2023-07-19 13:04:39
The head of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service, Richard Moore, appealed to Russians outraged by the war with Ukraine to “come together” to end the bloodshed.
In his second speech after assuming the post of head of the Secret Intelligence Service in 2020, Richard Moore said that Russia’s prospects for victory in a protracted military conflict are small, Reuters writes.
Speaking at the British Embassy in Prague, he compared the situation in Ukraine to the “Prague Spring” of 1968, when the Soviet Union suppressed liberal reforms in Czechoslovakia.
“Watching the cronyism, infighting and gross incompetence of their leaders — the worst manifestations of the human factor — many Russians have faced the same dilemmas as their forebears in 1968,” Moore said.
“I suggest that they do the same as other people have done in the last 18 months and join forces with us. Our door is always open… Their secret will be securely guarded by us and together we will work to end the bloodshed,” the MI6 chief said.
Moore called Iran’s decision to supply Moscow with kamikaze drones for use in the war in Ukraine “shameless.” According to him, this decision caused internal disagreements at the highest level of the regime in Tehran.
Russia’s war against Ukraine
At 5:00 a.m. on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military operation against Ukraine in the Donbass at the request of the “DPR” and “LPR” groups. On February 21, during a televised address to Russians, Putin called the so-called “DPR” and “LPR” independent states within the regions. On February 22, the Federation Council ratified this decision. Russian troops attacked, including from the territory of Belarus, using airfields, bases and roads. Representatives of Lukashenka’s regime justify the war, his opponents consider the territory of Belarus to be occupied, many call for resistance to the Russian invaders. In 2022, 19 Belarusians were killed in Ukraine fighting for its independence. It is known about two Belarusian soldiers who were captured by the Russians. Contrary to Putin’s statements about attacks only on military facilities, the Russians are bombing schools, kindergartens and residential areas of Ukrainian cities. The Russians are using banned weapons, including cluster bombs, against civilians. On April 2, after the liberation of the town of Bucha near Kyiv, photojournalists published dozens of photographs showing hundreds of dead people, victims of mass murders committed by Russian troops. Many are buried in spontaneous mass graves. The Russian occupation also brought great destruction to the people of Barodyan. It is also known about a number of rapes, including babies. On May 9, the US President signed the Land Leasing Law. This law restores the program from the Second World War, which will speed up the supply of weapons to Ukraine and increase the amount of such assistance. On July 29, as a result of an attack on the colony in Alenivka, at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners who defended the “Azovstal” plant in Mariupol and surrendered after completing their combat mission were killed. The Ukrainian side declared the intentional killing of prisoners by the Russian side. The Russian occupation authorities prevented the UN and Red Cross missions from entering Alenavka. During the six months of the war, Russia was able to occupy about 20% of the Ukrainian territory. In March, the area of occupied land reached 30%. However, at the end of the month, Russian troops retreated from the north of Ukraine, as well as from most of the Kharkiv region. At the end of August, Crimea, Luhansk and Kherson regions were completely occupied. And also 50% of the territory of the Donetsk region, about 70% of the Zaporizhia region, approximately 30% of the Kharkiv region. Since February 24, Russia has captured only one regional center – Kherson. Russian troops retreated from it and from the right-bank part of the Kherson region in November 2022. The city was occupied by Russian troops in the first days of the war without actually fighting. In September, Ukrainian troops launched a large-scale counteroffensive, as a result of which Russian forces began to rapidly flee from their positions in the Kharkiv region. On September 21, 2022, Putin announced the mobilization in Russia. After this statement, thousands of Russians went to the border crossings and began to leave for Georgia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Mongolia, Finland and other countries. In Russia itself, opponents of the war set fire to several military units. On October 2, 2022, Putin submitted a bill to the Russian parliament, which is an attempt to annex parts of four regions of Ukraine: “LPR” and “DNR”, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. But thanks to the counteroffensive of the Ukrainians, the borders drawn in Moscow are not controlled by the occupying forces, Zaporozhye and Kherson remain under the control of Ukraine. In October 2022, Ukrainian troops successfully continued their counteroffensive, at the beginning of October they liberated Liman and Yampal, and also came significantly closer to Svatov in the Luhansk region, and from there the way to Severodanetsk and Lysichansk opens. On October 10, 2022, Lukashenka held a meeting with the Security Council and announced the deployment of a joint group of troops with Putin. On the evening of November 15, 2022, Russia fired 100 missiles across the territory of Ukraine, primarily at energy facilities, and in Poland, in the village of Przewodow, 6 km from the border with Ukraine, two missiles fell, killing two people. In November, with the onset of cold weather, Russia intensified its missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. As a result, many Ukrainian cities and part of Moldova were left without electricity and water. Ukraine called an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. On January 1, 2023, the Department of Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the death of almost 400 Russians during the attack on the building of the Polytechnic School No. 19 in Makeyevka. Russian soldiers were there and mobilized. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation recognized 89 killed. On January 14, 2023, as a result of another shelling, a Russian missile hit a high-rise building in the city of Dnipro, killing and injuring dozens of people. The rescue operation to find the bodies stretched for several days. In February, there are battles for Bakhmut, Kramyannaya, and Svatava. However, US intelligence noted that the Russians do not have enough potential for a full-scale offensive, and the British Ministry of Defense said that the Russians suffered the biggest losses in the year in the first half of February. On March 25, Putin noted that the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons will be completed in Belarus on July 1. In May, the Russian Volunteer Corps, which is part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, launched attacks on Russia’s Belgorod Region. Local authorities evacuated residents of 9 settlements. The sides began to exchange conflicting information about shelling and mutual losses.
It is not always possible to independently verify information about military operations provided by officials of various parties.
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