Nikolay Patrushev (Image: Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

Putin aide’s Ukraine threat reveals Russia’s persistent effort to erase Ukrainian identity

January 17, 2025

By Ukraine

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The recent controversial statements by Nikolai Patrushev, an aide to the Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, are part of a longstanding practice by high-ranking Russian officials aimed at undermining and threatening Ukrainian statehood and identity, says the UK Ministry of Defense, citing an intelligence report.

Previously, Patrushev stated in an interview with the Russian propaganda newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that “Ukraine could cease to exist” as a country in 2025. He also mentioned a “fraternal” bond between Russia and Ukraine and blamed the destruction of Ukrainian cities on the supposed “violent enforcement of neo-Nazi ideology” and “ardent Russophobia” of Ukraine.

“Patrushev’s comments form part of a longstanding pattern of anti-Ukrainian statements by senior Russian officials, which seek to undermine and threaten Ukrainian nationhood, identity, and culture,” the UK’s Defense Ministry stated.

The agency also claimed that such statements directly contradict Russia’s recognition of Ukraine’s independence after the Soviet Union’s collapse.

The British Defense Ministry noted that the Russian leadership’s rhetoric and its frequent Nazism accusations of Ukraine, both before and since the start of Russia’s all-out war in 2022, are almost certainly intended to influence Russian military personnel and the domestic population to participate in and support Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“It seeks to take advantage of the deep historical and psychological impact of Russia’s war with Nazi Germany to foster perceptions of Ukraine and Ukrainians as a threat, thereby justifying the Russian invasion.

Such narratives have been supported and proliferated by Russian state-controlled media,” the ministry concluded.

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