The head of the Russian Security Council, Mykola Patrushev, who is considered by many analysts as a potential successor to President Vladimir Putin, claims that Russia is not in conflict with Ukraine, TASS reports.

“The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kyiv, it is a military confrontation between NATO and, above all, the USA and England, with Russia. Fearing direct contact, NATO instructors are leading Ukrainians to certain death,” he said in a new interview quoted by TASS.

Patrushev added that with the help of the “special military operation” launched by Vladimir Putin on February 24, Russia “liberates its occupied regions and must stop the bloody experiment of the West to destroy the fraternal Ukrainian people.”

“We are not at war with Ukraine, because by definition we cannot have hatred for ordinary Ukrainians,” he added, noting that Ukrainian traditions are close to Russian ones, just as the heritage of the Russian people is inseparable from culture. Ukrainians

“Please note that Ukrainian is kept as one of the state languages ​​in Crimea. Ukrainian cultural centers and Ukrainian song and dance ensembles continue to work in many cities,” he added.

Vladimir Putin’s “Superhawk” blames the West for bringing poverty to Ukraine

“The sooner the citizens of Ukraine understand that the West is fighting Russia with its own hands, the more lives will be saved,” Mykola Patrushev said, adding that “many people realized this a long time ago, but are afraid to say it.” this, fearing reprisals.”

Patrushev, who is considered a “shadow man” who shapes Putin’s belligerent worldview, also said that “the whole story with Ukraine was started in Washington to develop technologies to divide one people.”

“Millions of people are forbidden from birth to speak Russian, their native language, and they are forced to forget their origin. The West, for the sake of its ambitions, practically destroys the Ukrainian people, forcing the active generation to die on the battlefield, and reducing the rest of the population to poverty,” he added.

The head of Russia’s Security Council is not the first high-ranking official in Moscow to claim that Russia is not actually at war with Ukraine or that it has not attacked the neighboring country, with similar comments made by Sergei Lavrov, the head of the Russian government. of diplomacy, or Dmytro Peskov, Kremlin spokesman.

At the end of December, Peskov also spoke about a new alleged reason for the Russian invasion, saying that it and the annexation of occupied Ukrainian territories are Russia’s way of conducting an “honest” dialogue on an equal footing with the West.

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