MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. The United States and Great Britain are jointly attempting to influence Russia’s young people in order to foster the emergence of a subversive "fifth column" from out of disaffected youth that they could manipulate as a means of destroying the country, Nail Mukhitov, an aide to the secretary of the Russian Security Council, said in an interview with TASS.

"Washington, London and their allies are earmarking large sums to destroy moral and spiritual values in Russian society and thereby reformat the historical memory [of the Russian people]. They are predominantly trying to influence young people in order to erode their patriotic feelings and thus plant a ticking time bomb under Russia’s future," he noted.

According to Mukhitov, "this is how a 'fifth column' of sorts is being formed." "This is precisely [the group of disaffected Russians] that is imposing various projects that run counter to the national interests of the country. It stigmatizes people who sincerely love their Motherland, volunteer fighters [in the special military operation] and activists, accusing them of 'jingoism.' While [the group itself] is trying to stand out [from the herd to project an exclusive cachet that appeals to impressionable youth] in the most extravagant ways," he noted.