MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. /TASS/. If the West manages to disintegrate the Russian Federation and assume control of its fragments the Russian people may not survive, with "Muscovites, Uralian and others remaining," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview for the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 TV channel aired on Sunday.

"If we opt for [Russia’s disintegration], I think that the destinies of many peoples of Russia, and first of all the Russian people, of course, may change drastically," he said when answering questions by journalist Pavel Zarubin. "I even doubt that such an ethnic group as the Russian people will survive as it is today, with some Muscovites, Uralian and others remaining instead," Putin added.

The West has only one goal of liquidating the Russian Federation in its current form, he noted. "They have one goal of liquidating the former Soviet Union and its main part, the Russian Federation. And later, [after liquidating Russia] they will probably admit us to the so-called family of civilized peoples, but only by parts, each part separately. What for? For ordering those parts around and putting under their control," Putin stressed.