World War III.2 - Russian Perspective

On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine. The West, in response to Moscow's decision, began to gradually introduce numerous and large-scale sanctions against the Russian Federation. Along with this, the Western states began to supply weapons and military equipment to Kyiv for amounts estimated at this stage in tens of billions of dollars.

"The Third World War began in 2014, and since then, Russia has been preparing to fighy" popular Ukrainian video blogger Yuriy Podolyaka, who is based in Sevastopol, said 10 March 2022. “Russians perceive the current Russian special operation in Ukraine as a local episode of the war between Russia and the United States, as the third Patriotic war, but in a different format,” Podolyaka said. “Events in the information and psychological war are no less important than what is happening now on the fronts in Ukraine…. But what I really see in Russia is an unprecedented patriotic upsurge.” According to him, many Russians perceive the current special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine as necessary - to liberate the Ukrainian state from the clique that unleashed the war in 2014.

The term Patriotic War was first used when referring to Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. The term Fatherland War was also applied by some for the Great War, as an allusion to the Napoleonic conflict. The Soviet Union called the war of the USSR against Germany (1941-1945) the Great Patriotic War. So either of the two World Wars of the early 20th Crntury might be regarded as the second Patriotic War, with the ar against Ukraine standing as the Third Patriotic War.

The Western alliance maintained that it is not a party to conflict in Ukraine, despite revelations in the Pentagon leaks that in addition to training, intelligence support and tens of billions worth of advanced weaponry, several NATO countries actually have special forces boots on the ground. Moscow considers the crisis in Ukraine a “proxy war” between itself and the Western alliance, emphasizing that the conflict would end immediately if Washington and its allies ended their military support for Kiev, and wouldn’t have started if NATO had respected Russia’s security concerns in the first place.

NATO promises to provide Ukraine with membership in the alliance in order to motivate it to fulfill the alliance's tasks, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on 21 April 2023. Earlier in the day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that all allies have agreed that Ukraine should become a member of the alliance. "NATO sets itself the goal of 'defeating' Russia in Ukraine, and in order to motivate Kiev, it promises that after the end of the conflict, the country can be accepted into the alliance. Such statements are short-sighted and simply dangerous. This may lead to the final collapse of the European security system," Zakharova said in a statement.

Russia has long insisted that the conflict in Ukraine is an indirect standoff between Moscow and the West. In December 2022, the secretary of Russia's national security council, Nikolay Patrushev, claimed that "the events in Ukraine are not a confrontation between Moscow and Kiev" but a military confrontation between NATO and Russia.

Patrushev also accused the West of sacrificing other people's lives for profit and ambition. The senior official, who previously served as director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), insisted that Washington and its allies were simply using Ukrainians for their own goals because an independent Russia had "no place" in their minds.

This viewpoint was echoed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who said that Russia was fighting the West in Ukraine.

Earlier in January 2023, the Kremlin accused Western nations of indirectly taking part in the conflict. "Their involvement in this conflict is obvious," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time. Although both Washington and Brussels maintain they have no intention of getting involved in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, "de facto they have already become an indirect party" to it, he said.

One of Vladimir Putin's allies claimed World War Three had already started as he called for Russia to launch a nuclear missile strike on Britain, France and Poland. TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov told Russians on 12 January 2023 that Moscow should target the West to disrupt NATO countries from sending supplies to Ukraine.

Deputy President of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev said the defense of Ukraine, which nobody in Europe needs, will not help the "rotten Old World to avoid paying for its sins." According to Medvedev, if the Third World War does happen at all, it will not be fought with the help of tanks and planes, but the whole world will turn to ashes. He reminded that Great Britain, among other things, demands that the countries of the Alliance should deliver weapons to Kyiv immediately, as well as that these fighters, tanks and long-range missiles will prevent the expansion of Russia and the outbreak of the Third World War.

Russian officials have gone to lengths to draw comparisons between fighting Nazis in World War Two and Ukraine.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, on 03 March 2022 accused the international community of "hysteria" over Ukraine, comparing the United States to Nazi Germany and stating that "Americans have had Europe under their grip." He said that the Americans are telling the Germans what is good for European energy security. "They're trying to impose their own view of the future of Europe on us. ... Napoleon and Hitler had the objective of having the whole of Europe under their control; now the Americans have got Europe under control. And we see that this situation has really demonstrated what role the EU is playing in the global situation." Lavrov went on to explain that there is "an absolute evil and an absolute good" in movies, and that the global picture is comparable.

