According to one of the top defence officers of Russia, the war might split Ukraine into several smaller republics.

According to the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, the US and other Western nations are attempting to instill animosity against Russia in Ukraine, and that “history teaches that hatred will never become a trustworthy force in national unity.”

As a result, “the West’s policies and the Kyiv government under its control can only culminate in the collapse of Ukraine into various states,” he told the daily.

Russia has previously stated that it recognizes the independence of two pro-Russian breakaway Ukraine’s eastern regions, originally framing the invasion as a peacekeeping mission in their defence. Russia has redeployed its forces in recent weeks to focus on those areas.

In 2014, Russia also grabbed Crimea from Ukraine.

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