Amid escalating tensions, Russia claims to arrest Ukrainian neo-Nazis
Report from the FSB, which is highly questionable, says radical group known as ‘Maniacs, Cult of Murder’ planned attacks; Western countries bracing for possible invasion of Ukraine
Amid a ratcheting up of tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Russia’s intelligence service claimed on Monday that it had arrested 106 supporters of a Ukrainian neo-Nazi group, alleging that they were planning attacks and mass murders.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) said that a radical youth group called the MKU, or “Maniacs, Cult of Murder,” had been set up by Ukraine’s intelligence services, allegedly led by a Ukrainian national named Yegor Krasnov. Ukraine vehemently denies the charges.
The report comes as Western observers worry Russia is pushing a narrative that could be used to justify a military invasion of Ukraine.
Russian intelligence services had previously attempted to link the MKU with Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, according to an investigation by journalist Ilya Barabanov reported in The Daily Beast. Navalny is a long-standing critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government, and is currently jailed in Russia.
The announcement came as European Union foreign ministers met Monday to discuss how to thwart the threat of a possible new Russian invasion of Ukraine and what measures to take should Moscow decide to send its troops across the border.
US intelligence officials say Russia has moved 70,000 troops toward Ukraine’s border and is preparing for a possible invasion early next year. Moscow denies it has any plans to attack Ukraine and rejects Western concerns as part of a smear campaign.
“We are on deter mode” to dissuade Russia, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
Borrell, who chaired Monday’s meeting, said that no decisions about sanctions against Russia would be taken but that the ministers would discuss what steps to take, and when, in coordination with the United States and Britain.
“In any case, we will send a clear signal that any aggression against Ukraine will have a high cost for Russia” and underline the 27-country bloc’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, Borrell told reporters in Brussels.
Lithuania warned that Russia’s troop movements of late were no mere threat.
“We are convinced that Russia is actually preparing for the all-out war against Ukraine,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said.
If carried out, it would be “an unprecedented attack on a country that shows a Western direction. That means that the answer has to be unprecedented from the Western countries as well,” Landsbergis said.
But the EU’s big powers, France and Germany, and other members of bloc, do not share the same assessment as the US, Poland, and the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. They acknowledge Russia’s troop movements, but do not consider an attack imminent.
In 2015, France and Germany brokered a peace agreement that helped end large-scale hostilities in Ukraine’s east, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists since 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
On Sunday, G7 countries told Russia to “de-escalate” its military buildup near the Ukrainian border, warning that an invasion would have “massive consequences” and inflict severe economic pain on Moscow.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “we are prepared to take the kinds of steps we’ve refrained from taking in the past” if Russia did not step back.
The US and its allies have played down talk of a military response to defend Ukraine, with efforts focusing on tough sanctions that would hit the Russian economy, rather than just individuals.
In the US, reporters asked President Joe Biden on Saturday about the possibility of sending combat troops to Ukraine, and he said that idea was never considered. “Are you ready to send American troops into war and go into Ukraine to fight Russians on the battlefield?” he said.
Biden, who spoke to Putin in a video call last week, said he had made clear that in the event of an invasion, “the economic consequences for his economy are going to be devastating. Devastating.”
The Times of Israel Community.