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The UK-based think tank said Russia is rebuilding its ability to destabilize European countries and expand its influence in the Middle East and Africa.
LONDON — Russia is rebuilding its ability to destabilize European states and expand its influence in the Middle East and Africa, posing a strategic threat to NATO as its allies focus on the war in Ukraine. The UK-based think tank announced on Tuesday.
Researchers at the Royal United Services Institute say in a comprehensive report that Western countries must do more to counter Russia’s use of unconventional warfare if they are to succeed in stopping Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. argues that it is necessary to do so.
Authors Jack Watling, Oleksandr V. Danilyuk, and Nick Reynolds write, “As the war in Ukraine drags on, Russia has an interest in provoking crises further afield,” writing in the Balkans. He cited the peninsula as an area ripe for mischief.
“Russia also has an active interest in destabilizing Ukraine’s partners, and with numerous elections coming up across Europe, there are wide opportunities to exacerbate polarization,” the authors said.
The 35-page report by the think tank, founded in 1831, was released just days before the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian efforts to destabilize countries such as Moldova have failed due to security lapses and mass expulsions of Kremlin operatives, but the Russian military is now said to be strengthening its ability to launch unconventional attacks. the report states.
The report uses documents obtained from Russian intelligence services and interviews with public officials in Ukraine and some European countries to explore Russia’s efforts to expand its influence beyond the current Ukraine conflict. It tells the story.
The report said the threat “extends beyond the active cooperation of Ukraine and the targeted countries” and called for “continued vigilance” on a range of issues.
Russia is also expanding its relations with countries in Africa and the Middle East, displacing Western interests in these regions. This new “Russian colonialism” is a result of what the authors call “Roscolonial Entente,” a group of countries that “actively seek to support Russia while becoming increasingly subordinate to Russian influence.” The report states that they are looking to create a group.
The “entente” is serious for Western interests due to a “strong and bitter feeling” that the US and NATO’s actions in Ukraine are different from their actions in areas such as Gaza and Tigray in conflict-torn northern Ethiopia. It became a serious threat. says the report.
“Similarly, the stark contrast between Western language and rhetoric about the destruction of Aleppo and Mariupol and how it has tolerated Israeli operations in Gaza has led many on the continent to disagree with Western rhetoric about values. They see a gap between the values practiced by Western countries, which have long imposed constraints on African policies to enforce values-based norms.”
According to the report, new colonialism is intertwined with the creation of the Wagner Group, a nominally private company that provides mercenaries for wars in Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine, and that the Russian government has no role in these conflicts. makes a plausible denial.
After the death of Wagner’s leader Evgeny Prigozhin, these units were placed under more direct control of the Russian military. This new expeditionary force is now providing “regime survival packages” to authoritarian governments in countries like Mali and the Central African Republic.
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