The Kremlin is using the escalation in the Middle East to build a narrative that could later shift blame for a possible collapse of peace talks on Ukraine onto the United States.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian officials have intensified criticism of Washington after US military operations against Iran – portraying Russia and the US as being on opposite sides politically and strategically.
Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev directly criticized US President Donald Trump, saying Washington cannot simultaneously promote peace efforts and conduct military operations against Iran.
At the same time, First Deputy Chair of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Alexei Chepa said the strikes on Iran were unlikely to completely derail negotiations on Ukraine, but warned that Moscow could begin questioning whether the United States remains an “impartial and honest” mediator.
Another Russian lawmaker, Defense Committee member Andrei Kolesnik, called for an increase in Russian military support to Iran, arguing that Russia “cannot allow Iran to be destroyed.”
ISW noted that the Kremlin often uses Medvedev to voice harsher rhetoric than official Kremlin channels publicly adopt, while still signaling positions that reflect broader Kremlin thinking. Russian lawmakers, the report added, frequently serve as amplifiers of these narratives, particularly for domestic audiences.
Researchers also said that Moscow has long sought to delay negotiations on Ukraine while avoiding steps that could trigger stronger US sanctions or pressure. Against that backdrop, the sharper rhetoric following US-Israeli operations against Iran may indicate that the Kremlin is increasingly struggling to preserve ties both with Washington and with partners such as Iran.
As per ISW, Russia may also be preparing to use criticism of the United States as a way to distance itself from any future failure of negotiations over the war in Ukraine.
The United States and Israel launched a massive air bombardment campaign against Iran on Saturday, primarily targeting Iran’s national leadership and major Iranian war-making capacity.
Some of the strikes sought to kill top-level Iranian officials, while others targeted major Iranian weapons like warships, weapons stockpiles, and long-range missile launchers. The overall US-Israeli objective was to smash the Iranian capacity to resist militarily.
An immediate, shorter-term objective was to establish total air dominance over Iran so that it would be easier for more massed strikes to hit whatever was still in one piece in later attacks, so that all resistance might be quickly crushed.
Cruise missile, ballistic missile, bomb, and rocket strikes delivered by hundreds of aircraft and launchers hit all over Iran, without a declaration of war and almost simultaneously.
New weapons were deployed as part of an attack intended to overwhelm, including bombs designed to penetrate hundreds of meters into underground bunkers, anti-missile lasers, the latest version of the US Precision Strike Missile (a highly accurate ballistic missile), and Israel’s Black Sparrow munition (a highly accurate hypersonic missile dropped from a bomber.)