At a Kremlin ceremony 30 September 2022 to mark the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian territories, Putin said" ...it is important to recall that the West bailed itself out of its early 20th century challenges with World War I. Profits from World War II helped the United States finally overcome the Great Depression and become the largest economy in the world, and to impose on the planet the power of the dollar as a global reserve currency. And the 1980s crisis – things came to a head in the 1980s again – the West emerged from it unscathed largely by appropriating the inheritance and resources of the collapsed and defunct Soviet Union. That's a fact.

"Now, in order to free itself from the latest web of challenges, they need to dismantle Russia as well as other states that choose a sovereign path of development, at all costs, to be able to further plunder other nations’ wealth and use it to patch their own holes. If this does not happen, I cannot rule out that they will try to trigger a collapse of the entire system, and blame everything on that, or, God forbid, decide to use the old formula of economic growth through war."

Sergei Lavrov said on 18 January 2023 that the United States had assembled a coalition of European countries to solve "the Russian question" in the same way that Adolf Hitler had sought a "final solution" to eradicate Europe's Jews. Lavrov made the comparison at his annual press conference, saying Washington was using the same tactic as Napoleon and the Nazis in trying to subjugate Europe in order to destroy Russia. Lavrov said, "they are waging war against our country with the same task: the "˜final solution' of the Russian question" using Ukraine as a proxy.

"Just as Napoleon mobilized practically all of Europe against the Russian Empire, just as Hitler mobilized and captured"¦ the majority of European countries and sent them against the Soviet Union, now the United States has organized a coalition," Lavrov said. "Just as Hitler wanted a "˜final solution' to the Jewish question, now, if you read Western politicians " they clearly say Russia must suffer a strategic defeat", Lavrov told journalists in Moscow.

"What is happening in Ukraine now is the result of preparations by the US and its satellites for the start of a global hybrid war against the Russian Federation. Nobody is hiding this fact. This is clear from statements by unbiased Western politologists, scientists and politicians. In his recent article, Ian Bremmer, political science professor at Columbia University, wrote: "We are not in a cold war with Russia. We are in a hot war with Russia. Now it's a proxy war. And NATO is not fighting it directly. We are fighting it through Ukraine."...

"The European Union has been completely subsumed by this US dictatorship (there's no point in discussing this at length). The signing of the Joint Declaration on EU-NATO Cooperation on January 10 was the high point of this process, something that has been in the making for several years. It states explicitly that the alliance and the EU's goal is to use all political, economic and military means in the interests of the golden billion... the one billion residents of NATO and the EU countries.... These two organisations are being presented as an alliance of democracies against autocracies amid global rivalry....

"Western politicians - not only from the Baltics and Poland but also from more reasonable countries - say that Russia must be dealt a strategic defeat. Some political analysts write about decolonising Russia, that our country is too big and "gets in the way." The other day I read an item in The Telegraph that called for liberating Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, while leaving Karelia, Koenigsberg and the Kuril Islands for negotiations. ...

"They openly say that sanctions against Russia are designed to incite the people to rise in a revolution to overthrow the current leaders. Nobody is observing or intends to observe proprieties any longer. But their reaction and frenzied attempts to ensure, by hook or by crook, by any foul means possible, the domination of the US and the West, which Washington has already brought to heel, is proof that, historically, they are acting contrary to the objective course of events by trying to stop the rise of a multipolar world....

"The United States drafts its strategy, including the national security doctrine, and the Declaration on NATO-EU Cooperation, listing Russia and China in them. There is a small nuance though: they view Russia as an immediate threat that they need to deal with right now, while designating China as the main, long-term, serious and system-wide challenge. The West believes that dealing with the Chinese threat will take more time....

"It was not a coincidence that they enslaved Europe and devoted it to serving its strategy of domination, and nothing else. They are doing the same thing to Japan right now. They will probably try and draw New Zealand and Canada into AUKUS-like alliances in order to have all five Anglo-Saxon countries locked in. There is also an effort to reach out to South Korea....

"The Americans cannot carry out their policy of dominance, which primarily consists of constraining Russia and China, on their own. It is for this reason that they need the Western camp to be fully mobilised. A partial mobilisation would no longer suffice."

One of Vladimir Putin's allies claimed 12 January 2023 that World War Three had already started as he called for Russia to launch a nuclear missile strike on Britain, France and Poland. TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov told Russians that Moscow should target the West to disrupt NATO countries from sending supplies to Ukraine. Solovyov told his viewers across Russia's 11 time zones: "There is a full-scale Third World War."

The world has come close to the threat of World War III, the special operation has become a forced and extreme measure of Russia in response to the preparation of aggression by the United States and its satellites. This was announced on 23 January 2023 by the chairman of United Russia, deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev.

