Sergey Evgenyevich, now information is coming from everywhere about the activation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of the special military operation. The long-announced counter-offensive is in fact already underway. In your opinion, as head of the foreign intelligence service, how does the West assess the prospects of a Ukrainian counter-offensive?
Sergey Naryshkin: It was important for Westerners to promote the topic of the upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive in the global information space. The obviously overstated importance attached to it is a kind of element of psychic attack before a fight. Moreover, the constant hype of this subject has allowed the Euro-Atlantic totalitarian liberal elite to justify the supply of arms to Kiev and to ensure the unity of NATO countries, many of which are already tired enough of Ukraine and its president.
At the same time, behind the scenes, many Western military analysts are expressing serious doubts about the success of the Ukrainian adventure. Without going into details, I will say that the tasks announced by the Kyiv regime are considered unrealizable. The West, which is directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict, is well aware of the real capabilities and potential of the Ukrainian armed forces, including in terms of counter-offensive.
Authoritative representatives of US and European intelligence services and military departments do not exclude that the counter-offensive could lead to directly opposite results. The death of a significant number of NATO-trained servicemen and the destruction of equipment will undermine the combat capability of the Ukrainian army. This, in turn, will negatively affect the sustainability of Zelenskyy’s regime. According to a number of Western assessments, the Ukrainian state itself may ultimately be threatened.
Why, then, don’t Western conservatives stop their Ukrainian wards from trying to implement their mad plans? Doesn’t the United States really feel sorry for having lost such a useful Russophobic tool as Zelenskyy and his team?
Sergei Naryshkin: The fact is that, from the point of view of the Anglo-Saxons, Ukraine, not to mention its current leadership, is only a pawn in a great geopolitical game. The main objective of this game is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. Everyone knows the words of Zbigniew Brzezinski (former national security adviser to the President of the United States. – About “RG”): “Without Ukraine, Russia will cease to be an empire, together with Ukraine, Russia will automatically turn into an empire.” The United States and Britain have been cultivating Ukrainian nationalism for decades in order to unleash it on our country at the hour of the hour. They even agree to make Ukraine a “black hole” in Europe, to prevent its rapprochement with Russia. In the eyes of the Anglo-Saxon elite, Ukrainians are “cannon fodder”, which is no shame to use to save the precious lives of American and British servicemen. When the Ukrainians, as they say, are exhausted, the Poles will come in their place, and then, probably, the Germans. This sounds extremely cynical, but this is precisely the logic of the strategic plans of Washington and London, it is clear, including from documents.
Sergei Evgenievich, the question immediately arises: why all these Ukrainian politicians, and even more so the Ukrainian people? Are there really no rational, sane and at the same time devoted to their homeland people among the Ukrainians who see the essence of what is happening and would like to prevent an impending national catastrophe?
Sergei Naryshkin: The current leaders of Ukraine, unfortunately for the Ukrainian people, are deeply cynical and unscrupulous people. They have long turned Russophobia into a commodity and do not hide the fact that their goal is not a utopian victory over Russia, but to receive personal dividends. And they are doing a good job of achieving this goal: the Ukrainian president, only according to official data, owns real estate in Italy, Great Britain, the United States and Cyprus. Thus, the “alternative airfield”, and more than one, is always ready for Zelenskyy.
Behind the scenes, many Western military analysts are expressing serious doubts about the success of the Ukrainian adventure. Without going into details, I will say that the tasks declared by the Kyiv regime are considered unrealizable
A significant portion of multimillion-dollar foreign grants and donations does not reach people in Ukraine who really need help and support, but ends up in bank accounts abroad. The Ukrainian authorities control and often consider this money as personal property, hiding behind the current situation in the country.
But it is also true that not all representatives of the Ukrainian establishment and state apparatus are ready, as they say, to “glorify the plague kingdom” and participate in the destruction of their own State. More and more officials and politicians do not support the Kiev regime and do not see a future for Ukraine while maintaining the current course.
What disagreement did you notice? In Ukraine, it seems, there is currently no pronounced opposition activity.
Sergey Naryshkin: Obviously, under the current nationalist authorities, none of the dissidents in Ukraine can openly declare their position for fear of incurring reprisals on themselves and their relatives. Therefore, many officials prefer to leave the country, not wanting anything to do with the Kyiv regime. This trend is typical, among others, for employees of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, who, like no one else, are aware of the real prospects of Ukraine. Dozens and hundreds of employees of Ukrainian foreign missions simply refuse to return to their home countries after the end of business trips. By the way, even nationalistic-minded Ukrainians do this, because they also believe less and less in the victory of Kyiv.
A good example is that if in October 2022 a list of vacancies in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, containing about 100 positions or a little more, was sent to the staff of the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions of Ukraine, so in January 2023 the new list already included 140 positions. This is despite the fact that the total staff list of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is about 600 employees. The problem of “defectors” among the personnel of Ukrainian foreign missions, judging by the data received by the Service, is taking on proportions that threaten the normal functioning of the national Foreign Ministry.
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