US lying about involvement in Kursk attack – Putin aide

Kiev would never dare to stage a large-scale incursion into Russian territory without Washington’s blessing and NATO support, former Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said.

Last week, Kiev launched its largest attack on Russian territory since the outbreak of conflict in February 2022. Western officials have voiced their support for the incursion into the Kursk Region but denied any prior knowledge or involvement in the operation.

”The US leadership’s claims of non-involvement in Kiev’s actions in the Kursk Region do not correspond to reality… Without their participation and direct support, Kiev would not have ventured into Russian territory,” Patrushev told Izvestia in an interview published on Friday.

The adviser to President Vladimir Putin, who has recently been appointed to oversee Russia’s global maritime strategy, emphasized that the “West put the criminal junta at the head of Ukraine,” while “NATO countries have supplied Kiev with weapons, military instructors, and continuous intelligence while controlling the actions of neo-Nazis.”

The operation in the Kursk Region was also planned with the involvement of NATO and Western special services.

The advance of Kiev’s troops was swiftly halted by Russian forces, although they maintain control over several settlements in the Kursk Region. According to the local governor, at least 12 civilians have been killed and another 121 wounded due to the incursion, forcing more than 120,000 residents to evacuate.

”This criminal action stems from the premonition of the imminent collapse of the neo-Nazi Kiev regime,” Patrushev said, adding that “the residents of Ukraine are suffering for the sake of American interests, as the US has turned the country into a military anti-Russian project.”

Russian officials have stated that by attacking civilians in the Kursk Region, Kiev has eliminated any chance for peace talks—an objective that Ukrainian officials claim the incursion brings closer. Moscow characterizes Kiev’s military tactics in Russia as “terrorist,” while Western nations arming Kiev share responsibility for atrocities committed by Ukrainian troops, officials have asserted.

”Washington’s efforts have created all the prerequisites for Ukraine to lose its sovereignty and part of its territories, including those coveted by some American allies,” Patrushev added.