Dmitry Medvedev became Putin's first deputy in the Military-Industrial Commission – immediately after the publication in the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta of an article about European countries that "are the true heirs of the NSDAP." Medvedev holds a similar position in the Security Council. His powers now include holding meetings instead of Putin and creating working groups within the commission, according to the corresponding decree of the President of the Russian Federation.
Also by this decree, Putin excluded Mikhail Mishustin's assistant Igor Artemyev from the commission, who headed the Federal Antimonopoly Service until 2020. In addition to Medvedev, the commission and its collegium included the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kurenkov.
The Military-Industrial Commission, among other things , gives instructions to federal agencies related to the development and production of weapons. In addition, the commission decides on the personal responsibility of officials for the improper performance of their duties related to everything related to the production of weapons.
Previously, Dmitry Medvedev was not seen in activities related to the military-industrial complex. The closest thing to it was his inspection trip in a leather coat to a tank factory, but usually he specialized in meetings with citizens, conversations about the importance of inclusive education, and so on. After February 24, Medvedev's activities are mostly focused on commenting on the war in Ukraine – in his articles and posts on the Telegram channel, he ridicules Ukrainians, "convicts" them of some kind of Nazism, calls the leadership of Ukraine "grunting pigs", accuses Europe of "reviving national -socialism" and says that the European countries are "the true heirs of the NSDAP".
