British intelligence believes that recent statements by Kremlin advisor and former Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev are primarily aimed at a domestic audience to bolster support for the war against Ukraine.
This analysis comes from the UK Ministry of Defence's intelligence update on the Russia-Ukraine war dated January 17.
The report focuses on Patrushev's recent interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, where he claimed that Ukraine might "cease to exist" by 2025 and blamed the destruction of Ukrainian cities on the "imposition of neo-Nazi ideology and Russophobia." He also suggested that Moldova could "cease to exist."
Analysts note that Patrushev's remarks are part of a series of similar statements by Russian leadership, which seek to undermine Ukrainian statehood and identity while issuing threats.
“Russian leadership rhetoric and frequent allegations of Ukrainian Nazism prior to, and since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, almost certainly seeks to influence Russian military personnel and the domestic population into participation in, and support for, Russia's war in Ukraine,” the update states. It adds that these narratives are supported and propagated by state-controlled Russian media outlets.