"Our party must help people in the world understand that the special operation that is being carried out has become a forced and extreme measure, a response to the preparation of aggression on the part of the United States of America and its satellites. It is obvious that the world has come close to the threat of a Third World War due to for what happened," he said at a meeting of the bureau of the supreme council of United Russia.

TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov told Russians 13 January 2023 that Moscow should target the West to disrupt NATO countries from sending supplies to Ukraine. Solovyov told his viewers across Russia’s 11 time zones: “There is a full-scale Third World War. “We do not strike at the territory of NATO countries, because ‘then NATO will intervene’.” But such supplies should amount to a “red line” for Putin, said the war hawk who the Kremlin leader is said to watch avidly on state TV.

Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled media organization RT, said that "World War III is already underway" during a recent televised discussion about Russia's conflict in Ukraine. She made the comment during an interview on the program Life and Fate, which airs on Russia state TV. Simonyan indicated she was surprised at the amount of support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has received from Western nations. As a result of that support, she said, the conflict in Ukraine has escalated into a full-blown global war. "I didn't think it would be easy, but of course I didn't think we'd have to fight the entire Western world, that it would be World War III," Simonyan said. She added, "World War III is already underway."

"I think that obviously no one has foreseen this, because no one had anticipated that we would not fight against Zelensky, Ukraine's armed forces, its security service, but we will fight against the entire collective West," she said. "We are fighting against all of them. Listen, of course, to defeat the collective West, the might of NATO, it's hard and difficult. I didn't anticipate the crushing scale of what the West is prepared to do in order to destroy us."

Deputy head of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev expanded the list od war aims: “Changing the bloody and full of false myths consciousness of a part of today's Ukrainians is the most important goal. The goal is for the sake of the peace of future generations of Ukrainians themselves and the opportunity to finally build an open Eurasia – from Lisbon to Vladivostok.”

Apparently, having found out by experience that all the goals of the special operation declared aloud had failed and their further use began to raise bad questions, it was decided to cover them up with something else - the fight against Satanism. Medvedev turned to the biblical theme at the end of April 2022: “History will put everything in its place and indicate which side is right. Who became the custodian of true Christian values, protecting them from atheists, bandits and nationalists. Who kept a single cultural code of communication between the peoples of Europe, based on the Christian faith... In life, good and truth do not always quickly overcome evil and lies. But sooner or later it happens. And for this you have to act as it is said in Deuteronomy: “When I sharpen My shining sword, and My hand receives judgment, I will avenge My enemies and repay those who hate Me” (Deut. 32:41).

On 04 November 2022, on National Unity Day, Dmitry Medvedev told subscribers: “We have the opportunity to send all enemies to fiery hell, but this is not our task. We listen to the words of the Creator in our hearts and obey them. These words give us a sacred purpose. The goal is to stop the supreme ruler of hell, no matter what name he uses - Satan, Lucifer or Iblis. For his goal is death. Our goal is life."

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said in his telegram channel 26 October 2022 that "Satanism is openly acting against Russia in the West." What is Satanic democracy, he decided to explain with examples: “This is when the rights of atheists are protected, but believers are offended. Or when traditional couples are deprived of children and transferred to same-sex families. Intentionally same-sex, not by chance. And in Europe they swallowed it. They consider it modern, civilized. The more liberated the topic “below the belt”, the better for them. And I see degradation and Satanism in this. And I'd rather fight it in the bud there than let this abomination envelop our Motherland here."

Lieutenant General Alexei Pavlov worked for the FSB before taking up the position of Assistant Secretary of the Security Council in 2009. Then in 2022, he attracted attention with a statement about the need to “desatanize” Ukraine: Pavlov said in an interview that since the 1990s the number of followers of religious sects has increased in the country, and after the change of power in 2014, the country’s leadership set out to “reformat the minds of Ukrainian citizens” and "prohibit the real values that carry the Orthodox faith, Islam and Judaism." After the publication of the article, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev apologized. He stated that Pavlov's words about Lubavitcher Hasidim in the material about religion in Ukraine were erroneous.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia made a presentation at the 25 October 2022 plenary session of the 24th World Russian People's Council "Orthodoxy and Peace in the 21st Century". The word "Ukraine" did not sound, he spoke about the opposition to globalism - "the project of world unity, but without taking into account the true intention of the Creator about man", transhumanism and atheism. “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this world, the spirits of wickedness in high places,” Cyril quoted the message of the Apostle Paul. “Today, these words are taking on a visible expression, and everyone can understand what is being said, and with understanding, the possibility of resistance opens up.”

