Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, appeared to threaten senior staff at The Times newspaper.
Britain has accused Russia of a “gangster threat” after former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned Times journalists about it Newspaper reporting the murder of Igor Kirillov, the head of the chemical weapons department of the Russian army.
A newspaper editorial called the killing “a legitimate act of defense” of Ukraine.
The Editorial claimed that Kirillov “would have been responsible for numerous documented chemical attacks on Ukrainian forces on the ground.”
The former Russian president, who is currently deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, appeared to threaten senior staff at the newspaper on Wednesday after the article was published.
“And they too are now legitimate military targets. This may include the lousy jackals at the Times who cowardly hid behind an editorial. That is, the entire management team of the publication,” Medvedev posted on Telegram.
“The people who committed the crimes against Russia… always have accomplices,” he added.
A source from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed to Al Jazeera that the agency was behind the attack. Ukraine has not yet officially commented on the incident.
“Unlike in Russia, a free press is a cornerstone of our democracy and we take all threats from Russia incredibly seriously,” said a spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy described Medvedev’s comments as a “gangster threat” that “smacks of desperation.”
“Our newspapers represent the best of British values: freedom, democracy and independent thought,” he added.
The Times says Moscow did this has already banned several of its journalists from entering Russia.
Medvedev, who served a single term as Russian president between 2008 and 2012, also threatened NATO members who provided military aid to Ukraine.
He referred to the article that called Kirillov’s killing a “discriminatory strike against an aggressor” and said “this logic” means that “NATO decision-makers” who support Kiev are “participating in a hybrid or conventional war against Russia will take part”.
“All of these individuals can and should be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian state. And for that matter also for all Russian patriots,” he posted.
The threat comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets NATO chief Mark Rutte and key European leaders in Brussels to discuss Russia’s war ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Zelensky spoke to reporters alongside Rutte, calling it a “very good opportunity to talk about security guarantees for Ukraine today and tomorrow.”
The talks come just over a month before Trump reclaims the presidency of the United States after promising to quickly end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which NATO says has cost more than a million people since Russia’s invasion in 2022 caused deaths and injuries.
