Medvedev. Mehd-V(y)EHD-yehf. Whatever.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/op...yt&oref=slogin

Code:
I saw it coming as soon as Tim Russert cornered Hillary Clinton into naming Vladimir Putin’s heir. She dodged, ducked and plunged into the now famous: “Med, vay, deva, whatever.” Nobody thought the worse of her. In fact, it drew one of the few sympathetic murmurs in the debate. Russian names are just not something most Americans can do. And if the blogs and online pronunciation guides I’ve checked are any indication, they never will.
...

Russians have their own problems with American names, but the current presidential candidates do not pose a major challenge. Obama leaps the language barrier, and Kleenton and Makkayn are easy. Luckily, none have a “th” in their name, a sound Russians eschew. Remember Margaret Techer?

With time, we will learn to cope with Medvedev. We overcame Khrushchev, adopted Rostropovich and cheer hockey players, ballerinas and tennis stars. Medvedev is as elemental as “medved,” Russian for bear. So: Launch with “med” as in “he’s off his med”; put the accent on the “VEH” as in “venomous,” and trail off with a lazy “dev” with just a hint of “z” and “i”: “dziev.” Altogether now: “Med-VEH-dziev.” Whatever.
=)