Patrushev Scores NATO’s Role in Planning Ukraine’s Invasion of Kursk
Aug. 17—Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev, whom Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed the head of the newly created Maritime Collegium to coordinate overall policy of the Russian presence on the world’s oceans, gave a lengthy interview to Izvestia published today. He expounded on the intended work of the new Collegium. He also spoke on the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk.
“It was the West that put a criminal junta at the head of Ukraine, NATO countries pumped Kyiv with weapons, military instructors, constantly supply intelligence and control the actions of neo-Nazis,” he said. “The operation in the Kursk region was also planned with the participation of NATO and Western special services. This criminal action was caused by a premonition of the approaching imminent collapse of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime.” Patrushev charged that, “Statements by the U.S. leadership about non-involvement in Kyiv’s crimes in the Kursk region are not true. The United States regularly says one thing and does another. Without their participation and direct support, Kyiv would not have risked entering the territory of Russia.”
Patrushev also lambasted the U.S. role in the creation of new “color revolutions,” referring to the recent operations against Serbia. He also noted the attempts to unseat Maduro in Venezuela and the recent statements by Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina regarding U.S. involvement in the recent revolt which forced her to flee the country.
On the creation of the new Collegium, Patrushev said that it was in response to the growing threats from the West that are forcing Moscow to pay great attention to shipbuilding and the development and production of new models of military marine equipment. Some of the most immediate areas of concern are obviously in the Black Sea and in the Arctic, where there are now attempts, with Sweden and Finland joining NATO, to hinder Russia’s access to the Baltic Sea, “turning it into an ‘internal sea’ of the NATO alliance.” Patrushev said. He also noted the importance of the naval arm in the light of the new Indo-Pacific strategy of the U.S., which, he said, “has a clear anti-Russian and anti-Chinese character.”
The Maritime Collegium will have three councils, regulations on which will be approved later. One is the Council for Strategic Development of the Navy, which will become a kind of think tank that will prepare strategy for the Navy. Second, there will be the Council for the Protection of the National Interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic. Third, there will be a Council for the Development and Support of Maritime Activities of Russia. This council will pay special attention to issues of ensuring import and independence in the maritime sphere. It will also deal with the Northern Sea Route for trade and it will work to increase transportation along the extensive network of rivers in the heart of Russia and will be responsible for the comprehensive socio-economic development of coastal regions.
In addition, there will be a scientific and expert council which will engage in expert study of issues submitted for consideration to the Collegium. Russia is presently conducting a major scientific expedition to explore Antartica, following explicitly on the work of the great American explorer in that region, Admiral Richard E. Byrd.