The utter collapse and disintegration of Vladimir Putin’s Russia has begun and the West must be prepared, a top Ukrainian official has warned.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said the West should be on high alert because it was not ready for the collapse of the Soviet Union in the past.
Danilov said he and Ukraine believed Russia would fall apart in “spectacular” fashion in the coming years.
But he warned that China currently has the upper hand over the imminent capitulation of the Kremlin. He said that if the West allowed China to take territory in Russia, a new serious problem would arise.
The top Ukrainian official was speaking as Finland officially joined NATO today, securing its place in the Western alliance.
Danilov said he and Ukraine believed Russia would fall apart in “spectacular” fashion within a few years. Pictured: Putin arrives for a Security Council meeting in Moscow on Friday
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said the West must be on high alert as it failed to get ready for the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In conversation with The times, Danilov announced: ‘The West does not know Russia and the West is afraid of fragmentation in Russia. But this process is already underway.’
In recent months, the ongoing conflict has centered around the eastern city of Bakhmut near the Donetsk region, with neither side making significant gains.
With progress on both sides somewhat stalled, emphasis has been placed on diplomacy for each country. Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow for his three-day summit with Putin.
The visit was an attempt by Moscow to demonstrate close relations with Beijing against Western allies, particularly the US. But Danilov believes the visit simply showed the Kremlin’s weakness.
Danilov said Russia has lost power over loyal allies in Asia, and China is now waiting for Russia’s collapse to take over the Siberian Far East, which has a significant Chinese population.
“Letting China take Russian territory will be dangerous for the West, because by solving one problem they are creating another,” he said The times. “First steps must now be taken by the West.”
Pointing to the outcome of the summit, Danilov notes that China did not agree to supply arms to Russia, and despite the friendship between the two countries being declared ‘borderless’, the closing statements did not mention this.
told Davidov The times: ‘China is a big country and will become a powerful rival for the Anglo-Saxon world. Now it owns Russia. Without them, Russia will not take any major action. Russia completely lost its sovereignty. That’s a fact.’
He said China acted only in its own interest by refusing Western sanctions on Russian oil and gas purchases, and China’s hand has only been strengthened as a result.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks Monday in front of a memorial plaque outside the school in the Chernihiv region of Yahidne village.
Ukrainian military personnel fire a multi-launch BM-21 Grad missile system at Russian troops, amid the Russian attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, February 11, 2023
Ukrainian soldiers from different brigades take part in a military exercise on psychological combat training at a secret location close to the border with Belarus, in Ukraine, March 11, 2023
This came after Danilov’s announcement on Sunday outlining a series of steps the Kyiv government would take after the country reclaimed control of Crimea, including dismantling the strategic bridge connecting the seized Black Sea peninsula with Russia connects.
Danilov published the plan as the Ukrainian army prepares for a spring counter-offensive in hopes of making new, decisive gains after more than 13 months of war to end Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, but most of the world does not recognize it as Russian territory. The future status of the peninsula will be an important part of any negotiations to end the current fighting.
The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea and recognize other land gains made by Moscow as a condition for peace. Kiev has ruled out peace talks with Moscow until Russian troops leave all occupied territories, including Crimea.
Danilov suggested prosecuting Ukrainians who worked for the Moscow-appointed government in Crimea, adding that some would face criminal charges and others would lose government pensions and be barred from public employment.
All Russian citizens who moved to Crimea after 2014 should be deported and all real estate deals made under Russian rule destroyed, Danilov wrote on Facebook.
As part of the plan, he also called for the dismantling of a 12-mile bridge that Russia has built to Crimea. In October, a truck bomb severely damaged the bridge, the longest in Europe and a symbol of Moscow’s conquest of the peninsula.
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a signing ceremony after their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 21, 2023
Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow for his three-day summit with Putin, pictured at the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, March 21, 2023
Russia repaired the damaged section of the bridge and restored supply to Crimea, which was an important hub for the Russian military during the war. Moscow blamed Ukrainian military intelligence for the attack. Kiev has not claimed responsibility, but Ukrainian officials had repeatedly threatened to attack the bridge in the past.
Danilov also advocated a new name for the city of Sevastopol, which has been the main base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet since the 19th century. He said the object could be named No. 6 before the Ukrainian parliament chooses another name, suggesting Akhtiar after a village that once stood where the city is today.
Moscow-appointed head of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, dismissed Danilov’s plan as “sick.”
“It would be wrong to take comments from sick people seriously. They need to be cured, and that’s what our military is doing now,” Razvozhayev told Russia’s state news agency Tass.
Danilov published his plan as Ukrainian troops prepared to use newly delivered Western weapons, including dozens of main battle tanks, to breach Russian defenses and reclaim occupied territories in a counter-offensive expected as early as this month.