MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s borderline region of Kursk was planned with the participation of NATO and Western special services, and was prompted by Kiev’s realization of its imminent collapse, Russian presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev said.
"It was the West who brought the criminal junta to power in Urkaine. NATO countries sent weapons and military instructors to Ukraine, they continue to provide them with intelligence data and they control actions of neo-Nazi groups," he said in an interview with the Izvestia daily. "The operation in the Kursk Region was also planned with the participation of NATO and Western special services."
"This criminal undertaking was prompted by the neo-Nazi Kiev regime’s realization of its looming imminent collapse," the official added.
Patrushev dismissed the US Department of State’s claims of non-involvement into the matter.
"It’s common for the United States to say one thing and do just the opposite. Without their participation and direct endorsement, Kiev would have never dared to set its foot on the Russian territory," he said.
Ukrainian forces started a major attack on the Kursk Region on August 6. Missile attack warnings have been issued repeatedly in the region since then, and the government declared a federal-level emergency there. Most residents were temporarily resettled from the border areas and are now out of harm’s way, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said. More than 720 people have been evacuated over the past day alone, according to the ministry.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev has already lost up to 2,640 troops, 37 tanks, 32 armored personnel carriers since the beginning of the hostilities on the Kursk direction. The operation on elimination of Ukrainian troops continues.