Philosopher and political scientist Alexander Dugin, who spoke at the same council, spoke of the "war of Heaven against Hell", "the rati of the Archangel Michael against the devil", referring to the clash of ideas. “The battlefield is just Ukraine,” he said. - On the one hand, we, Holy Rus', as His Holiness the Patriarch speaks, and against us are the forces of absolute, world historical evil. Therefore, more and more often we are talking about Armageddon, about the end of time, the Apocalypse. It's all happening before our very eyes."

Dmitry Medvedev mocked President Joe Biden on 10 February 2023, characterizing the American leader as old and confused. Medvedev referred to Biden as an "old man," and suggested he may be suffering from dementia. Biden could "absent-mindedly start World War III," the Russian official wrote.

Elon Musk confirmed that he would restrict the Ukraine military’s use of his Starlink satellite internet service so that it could not be used in a way that would lead to the “escalation of a conflict that may lead to” World War III. Musk tweeted on 12 February 2023 “... we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3”. A top aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted that SpaceX needs to decide whether it is on the side of Ukraine’s right to freedom or Russia’s “‘right’ to kill & seize territories.”

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI) warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “doing everything that he can to bring us and NATO into this war.” Gabbard noted on Tucker Carlson Tonight on 20 February 2023 “You heard it from Zelensky himself, talking about the consequences of World War III,”. “The thing is, he has made very clear that that’s where he thinks we are already — that we’re in World War III. Ukraine is the tip of the spear. This is how he justifies demanding — making demands of the United States and all of these NATO countries to equip him with the weapons and aircraft and tanks that the United States and NATO have to go and fight this war that we are in against Russia.”

The former congresswoman, who left the Democratic Party because it is “under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness,” called the notion that supporting the Ukraine war was in the name of democracy a “lie.”

“You look at the lies that American people are being told by President Biden, by Mitch McConnell, by these warmongers in both parties selling this lie that this is about defending freedom and democracy,” Gabbard said. “There’s no greater threat to that democracy than this fight against this war against Russia.”

The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) is directly involved in the Ukrainian crisis, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said 24 March 2023. "I will only say one thing, something that is already so obvious: the Russian Federation is not at war with Ukraine, not with the Ukrainian half-Nazi or Nazi regime – our country is at war with a 3.6 million [strong] NATO army. They are participating, of course, in such a hybrid conflict, and they, in fact, no longer hide it," he said.

Medvedev also stressed that in order to "exterminate this [neo-Nazi] infection (...) nothing can be ruled out" during the special military operation. “...If you need to reach Kiev, then you need to go to Kiev, if you need to reach Lvov, then you need to go to Lvov in order to exterminate this infection,” he stressed.

"There is no turning back. Things will never be the same again… The dictate of the Anglo-Saxon countries is over. This becomes clear in the light of the events that are taking place and yesterday's talks (on Tuesday with the head of China)," he said. “I don’t know what will happen next, but it is obvious that the era of regional agreements such as BRICS, SCO, bilateral relations is coming. This may even seem like a step backwards in some ways, but such a step back is better than an attempt to portray unanimity under the auspices of the UN or some other political body," Medvedev concluded.

Perhaps for the first time, on 24 March 2023 Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Security Council, issued a very specific description, apparently to Russia's liking, of what is necessary to stop hostilities. According to Medvedev, “it is necessary to achieve all the goals that have been set to protect our territories, that is, the territories of the Russian Federation. Throw out all foreigners who are there in the broadest sense of the word. It is clear that we are talking about the Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions." The second point is the creation, to use Medvedev's terminology, of a "sanitary belt." This is a demilitarized zone, "which will not allow the use of any types of weapons that work at medium and short distances, that is, 70-100 kilometers." That is, from the side of Ukraine, no heavy weapons should be deployed a hundred kilometers from the border. This means that if the voiced option does not suit, it will not be possible to agree on it, “if this is not enough, then it’s time to make some other decisions. Nothing can be ruled out here. If you need to get to Kyiv, then you need to go to Kyiv, if to Lvov, then you need to go to Lvov in order to exterminate this infection."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin offered a ten-point list of things the government in Kiev needs to do in order for hostilities to cease. In an interview on 29 March 2023, Galuzin said the future of Ukraine itself will depend on how soon Kiev and its Western backers "come to grips with reality". The diplomat stressed that Moscow would not tolerate "the existence of an openly anti-Russian state on its borders, whatever its borders", and returning to the origins of its statehood.

