TASS reported that the Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin stated: "The situation on the front line is not in Kiev's favor. We have the initiative in all areas and are close to achieving our goals, while the Ukrainian armed forces are on the verge of collapse and the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky has lost its legitimacy, along with the ability to reach agreements."
In an interview with SVR's Razvedchik magazine on December 10, Mr. Naryshkin said all attempts to create instability in Russia have failed.
"People understand that we are not fighting against the Kiev authorities, but against the Western collective. Our freedom and sovereignty are at stake in this confrontation," the SVR chief noted.
“The West’s strategic goal in the conflict in Ukraine is absolutely clear – to impose a war of attrition on us in order to divide Russian society. That is to say, they will fight until the last Ukrainian, and once there are no more Ukrainians left, the Baltic states, Eastern Europe and then Germany will be forced to join the fight against the ‘terrible Russian bear’,” Naryshkin said.
The SVR chief stressed that further escalation of tensions "will not only not exhaust Russia's resources - the goal that Washington and London are aiming for - but will only bring the West closer to its own defeat".
“Despite sanctions and the theft of our sovereign wealth, the Russian economy is still growing. Import substitution efforts continue at a high pace, especially in the technological sphere,” Naryshkin said.
According to him, new logistical routes are emerging and Russia's economic ties with non-Western countries, mainly in Greater Eurasia, are strengthening.
