Kathrine Frich
As preparations continue for renewed peace negotiations, rhetoric from Moscow has again taken a dark turn.
A senior Russian official has used literary imagery to deliver what many observers see as a direct threat toward Ukraine’s president, casting doubt over the atmosphere surrounding the talks.
The remarks came just days before delegations are due to meet in the Middle East.
Ominous message
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and a former president, posted the comments on social media on Sunday.
According to the Daily Star, the message targeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and was published shortly before negotiations were set to resume in Abu Dhabi.
“I don’t want to discuss the fate of this character because he has already become a thorn in all our sides,” Medvedev wrote.
He then cited Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita: “As one famous Kyiv resident said: ‘Annushka has already spilled the oil.’ So that means he won’t keep his head.”
Literary threat
Russia’s state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, cited by Daily Express US, explained the reference. In Bulgakov’s novel, a character slips on spilled oil and is decapitated by a tram.
“This phrase is spoken in The Master and Margarita by Woland in reference to the fate of one of the novel’s characters, the editor Berlioz,” the paper wrote, noting that his head is cut off shortly afterwards.
The implication, analysts say, was a suggestion that Zelenskyy’s fate is inevitable and violent.
Violence continues
Medvedev’s remarks coincided with continued Russian strikes across Ukraine. On Sunday, a Shahed drone hit a bus carrying coal miners in the Dnipropetrovsk region, killing 16 civilians.
Zelenskyy said the attack occurred during extreme cold and accused Russia of deliberately targeting workers essential to energy supplies.
“It was a crime, a demonstrative crime,” he wrote, adding: “Evil must be stopped.”
The same day, Russian forces used a FAB-3000 bomb against the town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region, while drone attacks hit rail infrastructure near Sumy and injured civilians in Cherkasy.
Talks under strain
Peace talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States are scheduled for February 4–5 in Abu Dhabi, after being postponed.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready for “substantive talks” aimed at a “real and dignified end to the war.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the dates but Medvedev’s language has raised questions about Moscow’s intentions.
The former president has previously warned Zelenskyy he would “have to stay in hiding for the rest of his worthless life.”
As negotiations approach, Medvedev’s words underline how sharply military violence and diplomatic efforts continue to collide.
Sources: Daily Star, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, International Business Times.
