Since the lead up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he has adopted increasingly hawkish and anti-Western positions, and has repeatedly threatened the use of nuclear weapons in a break with his previous image as a moderate subordinate to Putin.

[16] He graduated from the Leningrad State University Faculty of Law in 1987 (together with Ilya Yeliseyev, Artur Parfenchikov, Anton Ivanov, Nikolay Vinnichenko and Konstantin Chuychenko, who later became associates).

[19] After Sobchak's election campaign Medvedev continued his academic career in the position of docent (associate professor) at his alma mater, now renamed Saint Petersburg State University.

[54] After taking the oath of office and receiving a gold chain of double-headed eagles symbolising the presidency, he stated:[55] I believe my most important aims will be to protect civil and economic freedoms... We must fight for a true respect of the law and overcome legal nihilism, which seriously hampers modern development.

In a unique situation in the Russian Federation's political history, the constitutionally powerful president was now flanked with a highly influential prime minister (Putin), who also remained the country's most popular politician.

In the first year of Medvedev's presidency, two external events threatening Russia—the 2007–2008 financial crisis and the 2008 South Ossetia war—changed Putin's plans and caused him to resume a stronger role in Russian politics.

[62] The next day, Medvedev released a statement, in which he said: Last night, Georgian troops committed what amounts to an act of aggression against Russian peacekeepers and the civilian population in South Ossetia ...

On 30 September 2009, the European Union–sponsored Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia stated that, while preceded by months of mutual provocations, "open hostilities began with a large-scale Georgian military operation against the town of Tskhinvali and the surrounding areas, launched in the night of 7 to 8 August 2008".

Before this, Russian officials, such as the Finance Minister, Alexei Kudrin, had said they believed Russia would be safe, due to its stable macroeconomic situation and substantial reserves accumulated during the years of growth.

[81] On 7 August 2009, Dmitry Medvedev instructed the prosecutor general, Yury Chayka, and the chief of the Audit Directorate of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Konstantin Chuychenko, to probe state corporations, a new highly privileged form of organisation earlier promoted by President Putin, to question their appropriateness.

[83] Medvedev made reforming Russia's law enforcement one of his top agendas, the reason for which was a shooting started by a police officer in April 2009 in one of Moscow's supermarkets.

"[89] Russia's score in Corruption Perceptions Index rose from 2.1 in 2008 to 2.2 in 2009, which "could be interpreted as a mildly positive response to the newly adopted package of anti-corruption legislation initiated and promoted by president Medvedev and passed by the Duma in December 2008", according to Transparency International's CPI 2009 Regional Highlights report.

[100] In August 2009, Medvedev promised to break the near-dominant position of United Russia party in national and regional legislatures, stating that "New democratic times are beginning".

Medvedev recalled that for twenty of the pre-war years entire layers and classes of the Russian people were destroyed (this period includes the Red Terror mainly under the lead of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the crimes of Joseph Stalin and other evil deeds of the Soviet Bolsheviks).

On 26 August, following a unanimous vote of the Federal Assembly of Russia, Medvedev issued a presidential decree officially recognising Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states,[114] an action condemned by the G8.

[citation needed] In 2011, during the performance at the Yaroslavl Global Policy Forum, President Medvedev has declared that the doctrine of Karl Marx on class struggle is extremist and dangerous.

However, the opposition to the ruling United Russia party of Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin dismissed the proposals as political posturing that failed to adequately address protesters who claimed 4 December election was rigged.

[156] In a July 2020 interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, Medvedev said he retains "good friendly relations" with President Putin, which was in contrast with the opinion of many circles that his departure from the role of prime minister was a result of a rift in the domestic policies of the two.

[157] Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Medvedev has "reinvented himself as an arch-hawk", making a series of "shocking and provocative statements"[158][159][160] and "thinly veiled threats" of war against Western countries.

"[8] Ben Noble, associate professor of Russian Politics at University College London, said that "In order to stay relevant – and safe – [Medvedev] has attempted to be even more hawkish than many existing hawks.

'"[173] On 27 July 2022, Medvedev shared a map on Telegram, described as predictions of "Western analysts", showing Ukraine, including its occupied territories, mostly absorbed by Russia, as well as Poland, Romania and Hungary.

The same month, Politico claimed that Medvedev's reversal of his formerly conciliatory views towards the West was to "shed his image as Putin's less-evil twin by posing as a nuclear madman", and reported that many Russians who read his Telegram channel were mocking him for it.

"[191] On 20 March 2023, in response to the ICC issuing a warrant for Putin, Medvedev posted on Telegram saying that "It is quite possible to imagine a hypersonic missile being fired from the North Sea from a Russian ship at The Hague courthouse".

"[210] On 2 November 2023, the pro-governmental Russian newspaper Rossiiskaia gazeta published Medvedev's 8,000 word article, which identifies Poland as a 'dangerous enemy' to Russia and as a former imperial country wishing to regain its empire.

[215] On 12 January 2024 Medvedev wrote in response to Rishi Sunak's recent visit to Kyiv, in order to sign a security agreement with Zelensky, that "I hope that our eternal enemies - the arrogant British - understand that deploying an official military contingent to Ukraine would be a declaration of war against our country.

[220] Medvedev verbally attacked the Russian-born commander of Ukraine's armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, saying "Disgust for a man who was a Soviet Russian officer, but became a Bandera traitor, who broke his oath and serves the Nazis, destroying his loved ones.

[228] Medvedev is a fan of British hard rock and heavy metal, listing Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, and Deep Purple as his favourite bands.

[250] Despite this supposedly modest income, a video by anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny[251] purports to show "the vast trove of mansions, villas and vineyards accumulated" by Medvedev.

In September 2016, opposition leader Alexei Navalny published a report with information about Dmitry Medvedev's alleged summer residence ("dacha") – an 80 hectare estate with a plethora of houses, a ski run, a cascading swimming pool, three helipads and purpose-built communications towers.

A film titled He Is Not Dimon To You shows how Medvedev allegedly owns and controls large areas of land, villas, palaces, yachts, expensive apartments, wineries and estates through complicated ownership structures involving shell companies and foundations.