1. demilitarization and "denazification" of Ukraine
2. Ukraine's military forces must stand down and the West must halt all deliveries of weapons to Kiev
3. a pledge to never join the EU or NATO
4. affirmation of Kiev’s non-nuclear status
5. recognition of “new territorial realities” [added in October 2022] – commonly understood to mean the decision of Kherson, Zaporozhye and the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk to join Russia
6. Ensure the protection of the Russian language and the rights of Russian-speaking citizens, as well as all other ethnic groups in Ukraine
7. Ukraine needs to reopen the border with Russia
8. restore the legal framework of relations with Moscow and other ex-Soviet republics, which it renounced in 2014.
9. Moscow demanded for the first time the lifting of all anti-Russian sanctions and the “withdrawal of claims and termination of prosecutions against Russia, its individuals and legal entities,” presumably including the recent International Criminal Court (ICC) warrants for President Vladimir Putin and the children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova.
10. restoration - with the money of the West - of the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine after 2014.

Ukraine’s peaceful future depends on respecting the rights of its Russian population, restoring friendly relations with all neighbors, and returning to its founding principle of neutral and non-bloc status, enshrined in the 1990 declaration of independence, Galuzin said. “The future of the territories of present-day Ukraine should be determined by the inhabitants of this country themselves,” Galuzin told RTVI, noting that this includes “Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Hungarians, Moldovans, Bulgarians, Romanians, Poles, and Greeks.” Moscow will simply not tolerate “an openly anti-Russian state, whatever its borders,” as a neighbor, said Galuzin. “Neither Russia, nor any other state, would accept this from the standpoint of security.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed to the participants in the 11th St Petersburg International Legal Forum , May 12, 2023: "Washington and its henchmen have been criticising us for what they allege was a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Once again, I have to emphasise that the special military operation is being carried out as per Article 51 of the UN Charter, which sets forth the right to individual and collective self-defence, of which the UN Security Council has been notified in due course. The operation came as a response to an armed attack by the Kiev regime. As part of the special military operation, Russia seeks to prevent Russians and Russian speakers from being exterminated, while also eliminating long-standing security threats created by the West along its borders as a way to anticipate and counter an even broader aggression. Let me remind you that Russia made every effort until the very last moment to de-escalate tensions in Europe. This was the purpose of the well-known initiatives President Vladimir Putin presented in December 2021. "

The size of the "sanitary zone" or "cordon sanitaire" in Ukraine will depend on the range of Ukrainian weapons, from which Russian territory must be secured. This was stated to TASS 17 June 2023 by the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, answering the question whether the possible boundaries of such a zone are outlined. "No, it depends on what types of weapons Ukraine has. The higher the tactical and technical characteristics of weapons in Ukraine, the greater this distance should be," the Kremlin spokesman said. "The main goal is clear: so that they do not reach Russian citizens with these weapons," Peskov added.

Answering the question whether there is a deadline after which the creation of such a "sanitary zone" will begin, Peskov noted that in fact this process has been going on "for a year and a half." "There can be neither new nor old ["sanitary zone"], it can be only one. [This is a continuation of] the work that is being done," the presidential press secretary stressed.

On June 13, at a meeting with military officers, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian Federation, in the event of continued shelling of its regions, could consider creating a "sanitary zone" on the territory of Ukraine. Once again, the head of state returned to this topic at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 16. "If these attacks on our adjacent territories continue further, we will consider the possibility of creating a cordon sanitaire on Ukrainian territory. They just need to understand what they are all leading to," Putin said at the time.

The crisis in Ukraine acquired a global dimension through the efforts of the United States, Great Britain and their satellites and manifested itself in most regions of the world. This is stated in the message of the Russian diplomatic department following the meeting of the collegium of the Russian Foreign Ministry held on 26 June 2023 under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov."The Anglo-Saxons have assumed the role of headquarters and supplier to [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky of weapons, intelligence and target designations for systematic strikes against civilian targets and civilians in Russia. Through the efforts of Washington, London and their satellites, the crisis has acquired a global geopolitical dimension, manifesting itself not only in Europe and the United States, but also in other regions, including the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, the Arctic," the ministry said.

The Board emphasized that the current international relations are characterized by a high level of conflict, "in the center of which is a hybrid war unleashed by the collective West against Russia." The ministry noted that the West chose Ukraine as a springboard and instrument of armed struggle against Russia, "cultivating a neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv and turning Ukraine into a new international terrorist cell." "At the same time, the collective West is sacrificing to its colonial ambitions the prospects for universal cooperation in space, cyberspace, science, culture, as well as in the fight against new challenges and threats (NVU): terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and corruption," the Foreign Ministry added.

The victory of Russia in Ukraine is not just the destruction of the Nazi regime in a particular territory. This is the defeat of the old world, the end of the hegemony of the Anglo-Saxon elite and "old Western money", the onset of a new multipolar era, which is a terrible dream of the true rulers of the United States.