RUSSIAN communists claimed today that the conflict in Ukraine has proved to be a proxy war between Moscow’s forces and Nato, with Western countries competing to supply arms to the region.
Vyacheslav Tetekin, a former member of the State Duma defence committee, gave a detailed assessment of the impact of the war in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began on February 24.
Arms have continued to flow into the country from Nato member states, with The Times reporting a total of $3.2 billion (£2.5bn) worth of lethal aid arriving from the United States alone since the start of the war.
“In the first place, the US; in the second, of course, Britain, which has been muddying the waters in Europe for centuries. Even such powers as Luxembourg and “neutral” Switzerland have joined in the arms race for Ukraine,” Mr Tetekin said.
“The US air force alone carries out eight to 10 flights to Poland every day,” he said — but claimed that the arms it delivers are so old as to be “simply useless.”
Mr Tetekin said that Ukraine had prepared for war with Russia for the past eight years, increasing military spending to 5.9 per cent of GDP.
The period coincides with the Donbass war between separatists and the Ukrainian state, which accuses Russia of having armed the insurgency there.
The country’s armed forces and paramilitary neonazi battalions have been trained by Nato instructors and its officers have studied at US and Nato military schools, he said.
The Times reported on Saturday that members of Britain’s elite SAS unit were in the country training Ukrainian soldiers.
Mr Tetekin alleged that some 6,000 “foreign mercenaries” were fighting on the Ukrainian side.
It is known that two British citizens, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, have been detained after surrendering in Mariupol last week, although both men were members of the Ukrainian armed forces.
But despite Nato support, Ukraine’s army was struggling, Mr Tetekin claimed, with ammunition supplies running low and military hardware destroyed.
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) supports the invasion of Ukraine, which is described by President Vladimir Putin as “a special operation” to denazify the country, though Mr Putin also claimed he would “de-communise” it, thought to be a reference to redrawing its Soviet-era borders.
Three CPRF members of the State Duma have, however, voiced opposition to the war.
Party members have sent an estimated 93 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Donbass region in monthly convoys since the 2014 Maidan coup.
Speaking yesterday, deputy party chairman Leonid Kalashnikov said that collections of non-perishable foodstuffs, personal hygiene goods and financial resources had continued throughout the war.
Source: Morning Star
