MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. Russia is fighting the current puppet regime in Kiev, and the Ukrainian people will be the main beneficiary of its defeat, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolay Patrushev said this on Friday, speaking at the 17th meeting of Security Council Secretaries from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states.

"Russia is indeed fighting against the puppet Kiev regime, who grabbed power as a result of a coup d’etat orchestrated by the Western establishment in 2014. With that in mind, the Ukrainian people, who for eight years have faced alien values being forced upon them, will be the main beneficiary of the defeat of far-right gangs and their patrons among the Ukrainian political elite and oligarchy," Patrushev stressed.

According to him, Ukraine was chosen by Washington, London and Brussels for a reason. The Western establishment understands that in their historical memory, Russians and Ukrainians have always been one people with a common culture and destiny. "By staging the coup d’etat in Kiev in 2014 and starting the accelerated transformation of Ukraine into a so-called anti-Russia, the Anglo-Saxons intended not only to create a bridgehead to put pressure on our country, but also to create a precedent for further fragmentation of the Russian ethnos with the aim of its complete eradication," Patrushev stressed.

At the same time, he added, ordinary Ukrainians have long understood that "they were simply used as a bargaining chip, a tool to contain Russia."

"However, it is not only in Ukraine that ordinary citizens have become hostages of the elites who, by deception or force, have seized power. We see the same thing in the West. Instead of pursuing national interests, the authorities of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union serve transnational corporations," The Russian Security Council secretary pointed out, explaining that the goal is the same: to gain maximum economic benefit, even if it is paid for by taxes, well-being, and often the lives and health of citizens. "As a result, ordinary Americans and Europeans continue to suffer from inflation and socioeconomic problems, which is already leading to mass demonstrations and political reshuffling in the West," Patrushev concluded.

The meeting is being held ahead of the SCO Heads of State Council to kick off in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on September 15 to 16.