthly fire" following a missile attack on Sevastopol by Ukrainian troops.

On Sunday, amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the Kremlin had placed blame on the U.S. for a Ukrainian attack on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula, claiming U.S.-supplied missiles were used. The strike left at least five people dead and over 100 injured, according to Reuters.

The Russian Defense Ministry said four of the U.S.-delivered Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles were shot down by air defense systems, but fragments from the fifth rocket led to casualties on the ground.

"Responsibility for the deliberate missile attack on the civilians of Sevastopol is borne above all by Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine, and by the Kyiv regime, from whose territory this strike was carried out," the ministry said.

Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, took to Telegram to respond to the attack.

"The bastards from the USA supply missiles with cluster charges to Bandera's supporters and help guide them to the target. The bastards in Kyiv select a beach with peaceful people as a target and press the button. Both will burn in hell. I hope, not only in sacred fire, but even earlier - in earthly fire," Medvedev wrote, according to the translated post.

Medvedev continued to condemn the attack as he claimed it was carried out by "extremists."

"Everything that happened was not military action, but a vile and vile terrorist attack against our people, committed on an Orthodox holiday. Just like the massacre in Dagestan, which was carried out by extremists. Therefore, now all of them - the American authorities, the Bandera regime and crazy fanatics - are no different for us. My deepest condolences to the families of the victims. Speedy recovery to the wounded," he added.

Stepan Bandera was the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists during World War II. He is a divisive figure, with many in western Ukraine seeing him as a freedom fighter against Soviet Union domination. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine think of him as a fascist ally to Nazi Germany head Adolf Hitler.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.

According to Reuters, the Russian defense ministry said Russia will respond to Sunday's attack, adding that Putin has been "in constant contact with the military" since then.

Meanwhile, neither Ukraine nor the United States has commented on the attack. Newsweek has also reached out to the White House and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine via email for comment.

This comes as the U.S. has been providing Ukraine with military aid to defend against Russia's invasion that began in February 2022. Earlier this year, the U.S. began supplying Ukraine with longer-range ATACMS missiles.

In addition, tensions between North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries and the Kremlin have continued as NATO leaders have increasingly warned that direct conflict with Moscow is a realistic danger. This comes after Putin and senior Russian officials have repeatedly threatened nuclear escalation against Kyiv and its Western partners since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This is not the first time Medvedev has taken aim at the U.S as he previously took to Telegram on Friday and told the U.S. to "tremble and shake" as he rejected talks on Russia limiting its nuclear firepower and also suggested there could be no limiting in the number of nuclear warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles until the U.S. withdrew aid for Ukraine.

"Americans continue to treat everyone as complete idiots. Just imagine if Nazi Germany during World War II turned to the USSR with a proposal to include in a separate negotiation track the issue of restrictions on the production of any weapons," he wrote.

Medvedev's comments were in response to efforts by the U.S. to re-engage Russia in the signing of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START.

The last START, named New Start, was signed by President Barack Obama and Medvedev himself in Prague in 2010. This agreement called for both nations to halve the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers in their arsenal, and established a new inspection system to corroborate this.

In 2021, President Joe Biden and Putin agreed to extend the treaty for five years to February 2026. In February 2023, however, Russia suspended its involvement in New Start, though it did not formally withdraw from the agreement.

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