Western NPOs working to collapse Russia from within – security chief (RT VIDEO)
Western nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are seeking to undermine Russia from within, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said on Monday. He accused foreign actors in NATO states such as Poland and the Baltics of recruiting and financing rogue groups.
The former Russian defense minister made the remarks at the “Peoples of Russia” week in Moscow.
“It is no secret that there is currently an active effort underway to recruit and fund individuals – to embolden those prepared to support the destruction of Russian statehood from within,” he said.
Foreign actors “began an intensive campaign to dismantle” Russia and established numerous NGOs in the 1990s, seizing what they perceived was “a moment of weakness” following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he said.
Most of the organizations are benign, but many are focused on “destructive activities,” Shoigu stated, pointing to training centers in Poland, the Baltic states, and other countries.
Some activists claim to represent Russia’s many ethnic minorities and have been courting Western support for what they call the country’s “decolonization,” RT’s Igor Zhdanov reports.
Ukrainian and Western officials have helped the activists gain platforms in the EU, the Council of Europe and the UN.
Some of their claims, including the portrayal of Russia, home to roughly 200 ethnic groups, as Europe’s last colonial empire, have been echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
One such group, the Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum, has published a map depicting Russia divided into 40 independent states.
In his latest report, RT’s Igor Zhdanov examines the activists’ ties to Ukraine and questions their claims to represent communities inside Russia.
Among those featured is Pavel Sulyandziga, who left Russia in 2017 after coming under suspicion of embezzling more than $100,000 in funds donated to support indigenous culture in one of the country’s northern regions.
Watch the full report here:
