Ukraine intel chief says Russia hopes to regain control over some Soviet republics

Russia hopes that victory over Ukraine will help restore control over the former republics of the USSR.

That’s according to an oped by the chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SZRU), Oleksandr Lytvynenko, published on the agency’s website and originally posted by The Economist, reports Ukrinform.

"Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, hopes that victory over Ukraine will help him regain control over the former Soviet republics on the principles of Russian imperialism that both preceded and have followed the communist era. The Kremlin understands that if Ukraine falls, it will be easier to reclaim other former Soviet republics. If Ukraine stands, it is a matter of time before Russia loses influence over the South Caucasus and Central Asia," Lytvynenko wrote.

Read also: Putin's statements about his reluctance to fight with NATO similar to those he made before invasion of Ukraine - ISW

As he noted, Russia believes that, by attacking Ukraine, it is simultaneously fighting the West, primarily the USA. Therefore, another goal Russia pursues is to set up political and military conditions for further confrontation with the West for the restoration of the Russian/Soviet Empire in its greatest expansion since World War 2.

According to the SZRU head, Russia is convinced that the West will rapidly lose its global influence in the event of a second crushing defeat in three years after the disorderly exit from Afghanistan as another “humiliation” will produce a “domino effect”.

"Revisionist states, which have their eyes fixed on Ukraine, would see this and conclude that their time had come. As a result, within a few years a new, multipolar world order would be established, where the most important issues would be resolved by a number of competing major powers, including Russia," Lytvynenko writes.

Read also: Civilians in NATO member states should prepare for 'all-out war' with Russia - Admiral Bauer

According to the intelligence chief, Russia realizes that victory over Ukraine will have a global effect, while also acknowledging that Russia “cannot achieve its goals there without disrupting the global order”.

As reported, Romania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Luminița-Teodora Odobescu said Russia must suffer a strategic defeat because, by attacking Ukraine, it endangered the security of the whole of Europe.