Putin is attacking the West, fueling Russian fears of disintegration

What will happen to Russia when the war is over? If the West’s plans go, the largest country in the world should no longer exist. The Russian people would be torn apart. At least the Kremlin paints this gloomy future scenario.

Last week, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, 57, said: “If Russia ends the military special operation without victory, then Russia will no longer exist, it will be torn apart.”

For Frithjof Benjamin Schenk (52), professor of Eastern European history at the University of Basel, such a statement only serves to mobilize its own population for an aggressive war against Ukraine. Medvedev is trying to scare the population that national identity is in danger, Schenk tells Blick. Schenk considers an actual disintegration of the country unrealistic.

Putin: West wants to control Russia

Now Vladimir Putin (70) is also taking up the subject of a conspiracy against Russia. “They have only one goal: to dissolve the former Soviet Union and its largest part, the Russian Federation. And then, perhaps, they will include us in the so-called family of civilized nations, but only separately, each part separately, “said Putin in an interview on the Russian state broadcaster Rossiya 1. He accuses the West of then “bypassing” these separate parts to be able to bring it under his control.

“If we take this path, the fate of many peoples in Russia, and especially that of the Russians, will fundamentally change. I don’t even know if an ethnic group like the Russian people can survive in its present form. Then there will be Muscovites and Uralians,” the Russian president said.

And further: “But that was always the plan. These plans are recorded on paper. It’s just that when we were building relationships, we tried not to talk about it for the sake of partnership. But now that their attempts – after the collapse of the Soviet Union – to reform the world solely on their terms have led to such a situation, we are compelled to respond.” The Kremlin boss gave no further details about the alleged plans of the West.

“Russian citizens are not the enemy”

The West has repeatedly denied that it wants to destroy Russia. A few days before the anniversary of the war, US President Joe Biden, 80, said: “The United States and the European nations do not want to control or destroy Russia. The West does not intend to attack Russia. And millions of Russian citizens who wanting to live in peace with their neighbors are not the enemy.”

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (53) also said in an interview with the Russian opposition TV channel Doschd that the United Kingdom had “great respect” for the Russian people, Russian history and culture. “But Putin’s decision is a serious blow to Russia’s reputation on the international scene,” he said. “At the same time, no one intends to harm, let alone destroy, Russia.”

The French head of state Emmanuel Macron (45) also made his position clear a few days ago in an interview with “Figaro”. “I do not believe, like some others, that one should defeat Russia completely and attack it on its territory. Above all, these observers want to destroy Russia. This has never been France’s position and never will be.”

Source: Blick