Russia openly declares war in Ukraine is a war with the West

Alyona Mazurenko – Thursday, 19 May 2022, 23:52

Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Administration, has said that Russia’s opponent in the war is not Ukraine, but a "united West through the hands of the Ukrainians."

Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti

Quote from Kiriyenko: "Equally, we understand that it is not Ukraine that Russia is fighting in the special operation on the territory of Ukraine. Rather, the united West is fighting against us on Ukrainian territory through the hands of the Ukrainians."

Background:

• According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime has ordered Russian media to emphasise that "the army of the Russian Federation is fighting all of the European Union and NATO member-states."
• The Ukrainian Centre for Countering Disinformation reported that Russian propagandists "have taken a break" to realign their strategy in the information war against Ukraine. Russia is grappling with how to convey its military losses to regular Russians and to prepare them for Russia’s possible defeat and capitulation.
• Russian propagandists, some of whom own property in Europe, have been sanctioned by the EU alongside Russian military and government officials.