Russian official: Ukraine is attempting to destabilize Crimea
The Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and the former head of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), Nikolai Patrushev, spoke on Monday about the threat of destabilization in the Crimea. "The threat of destabilization of the political situation in the Crimean Federal District still remains. Primarily, this is due to the political challenges and the economic pressure from our western opponents," Patrushev said at a meeting in Yalta on Monday.
The Russian Security Council Secretary said that the Ukrainian authorities would like to destabilize the situation in Crimea with the use of the "nationalism factor." "It is not a secret that Kiev’s authorities are drawing up plans to destabilize the situation in Crimea, including the use of the nationalism factor," Patrushev said.
He mentioned economic, transport, food and energy blockades carried out from mainland Ukraine. Also, according to him, Ukraine is preparing paramilitary nationalists on the border with Crimea.
"In the border areas of Ukraine, extremist, nationalist and paramilitary groups are being created," Patrushev said. According to him, everything is "built on an anti-Russian basis." "The purpose of all these actions is to create a hotbed of a civil instability," he stressed.
Previously, Patrushev found Finnish separatists in Karelia, saying that "their effect on the population of the Republic increases through a number of domestic non-governmental organizations." Among his other ideas, Patrushev plans to protect Russia from external threats by preventing Russian officials from using foreign applications such as Google, Yahoo, and WhatsApp. The head of the Security Council and the former Head of the FSB fears that these foreign services can transmit secret or proprietary information to the intelligence agencies of their countries.
The internationally recognized Ukrainian territory of Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation in March of 2014 in the wake of the Ukrainian revolution. The Kremlin has faced international condemnation for its annexation of the Peninsula, leading many western countries to impose economic sanctions against Russia. In the United Nations, only Afghanistan, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Syria recognize Crimea as a legitimate federal subject of Russia.