Russia: West stepping up efforts to destabilize other countries

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Western countries have been stepping up their efforts to destabilize other countries, a top Russian official said on Thursday.

"Western countries are constantly increasing the use of the full range of hybrid tools at their disposal – finance non-systemic opposition, incite ethnic hatred and separatist sentiments, escalate interfaith and ethnic conflicts, and implement scenarios of color revolutions," Nikolay Patrushev Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said at a meeting of security council heads of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Moscow.

Patrushev said Western-controlled non-governmental organizations (NGOs), media and opposition leaders are the main means of promoting destabilization in the world.

He pointed to the financing of schoolbooks with distorted presentations of historical events, saying it happens everywhere, including in CIS territory.

"Schoolbooks and training courses for CIS countries, funded by Washington, give an extremely perverse understanding of the history of the USSR, the role of Russia in the development of the states of Central Asia and Transcaucasia," Patrushev said.

To counter this Western influence, Moscow strengthened control over NGOs, the Western media, social networks and Internet resources, he said.

"Russia considers the task of strengthening the cooperation of the CIS member states in the field of information security one of the priorities and invites partners to adopt its experience to ensure their own national security and prevent chaos and unrest in the commonwealth," he said.

The West's destabilizing actions, aimed at maintenance of its dominance, led to the current global security crisis, Patrushev added.

"The reckless policy of Washington, London, and their allies resulted in bloody adventures in the Balkans, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine, which have already claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," he stressed.

Afghanistan continues experiencing the consequences of the Western occupation, as its economic crisis creates opportunities for terrorist groups, which have started recruiting people, he said, noting that the ranks of the Vilayat Khorasan group rose to 3,500.

- Terrorist threat

Patrushev warned that terrorists may infiltrate neighboring countries, including CIS member states located in Central Asia.

"Among other things, this may lead to the penetration into our countries of members of international terrorist groups, who today feel comfortable on Afghan soil," he stressed.

Patrushev claimed that the US is trying to enlist terrorists in Afghanistan to send them fighting against Russia in Ukraine – "the world's center of far-right extremism," he said.

Patrushev said terrorist elements already present in Ukraine pursue terrorist attacks on vessels meant to ensure the functioning of the humanitarian corridor for food exports under the Istanbul grain deal, referring to a reported Saturday attack that led Russia to withdraw from the deal for several days.

"Western countries have unfairly accused our country of provoking the food crisis. However, its main reason is illegal sanctions that make it difficult to supply Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to countries in need," he said, adding that ordinary citizens of the EU became main "victims" of the sanctions war.

The energy crisis was also provoked by the irresponsible policy of the West in this sector, completed by "terrorist attacks" on the energy infrastructure, Patrushev said.

A reported message saying "It's done," sent by former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss minutes after this September’s explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, confirms the UK involvement in this attack, he said.

Patrushev also accused the West of inciting Kyiv to attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and assisting in the concoction of "a dirty bomb."