Patrushev: Russia needs a strong army and special services against the backdrop of new military threats

Russia, in view of the new military threats emanating from the West, needs a strong army and special services, declared Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev in an interview with Arguments and Facts.

According to him, the best thing about Washington’s plans to unleash new wars is the draft American budget for 2023, which provides for the allocation of more than $850 billion for defense and $45 billion for Kyiv.

“In the face of the emergence of new military threats, it is important for us to have such armed forces and special services that Russia’s opponents would not even have the thought that they could fight with us,” he said.

The events in Ukraine, according to Patrushev, are not a clash between Moscow and Kyiv, but between Russia and NATO.

“We are not at war with Ukraine, because by definition we cannot have hatred for ordinary Ukrainians,” he said.

Patrushev believes that for the inhabitants of Russia, hatred cannot be a unifying principle, but “only Westerners who openly call us opponents” are full of it.

Former Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed By February 1, the Ministry of Defense is to prepare a report on the provision of military units participating in the special operation in Ukraine with weapons, equipment, uniforms and others.

At the end of December, at an expanded meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Defense, Putin stated that Russia was constantly increases the potential of their Armed Forces and this process will continue. He also noted that the Russian troops continue “confidently, step by step” to solve the “set before them” tasks, despite the use of almost the entire potential of NATO against Russia. The head of state also promised to continue to maintain and improve the combat readiness of the nuclear triad, which is the main guarantee for the preservation of Russia’s sovereignty.