Vladimir Putin ’s deputy has been labelled “deranged” after claiming the war in Ukraine is a sacred conflict with Satan.
Former president Dmitry Medvedev said Ukrainian troops were "crazy Nazi drug addicts".
The Putin henchman said the enemy was supported by “a motley pack of grunting piglets and narrow-minded philistines from the disintegrated Western empire with saliva running down their chin because of their degeneracy”.
His extraordinary rant marked Russia's National Unity Day, but brought a wave of criticism of the one-time Kremlin liberal.
Medvedev, who earlier this week set out why Russia could use nuclear weapons, said: “We have the opportunity to send all the enemies to a fiery hell, but this is not our goal.
“We listen to the Creator's words in our hearts and obey them.
“These words give us a sacred purpose.
“The goal is to stop the supreme ruler of hell, no matter what name he uses – Satan, Lucifer or Iblis.”
He hit out at those deserting Putin’s war and fleeing abroad to avoid mobilisation as “cowardly traitors and greedy defectors”.
For four years from 2008 to 2012 Medvedev was Russian president with his finger on the Kremlin’s nuclear trigger.
In another post he said Russia’s nuclear armoury could be used if Ukraine regained any of the territory currently invaded by Putin.
He said: “The aim of Ukraine in the war is identified by the Kiev regime - the return of all the territories that previously belonged to it.
“That is, to alienate them from Russia.
“It is a threat to the existence of our state - and the disintegration of present-day Russia.
“And hence, a direct reason to apply clause 19 of the Fundamentals of State Policy of the Russian Federation in the field of nuclear deterrence.”
Journalist Dmitry Kolezev posted about his latest missive: “Looks like Dmitry Medvedev moved to heavy drugs.”
Another user said: “This is past the smoking stage… whatever he takes must be injected.”
Malyuta Skuratov Telegram channel posted: “He has lost his mind … heard voices in his heart, armed himself with an atomic bomb…and went to catch Lucifer…..
"The trouble is that as a result of all this collective nonsense sitting in the minds of those who are now determining Russia's policy, thousands of people are dying, millions are suffering.”
Anti-war author and journalist Dmitry Glukhovsky compared Medvedev to two extremist propagandists, backing Putin’s war.
The first was Anton Krasovsky, who called for the genocidal drowning of Ukrainian children and the second, Vladimir Solovyov, who regularly calls for the West to be targeted with nuclear missiles.
He said: "The disintegration of personality that we see in Medvedev, Krasovsky and Solovyov are the consequences of the inability to tell the truth.
“They realise that they lie every day, force themselves to believe in their lies - and this is what poisons and destroys them.
“They shout to out-shout themselves.”
He added: “We can legitimately say there are questions over Dmitry Medvedev’s well-being after his latest post.”
