Putin Ally Says Ukraine Will 'Cease To Exist' As A Country In 2025 Story by Kevin Schofield • 19 January 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to President of the National Medical Research Centre for Endocrinology Ivan Dedov during their meeting at the Kremlin on Saturday.
Ukraine will “cease to exist” as a country in 2025, a close ally of Vladimir Putin has claimed.
Nikolai Patrushev’s comments came as the UK revealed Russia is making further progress as the war approaches its third anniversary next month.
Patrushev, who is an aide to Putin and a former secretary of Russia’s security council, made the claim in an interview with the Kremlin- backing newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.
According to an intelligence update by the UK Ministry of Defence, he claimed there remained a “fraternal” bond between Russia and Ukraine.
But he repeated widely-debunked claims of the “violent enforcement of neo-Nazi ideology” and “ardent Russophobia” as justification for the war.
The MoD said: “Patrushev’s comments form part of a longstanding pattern of anti-Ukraine statements by senior Russian officials, which seek to undermine and threaten Ukrainian nationhood, identity and culture. “This directly contradicts Russia’s recognition of Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty following the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as international recognition of Ukraine.”
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