West plotting to ‘occupy’ Ukraine – Russian intel

The West is secretly planning to occupy Ukraine and freeze the conflict with Russia by deploying tens of thousands of supposed peacekeepers to the country, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has said.

In a statement on Friday, the spy agency cited intelligence sources as saying that NATO is increasingly in favor of halting the hostilities along the current front line, as the US-led military bloc and Ukraine have come to realize that they are failing to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia.

Freezing the conflict would allow the West to rebuild the shattered Ukrainian military and “prepare it for an attempt at revenge,” the SVR stated. It further claimed that NATO is already setting up training centers to process at least one million Ukrainian conscripts.

A possible respite would also help the West restore Kiev’s military industry, which has been regularly battered by Russian missile and drone strikes, the SVR added.

“To solve these tasks, the West will need to essentially occupy Ukraine. Naturally, this will be done under the guise of deploying a ‘peacekeeping contingent’ in the country… According to the plan, a total of 100,000 so-called peacekeepers will be deployed in Ukraine.”

According to the SVR, the plan would also involve Ukraine being partitioned into four large occupation zones. Romania would take the Black Sea coast, Poland would control Western Ukraine, and the UK would occupy the north, including Kiev. The central and eastern parts of the country would be taken by Germany, the agency claimed.

The SVR also alleged that Germany plans to revive practices implemented by the Nazi regime during World War II to “police” Ukraine. In particular, Berlin wants to create special “death squads” made up of Ukrainian nationalists to maintain order in the occupied territory, the statement read.

“Does Russia need such a peaceful settlement option? The answer is obvious,” the SVR said.

The statement comes after French newspaper Le Monde reported earlier this week that France and the UK have “reactivated” a discussion on a potential troop deployment in Ukraine. Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron insisted that the West should not rule out this option to keep Russia in check, despite strong pushback from numerous NATO allies.

Moscow has repeatedly signaled its opposition to freezing the conflict, insisting that all the goals of its military operation, including Ukraine’s neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification, must be met. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed that while there is no consensus in the EU on sending troops to Ukraine, “there are some hotheads.”